P-14, re-bored to 30-06, now won't feed

I just got a p-14 that someone had chambered in 30-06. The gun was part of a package deal and didn't cost me much.
How can I get it to feed 30-06?
Can I just use a 1917 mag box?
If I change the mag box what else will I have to do?
It's looks to me that the p-17 box mag has no angle on its front and back sides(inside) but the p-14 does. If this is the case would it be a drop in.
Were can I get some schematics with MEASUREMENTS?Would it be cheaper to swap out to a .308 barrel?
I would love to keep this rifle in 30-06, but if I have to drop to .308 in order to make it more than a single shot rifle I will. Please help

If it has the .303" SAA (303 British) bolt, it'll not work, regardless! Feed lips are wrong in the receiver, magazine body's wrong, extractor is wrong.

Put a 303 British barrel on it (if you can find one) or part it out.

The whole thing sounds a bit scary. Who comes up w/ these ideas?

Sorry, not blaming you!

He's right, the whole gun's different.

The gun functions right now well with a 1917 bolt, and a 30-06 barrel. From all the schematics I can fint it looks like the box mag should drop right in. I have a good backround in engineering so I can read and interperate specks. If I could find some with measurements I could see just what I had to do.
As for moving it back to .303 that is way to much money for me. It has been totaly redune by the last owner, and not very well. If some one has photes of the two box mags side by side I think that could show me if my plan is posible. I have read some times guiy "misstakenly" have 1917 box mags in a p-14 and it won't feed. I hope that will solve my problem.

Good luck, then. Drawings, never heard of factory blueprints floating about, but...

I've done a wee bit w/ my "North Avenue Trade School" experience, but mostly have wasted my degree in a machine shop.

For the Ordnance drawings of the M1917, Eric Nicolaus has reprinted them in book form (137 pages).
Look for Nicolaus Associates, and then go to his M1917 stuff. The book has 3 or 4 pages of receiver drawings. P14 to 30-06, interesting project, have fun.

45B20

That's very good to know! Don't know why... But hopefully it will only be used for good... Beware the Dark Side!... Dang, its late...

I have both mag boxs in front of me. I don't have any good way to do pics but I'll give you some measurements so you can figure it out.
1917 P-14

front width .897 .93
rear width 1.03 1.12
length 3.82 3.70

The rear tab that fits into the receiver on the p-14 mag is 1.04 and on the 1917 mag is .918.
You could also order them from springfield sporters. They are $10 and $5.
john

Aren't the receiver dimensions different, Model of 1917 vs Pattern 14?

If anything I think you wil find the the bottom of the receiver where the magazine box goes is not contour milled to be right in feeding the 30 caliber cartridge. Dang it's cheaper to have acquired a Mod1917 than to have done all that "work" on a patt'14.

From what I can find, it seams to me that the p-14 and the m1917 are very close in form to each other. In my search I have found a lot of guys miss maching parts from one to the other. It seam like Lincoln Navigater, and a Ford Escalade. I may have some miner work to do but it seams like it will all pritty much line up. I would think that the original designer would have wanteds to be able to sell the gun in the U.S. standered round with minimal changes.

You should get a copy of the book, "The Pattern 1914 and U.S. Model 1917 Rifles" by Stratton, available from North Cape Publications. This book provides details on the differences between the 2 rifles.
They are different rifles. Some parts are interchangable, while others are not. It does mention a difference in the receiver rails on account of having the narrower, straighter .30-06 round feed properly in the M1917. Your hybrid P14/M1917 sounds like a mule-the result of crossing a donkey and a horse. I'd be inclined to go back to the all .303 P14.

this has been discussed before..
heres the basics...
bolt, ectractor, mag box, trigger guard, floorplate, follower, follower spring,
dems in the bottom side of the receiver are different from the 14 and 17.
id pull the barrel, and save the bolt and barrel for a 17.
sell or find the right parts for the rest.
its more work then its worth.

wouldn't a 308 diameter bullet be to small for a 303 barrel:thdown:

He said he had a 30-06 barrel.

So from what I can understrand I will need $30-40 bucks in parts. and then all I have to do is fit (miner smithing) and it will be up and running. I know it will be a frankinrifle, but at least it will a nice deer rifle for my brother. thanks a lot.

303 rim is bigger than base dia of 30-06, so mag well is wider in back. Using the reamed out 303 barrel means accuracy is likely to be mediocre to poor unless you use 7.65mm/303 type bullets of 0.311-0.312". Sights are calibrated wrongly, ejector is different, breech end of the barrel is contoured differently.

So do what you want, but no support from this end, I think!

I'm pretty sure he said rechambered not rebarreled with a 1917 barrel.

Quote:

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I just got a p-14 that someone had chambered in 30-06. The gun was part of a package deal and didn't cost me much.
How can I get it to feed 30-06?

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I have been assuming that the barrel since it looks to be much newer than the reciver is aftermarket. I could not see someone going through all the trouble of machining out the a barrel and mounting, only to have the boar be a screw up with the price of a 1917 barrel being so low. I have just talked to the gunsmith who does my "nicer" projects and he feels the same way. Not to say it couldn't happen but that would be a long walk down the wrong path. Is that a commen problem with older milsurplus?
Again I say The gun functions right now, with a 1917 bolt and all bolt componets, and a 30-06 barrel. It will chamber a single round, fire and eject the spent brass no problem.

Hi Doug, read post #4. He said 30-06 barrel.

no disrespect..but, if you have a smith that thinks he can make it work..
give him the rifle, and have it done..
i think its more work then its worth.. a 17 barrel is costing well over 200.00 these days, so they arent cheap, and a 303 barrel is even worse.

Chuck

Why does Supersport need to change the barrel????????

45B20

It IS kind of "fuzzy" just what you have there-

Is it a 303 barrel that's been rechambered to 30-06?

Or is it actually a "proper" M1917 barrel "new" or old that's been swrewed onto the receiver? (This seems to make a whole lot more sense, as the breech face of the two types of barrel are considerably different!)

If it's the second set-up, MAYBE it can be modded to work tolerably well. The large rim of the 303 and the different body tapers and shoulder geometries may give you fits though. (The magazine feed lips proper are milled into the receiver, so just getting a magazine body to fit will probably be the easy part!)

Just how "non-military" is the rest of the rifle? (stock chopped/replaced, rear sight ears cut off, scope mounted, etc.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 45B20

Chuck

Why does Supersport need to change the barrel????????

45B20

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what i said was, save the 17 barrel for a 17, find the right barrel for the rifle,
im a , if you want to do something, do it right, kinda guy.

I just got back frome the gunsmith. The barrel is a true 30-06, so there is no problem with than.
As for how off from mil-spec. It's a long way. This is all form the point I got it, so know this was not me. The stock is new sporter (I will be checkering it myself), the barrel is "new" in 30-06, the bolt assembly is off a m1917. But the rest is stock. I will be pulling off all the sights, witch are in great condion, but of no use with the new barrel. I also plan to be mounting a scope (with out cutting down the old sight guard). As this will soon be my little brothers FIRST deer rifle, so I know it will not reseve the best of treatment.
I got in to this rifle with that in mind, it is not going to be restored to what it was, for that I would have started with something in far better shape.
And for having a smith do the work, a side of complex milling, or somthing I need a tool to do that I don't have my smith never gets his hand on my projects. I build, tinker and modify guns as a hubby for the joy of it. This is the first enfield I have worked with. If I find a good deal again I would love the chance to restore a m1917, No. 1, or No.2, but that would not be for a while.

I'm ordering all my "new" parts today.
I just have to post this. This is the first time I tryed using a forum to get info for a project. Before it was just me in the work shop with a stack of speck, and a pot of coffee. I can say now that I have found this to be a great tool.

I'm a structural drafter (I'm the guy who has the great job of drafting blue prints that can help to bring a architect's consepts to life. Nothing nice or artsy I just know where and how the beams will have to sit and what material they have to be to. So if I do my job right I never have to leave my little desk, and no one see's my work), so I can tell what I can do safely, and I know when I'm in over my head.
I know a lot of guys don't like to see someone "skrew up" a nice piece, so thank you for all your help in "sporterising" this rifle.

It would have been less "shocking" if we knew that it had been sportered from the outset. Hopefully, it can be made to work tolerably well w/o as much work as I'm afraid it's going to require. Feed problems of this variety can be absolutely maddening to sort out, sometimes it never works out. (Sometimes, not very often, its works out quite easily, but...)

BTW, the most common conversion of P'14 sporters were into the belted magnums, as the cartridge base sizes were more compatible.

just a note.
this and other military weapons sites are really geared at preserving, and restoring these weapons for collections, shooting ect,
not so much at grinding them up, with all the ones that were already ground on, drilled , welded, cut short, or other basement modified, i dont see a need to ruin another.
had you stated that from the get go, the answers would have likely been different.

I had assumed that, that's why I thanked for all the help in finnishing a nice rifle So it's noted this one was in a condion were a restoraion would yield a rifle that someone in years past had taken a file to and remove or realy chewer up most all the original marking (for me that is the biggest shame of this one), and missmacked almost every part. I say almost becouse it looks like he stopped short of compleating the rifle just be for he got to the sights. To be honist I have no idear as to why someone one would try to do this. Unless this was originly stolen from British service.
In my humble opinion doing anything but sportering it would just show off all the mistakes someone had made on this rifle. And with the price of these being so low I'm almost sure I will have a chance to restore one that has not seen the business end of a file on key parts.
With the remaking of the Colt Black Army 1911, a true m1917 would be a package I will be on the look out for.