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Hello,
I was perusing the net for a new project when I came across an Eddystone P14. Its a DP rifle that has been drilled through the chamber only (probably in india) and it seems to be in decent shape otheriwse (alot of the parts are marked DP and the stock has wood removed from the drilling). I was wondering if anyone has reactivated these before is it worth doing and if so any advice would be appreciated.
Bernard
Bernard-- To get a shootable rifle, I would first check and see what parts are missing or broken. The firing pin (striker) tip maybe broken off. The barrel is toast so a new one has to be procured from Dean's Gun Restoration. The tricky part is fitting the barrel. I have done four Pattern 14, one Eddystone, one Remington and two Winchesters. The barrels from DGR required handfitting as the index marks did not match up with the reciever except for my Eddystone Pattern 14. On two of the rifles I installed Parker Hale PH5B rear target sights and they are tack drivers. Great shooters!
Thanks for the info. i was looking at this specifically: ERA eddystone Model No. 3 Mark le - M1917 Enfield - Bolt Action Rifles at GunBroker.com : 797434130 I was gonna bid on it but he doubled the starting price overnight for some reason so now I have second thoughts. I am gonna keep it in mind just find a cheaper specimen.
Broke one of these Indian DPs for parts. The drilled barrel had about the finest bore I've seen on a P'14. Shame it was drilled.
Might be less expensive not to buy a DP and restore it, one in shooting condition might cost less in the long run.
You will only find out later why it was DP in the first place.
I did one one time that turned out very well. I used a CBI barrel and was lucky enough to have on a hand a few small parts to finalize it.
The process requiring the most planning was repairing the holes through the stock and rear hand guard. The stock also had a missing piece near the mag well so I had to section a piece from another sported stock into it.
To fix the round holes, a hardwood dowel was glued (glassed) across the affected area till it was stable and then I just trimmed the excess away with a coping saw, chiseled and scraped till it was blended. The sectioned piece was doweled and patched with wood glue.
The biggest advantage for me was on the initial sum of the rifle which negated the cost of the replacement barrel and I did all the work myself. Later on I did however replace the bottom metal because of pitting near the front guard screw.
The absolute worst part was cleaning the metal and stock. It had been plastered with both wet and dried grease like a gearbox in a barn bound farm truck and had been on there for decades.
The Indian Ross and P-'14 DP rifles had half holes on either side of the stock where the crosspins had been welded in through the barrel breeches.
To repair the stock that I used, I inletted armourer style dovetail patches, rather than fitting pieces to the notches.
I recall a well known dealer selling a Mk. III Ross service rifle, and waxing eloquent about the history of the rifle, according to the numerous stamps on the butt. The stock had badly repaired Indian notches, but the barrel was intact. Obviously a bitser, a restocked sported rifle. Wasn't priced as such...
I was going to do the same at one time , but the prices on the DP'd rifles started going up and I gave up on the idea. I still have a p-14 take off barrel stashed some where.
In 50 years of collecting, I have only see one P14 shootable barrel for sale. Good luck finding one.