just bought a P14 - finally

[Iosens]

Thanks Patrick

I agree with you, the stock is not original for sure.
I was wondering about the rear volley sight also.

But the bolt lug is short. Which star is the MK 1* start now, the one in the circle or the one on the bottom of the stock ?
Also do you know something about the J3?

I also do not understand what you mean with the mark on the front barrel band?

Last not least I have added the import marks from the barrel.

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[Patrick Chadwick]

I also do not understand what you mean with the mark on the front barrel band?

Perhaps I should have written "nose cap" - the thing with the bayonet lug! It has not just scratches - but rather gouge marks - on the outside AND on the inside, right next to the wood, which does not show any such marks. This is possibly the strongest indication that parts do not match - not just inconsistent degrees of wear, but scratches that stop suddenly and do not continue onto the neighboring component.

Take a very close look at the "4-5 o'clock2 area:


You can see the marks on the inside of the nose cap. I do not see how those marks could have been made with the nosecap still on that wood. Ergo, the wood and the nosecap have different origins.


The volley peepsight is also less worn than neighboring components:


Now to the star on the bolt handle:

According to That Book Which You Have Now Ordered (yes?) this must be the star mark for an upgrade from MKI to MkI*. But if the left-hand bolt lug is the shorter (0.62") version, then it can't be. I am puzzled, and I hope someone else has an explanation.

If it is the "star" upgrade, then there ought to be a star on the receiver ring, above the number, in fact usually fairly central, but one cannot tell from the photo - please check.


However, there is a star on the reciver, just not in the usual position



Hence my conclusion that a) the rifle has been asembled from various "donors" b) there is something odd about the star business.

One check you could perform, if you know someone who has a P14 with the long bolt lug, is to try a bolt with the long lug in your rifle.
1) If the long-lug bolt can be closed, the rifle is a MkI* .
2) If the bolt cannot be closed, then the rifle is not a MkI*, and the stars on the metalwork must mean something else (but what?).