A LOVELY WINCHESTER P 14 MK1*........with pictures!!!!!!!

[harry mac]

You state that the bolt lug upgrade was incorporated into rifle production (MK1 to MK1*) around Dec 1916. Now, the rifles that went thru the W.R.S during WW2..... are you suggesting that the conversion from a MK1 to MK1* was also something completed at this time as well?..........or......once a rifle left the factory as a MK1 it stayed a MK1 thru it's entire life and never upgraded to a MK1* whether it went thru the W.R.S or not?
The reason why I ask this is, if the reason for the conversion to MK1* was the longer bolt lug ( which undoubtedly it was) and this was an upgrade also completed during the W.R.S process......have all the rifles that were upgraded to MK1* been issued new bolts incorporating the longer lug, and then stamped with rifle serial number? You just can't take a original MK1 bolt and merely add some length to the locking lug....bolt and locking lugs are the same piece of steel!!! I need you to clarify this for me. Sorry I just never heard of new bolts being issued but that's the only way I can see it if there was a W.R.S conversion to MK1*

The * conversion was outside the remit of the WRS. According to Skennerton, the * upgrade was incorporated into the manufacturing process, it was not a "retro-fit".
If rebarreling was within the WRS spec, (and I'm not sure if it was) it is possible that some Mk1 rifles became "upgraded" by default if a canibalised Mk1* barrel got fitted. In such cases it wouldn't have been necessary to replace the bolt, as a Mk1 bolt will function in a Mk1* rifle. It's also a possibility, of course that the barrel was replaced post service.
FWIW, the serial number stamping on your bolt looks original to that component.