Pattern of 1914 Enfield

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reomack

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On the shore of beautiful Lake Gaston in North Car
My first post here, so be kind. About two years ago I foolishly bought a DP P14. Perhaps because I am from the states I have been spectacularly unsuccessful in my search for a barrel to bring the old girl back to life. I posted on another forum that has a large number of Canadian members (RimfireCentral) and asked for help from them. One of them kindly pointed me in the direction of this forum, saying one of you might be able to help. So, does anyone here have a solution to my problem that won't cost me more than a decent M1917 and doesn't break any Canadian or US laws? If so I would be eternally grateful (or at least I would be grateful for a long time).:D
 
Parts for the P-14 DO show up from time to time, so while sourcing a barrel may be difficult, it's not impossible if you're willing to wait for the right piece to come along.

I was at Ellwood Epps just a few months back and they had two full length take-off P-14 barrels in very good shape. Both of them were from owners who were converting their sportered P-14's into other calibers.

Your task is certainly possible, especially with the source you have for parts down south. Try Numrich or Springfield sporters for starters. You can always fill the DP holes in the stock with some scrap pieces of walnut. For handguards, check E-Bay, or again, fix what you've got. If you want a complete stock, check E-Bay as well, they do show up every once in a while.


Patience is a virtue here, so good luck and have fun.
 
Several points to be considered here, Reomack.

First off, we haven`t done any serious American-biting since 1812! Anyway, you guys started it! This is a point WE wish YOUR Gummint would remember sometimes; right now it`s hard for a GOPHER to get across 49 without the drones, the INS, FBI and the rest of the alphabet trying to catch him.

Second off, Welcome aboard! This is a fun ride, so lets make it last as long as we can.

Third off, you have NOT done anything silly. The P-`14 rifle is the direct ancestor of your US M-1917 rifle, which just happened to be the main US rifle of the Great War as well as the best rifle of that war. In my opinion (and I have lots of those: just ask the other guys) it is a better rifle than the German Mauser of the same period.... and I have both and shoot them both. It just takes .303 ammunition which, if you load with a 150-grain bullet, comes VERY close to the original .30-`06.

Fourth, there is a VERY GREAT deal of intechangeability beween the P.-`14 and the US M-1917. The critical parts you cannot interchange are Bolts, Firing Pins and Extractors, but pretty much everything else switches back and forth like a Saturday-night drunk on a narrow sidewalk.

Some of the guys here have given you US sources for parts. I would like to add one more: Springfield Sporters. I dealt with them Back In The Old Days (before all this 9-11 stuff got the border sewn-up tighter than my great-aunt`s knickers) and they are good folks to deal with, great prices, too. They have a LOT of P.-`14 parts. Good service, too, and they have a website. Just google their name.

If you have nastyugly drill marks and things in your woodwork and you dont want to replace it (let`s face it: your original wood IS numbered to your action) you can get an Acra-Glas kit from your local gun shop. Go to a GOOD building supply that stocks wood for cabinet-makers and get a small piece of Black Walnut and a carpenters`wood-rasp, which is like a file. Rasp down some of the Walnut and mix the filings in with their equal volume of the Acra-Glas and use that to fill holes in your wood. After about 10 hours, you can trim to close to the final form and then, 24 hours later, you can finish it down with fine sandpaper to a seamless fit. It will stain really well and it should not be hard to match it up pretty good with your wood. Works. Do it right and you will have to look really hard to find it...... and it is a valid part of your rifle`s history, too.

That`s about all I can say, except for come back any time; questions here are always welcome.

Good luck and have fun!
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Thanks

For Tyler I have haunted Numrich and Springfield Sporters with no success but thanks for the thought. For PBLATZZ I live on the shore of beautiful Lake Gaston in the great state of North Carolina. For Smellie, I know what a Smellie is, I actually own one and have shot it fairly extensively. As I recall, The Germans made the best sporting rifle, the K98. the Yanks made the best target rifle, The Springfield 03, and the Brits made the best battle rifle, the SMLE. Of course I know that we also made a fairly large number of smellies, as did y'all north of the border. And thanks for the word working tip. Might even try it. For now though, my main aim is to track down a usable P14 Barrel. I will try Epps and keep my fingers crossed. Hope you guys aren't freezing your A###s off yet. It was 84 and wonderful here in NC today, going down to abut 60 tonight (Fahrenheit of course). REO
 
84 in Tucson is winter! 102 today.;)
Anyhow, P14's and M1917's are not all that interchangeable, the magazine box is also different.

A .303 barrel from Canada is the best bet, involving the least amount of work..
 
Well, if you can find a barrel from Canada, all the better. Try Western Gun Parts in Alberta as well.

I'm not aware of the intricacies of importing a firearm from Canada into the US, as we are usually concerned about going the other way up here. But sportered P-14's show up all the time. It may be easier, and cheaper, to find a sportered P-14 that has just had the wood cut, and then take your DP stock and fit it to the 'new' rifle.
 
This is an Indian DP, with the hole and rod through the breech of the barrel? Matching notches in the woodwork? I would suggest that rather than using a wood putty to fill the notches, it would be more approriate to do armourer's style wood inlay patches. The sort of repair that you see on all the British pattern servcie rifles. Would be in keeping with standard practice. If this is an Indian DP, the stock is likely still in the "fat boy" configuration, and has not been slimmed down via the Weedon Weight Loss programme.
There have been replacement M1917 barrels made. Never heard of any for the P14. A barrel from a bubba'd sporter might be the easiest one to find, a particularly attractive option if bubba has also had his way with the receiver ears.
Keep in mind that there are all sorts of horror stories about debarrelling 14 and 17 Enfield actions. A lot of truth to them. The barrels can be truely tight. If I were salvaging a barrel from a bubba'd rifle, I would be very inclined to write the receiver off, and cut a relief groove in the receiver just behind the barrel shoulder, to relax the torque. Similarly, cutting a relief groove in the shoulder of a scrap barrel will make it easier to remove.
I have a bad feeling that there may be US import regulations applied to the import of barrels.
 
Batfe

Well I got all excited for nothing. I have received replies from both Epps and Western Gun Parts. Epps has the barrels in stock but, as Tiriaq noted, BATFE considers a barrel to be the same as a firearm when it comes to importation. I would have to have a Federal Firearms License, successfully submit a Federal form 6, then go through additional hoops to bring one in from Canada. It's disgusting but it's the law and what can you do? Anyone have a solution for me? Incidentally, I just checked Numrich and they don't even have any more of the DP takeoffs that they were selling for about $16US. I guess I'll end up selling the DP 14 in the same shape I bought it in. REO
 
reomack said:
Well I got all excited for nothing. I have received replies from both Epps and Western Gun Parts. Epps has the barrels in stock but, as Tiriaq noted, BATFE considers a barrel to be the same as a firearm when it comes to importation. I would have to have a Federal Firearms License, successfully submit a Federal form 6, then go through additional hoops to bring one in from Canada. It's disgusting but it's the law and what can you do? Anyone have a solution for me? Incidentally, I just checked Numrich and they don't even have any more of the DP takeoffs that they were selling for about $16US. I guess I'll end up selling the DP 14 in the same shape I bought it in. REO
Click to expand...

Perhaps to someone who will appreciate it for what it is!
 
You never haul your colours down until the water's up to the scuppers.

For one thing, you are restricted to what is "only" the biggest gun market in the world: the USA.

For another, there have been a LOT of P-14s rebuilt in that very same USA into rifles with bores smeller than .303 and bores bigger than .303. And with reaming/rerifling/relining old barrels fallen somewhat out of style in the last century or so, that means a LOT of P-14 barrels around the country, looking for rifles to adorn. Start trying gunsmiths;they are the guys who take the barrels off and replace the things. It sometimes is amazing what they have laying about. P-14 was very popular for conversion to Magnum calibres because the olt-face is already the right size to handle a Magnum-sized cartridge: saves $40 on the conversion to the .319-1/2 Belted Warthog Wonder Whacker Magnum.

Synchronicity: that's what you eed. You are around. Barrels are around. Just have to get you both into the same plce at the same time. Synchronicity, that's the word. Let your fingers do the walking: start calling gunsmiths and asking about takeoff barrels. Chances are about 95% that a takeoff barrel for a .303 will be from a P-14; most guysdon't rebarrel Lee-Enfields.

You're still a long way from the scuppers, friend.
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