Refurbed Enfield P14

[louthepou]

Hi everyone,

Well this refurb is a never ending project.

First Chapter:
Started last year, from a sporterized P14. Got all the parts, refinished the wood, reassembled it all, went to te range... the bullets keyholed.

Second Chapter:
Tried oversized bullets, still same result. Went to my gunsmith, decided to try counterboring. Still no luck, so changing the barrel was the next option.

Third Chapter:
Found a replacement barrel. Sent the barreled action and the new barrel to a gunsmith; the swap went well. Got the parts back, reassembled everything, put the bolt in... and it wouldn't close all the way down. Turns out (I didn't know until a short while ago) that the P14 exists with two variations of bolt / barrel combination. In one version, the "*" one, the bolt has a lug that extends forward quite a bit from the bolt head face. This lug will turn in a grove on the rear face of the barrel when the bolt handle is turned down. The new barrel didn't have that groove (it's of the "no-star" version...). Here's the bolt head...



Fourth Chapter:
Tried to weigh my options. Find another "star" barrel, swap again... Or take this barrel off and have the grove machined... Or find a no-star bolt... All proved difficult (hard to find the part or involving too much spending). I machined a little bit of the metal off the bolt protrusion, until it didn't interfere with the closure of the bolt. I think now there's barely a thousanth of an inch between the front of that lug and the rear of the barrel, so anyone who knows if that's enough or too much feel free to comment...

Anyways, here's the finished product. Well almost finished. I have to change the rear sight retaining bolt and nut (stripped thread), and the front band is missing it's bolt. Almost there...

Lou

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