What's my P14 worth

I thought this would be interesting:

A Canadian sniper at Ortona (courtesy of Wikipedia) holding, you guessed it, a P-14 :). I know these rifles are accurate without telescopic sights but I can't imagine the crazy accuracy you would get with one with the sights fitted. Notice how the volley sights are still present on this P-14 too!

Canadian_sniper_in_Ortona.jpg
 
Yeah, note the Warner & Swayze scope on the thing, too. Likely salvaged from a Ross, unless somebody can come up with another purchase of the things.

Clumsy scope, excellent rifle. Would be just wicked for sniping.

Glad I'm not in front of it!
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I have a stock marked with the cross as well... I was under the impression that it was a Weedon repair mark? If so it's possible the volley sights were added later on. Either way, the front volley set is worth $50 - $60 on its own.

I would probably sell the bayonet for $90, maybe $80 for a quick sale. I've bought better ones for $100. Has the blade been sharpened at all? If so, reduce accordingly.

The price of the rifle will largely depend on how the headspace and bore condition are. If the bore is tight, bright and shiny with a good muzzle, then $375 sounds fair to me. Failing that, reduce accordingly. But for a shootable, matching rifle with a volley set, go no lower than $300.

As for the crack, who knows how it happened, but it follows the grain so it may have been a fault with the wood. It could have happened when the rifle was apart for cleaning and the stock fell over. I've seen it happen. The repair seems legit to me, done by someone who knew what they were doing.
 
I finally got home form the cottage and dug out my copy of Stratton "British Enfield Rifles Volume 4" and reconfirmed / remembered a few things

pg 26 Miscellaneous P-14 Marks

The "Emergency Use" mark, a 0.33-inch high Maltese cross, ins found on the buttstocks of a small number of very early rifles that the War Office found "doubtful." It indicates that the rifle should be used as emergency or for practice use only.

No clubing the Kaisers soldiers I guess. Anyway, give the crack in the stock and repair this marking is consistent with the condition of the rifle and indicates the crack happened before proof inspection.

I also remembered that this rifle is the earliest configuration, Mark I, not the more common Mark I*. The serial number range is 187###. I don't have access to information as to the approximate manufacture month. Given than Eddystone made 604,000 in 1916-17 this rifle is in the early third of production. The 1917 bayonet is not consistent but not really wrong either I don't think. Eddystone didn't make bayonets since the Remington factory produced enough for both divisions of that company.

According to Stratton there was a change in the design of the rifle that was implemented in December 0f 1916. This involved making the locking lugs longer as well as the recesses in the barrel. The revised rifles were designated Mark I*. According to Stratton Mark I rifles command a premium over Mark I*. Which is great as long as somebody cares enough to pay a premium.:rolleyes:

Short of disassembling the rifle it would seem all serial numbers match except for the rear sight leaf. That is to be expected as I recently replaced the leaf because the battle sight was damaged (Opps - point of knowledge, do not fold back the rear sight leaf beyond vertical in try to close your bolt, you will catch the battle sight and stuff will break). The battle sight I had at first didn't match either and numerically the new one is much closer. I'm trying to make myself feel better here. Mis-matched is mis-matched.
 
I agree, it is a maltese cross (I wonder why they picked this ?) mark for emergency use.

By the way, how is that book for information on P14 and SMLE markings for detail of information ?
 
I think Stratton's books are an execellet reference, but to be honest I have not really compared. Skennerton's are more extensive.

As far as Stratton goes, Volume 2 covers Lee Enfields No 4 and 5, Volume 4 covers the Pattern 1914 and 1917. Volume 1 covers Lee Enfield No 1.

I am not sure if Volume 3 was even written. I believe that he intended to have a volume dedicated to Trials and Sniper Rifles, maybe even target variations.

Hey Nabs, just a thought. You said you have a Winchester. If you buy my Eddystone you are 2/3rds of the way to a complete P14 collection :evil:
 
My apologies.You are right.

Still, in the 40's UK supplied Portugal with military equipment (including Spitfires and Hurricanes) so chances are some P14's were send as well.

Gun shows and EE constantly have some Portugese rifles be it Kropatchecks or Mausers.
 
Bolivar said:
Hey Nabs, just a thought. You said you have a Winchester. If you buy my Eddystone you are 2/3rds of the way to a complete P14 collection :evil:
Click to expand...

Oh its tempting but I am saving up for my scope rings and mounts to go along with my gewehr 98 sniper clone.

Thanks for the info on the books, I'll be keeping my eyes open for used copies.
 
To add my 2 cents. I have the Skennerton's small arms identification series book 1,2,4,10 (NO1MIII, NO4MK1, NO5MK1, Pattern 14 respectivly) and they are an excellent investment. I find myself grabbing at least one of them once a week. I would suggest getting one that is appropriate for your rifle. These are nice b/c the have expolded drawings of the rifles with lists of their parts, a brief history of the rifle, limited markings and disassembly/reassembly guides.

Along similar lines, I also have 'The Lee Enfield - A Century of Lee Metford & Lee Enfield Rifles & Carbine' by Skennerton. This only briefly metions the P14, but if you collect enfields another good investment. This is a complete history of the rilfes from first creation to present. Lots of pictures, lots of markings ID, lots of serial number info. Another neat aspect is that it covers British production along with Canada/US, Austrailia and India/pakistan.

I got all of mine from Internation Military Antiques. The S.A.I.S were $10 each and 'The Lee Enfield' was $80

Tom
 
Thanks Tom, I'm on the hunt for those books when some free funds come in. I have plenty of questions about my SMLE that have not been answered by online research. Same with my No 4.
 
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