Scoping a P-14 or P-17
- Thread starter cyclone
- Start date
Drilling and tapping for bases is a nightmare. They have one of the hardest actions out there. You, or your gunsmith will actually have to spot anneal the action to drill it, and you will go through a few taps trying to thread. Been there, done that, never again. Look for an option that doesn't require this.
S&K is absolutely rock-solid. It replaces the rear sight of the rifle, so you put that away very carefully and keep it for iron-sight shoots.
Mount attaches into the rear-sight pocket of the rifle, secures with a peculiar NUT up through the magazine well (easiest way to assemble). Reef that solid and it will NOT shift.
S&K makes a full range of mounts for military rifles. Their P-'14/M-1917 mount interchanges, but they hace separate types for the Lee-Enfield series, one mount for the Number 4 and 5, a different collared mount for the old Number 1 (SMLE) rifle. Generally they have 2 types available, one for their own rings, the other for Weaver rings. Mine are all for Weaver rings for one reason: the S&K rings are wonderful but, up here, I can source spares for the Weaver rings much easier.
They are an expensive mount but they are WORTH the money. Try one and you will never THINK about a d&t job again!
(Actually, the price of an S&K with Weaver rings is only slightly more than a d&t job on one rifle.... and you can swap it from rifle to rifle in about 10 minutes. If your rack looks at all like mine, that is a VERY important advantage to the S&K, right there: I have 5 on the 4/5 action, half a dozen on the P-'14/M-17 action.)
Mount attaches into the rear-sight pocket of the rifle, secures with a peculiar NUT up through the magazine well (easiest way to assemble). Reef that solid and it will NOT shift.
S&K makes a full range of mounts for military rifles. Their P-'14/M-1917 mount interchanges, but they hace separate types for the Lee-Enfield series, one mount for the Number 4 and 5, a different collared mount for the old Number 1 (SMLE) rifle. Generally they have 2 types available, one for their own rings, the other for Weaver rings. Mine are all for Weaver rings for one reason: the S&K rings are wonderful but, up here, I can source spares for the Weaver rings much easier.
They are an expensive mount but they are WORTH the money. Try one and you will never THINK about a d&t job again!
(Actually, the price of an S&K with Weaver rings is only slightly more than a d&t job on one rifle.... and you can swap it from rifle to rifle in about 10 minutes. If your rack looks at all like mine, that is a VERY important advantage to the S&K, right there: I have 5 on the 4/5 action, half a dozen on the P-'14/M-17 action.)
Hal O'Peridol
Member
- Location
- WA State, the wet side.
Experiences, warnings, ideas, suggestions?........
Oh, and B-Square vs. S&K ?.......
Curious...I really like the iron sights, but I'm a bit of a "scope-a-holic", deep-down.....
A posed picture, since no sniper worth his salt would expose the end of the barrel out of a window.
Another interesting observation, is besides the Warner-Swazey scope on the rifle is that it is in an Eddystone "Fatboy" stock, so is possibly a sniper P14 that was NOT a Winchester.
The nicest way to do it is to contour the rear bridge and have a gunsmith drill and tap. The front ring will be very hard as already mentioned. A carbide bit is the way to go drilling the front ring. A side mount can also be used. The left side of the action is drilled and tapped. The side of the action is not nearly as hard as the front ring. Also the rear bridge does not have to be contoured as carefully. Strongly advise you get a smith to do this job.
If you want to maintain the military configuration (and resale value) w/o drilling and tapping for a scope mount, the S&K mounts are a good way to go. I've used them on No4s, M1917s and P14s and they work very well with the readily available Weaver style rings. It's helpful to use a leather lace-on cheek piece to raise the comb of the stock for the use of a scope.
