Good day all,
Would appreciate some help sourcing a mag follower/spring for a BSA P14 action. Current one, as depicted, is and has suffered feed issues and is not in a pretty state.
Thank you in advance.
Cheers, Sidetrack
Attachment 229878
Printable View
Good day all,
Would appreciate some help sourcing a mag follower/spring for a BSA P14 action. Current one, as depicted, is and has suffered feed issues and is not in a pretty state.
Thank you in advance.
Cheers, Sidetrack
Attachment 229878
Flick me a pm . I've got some.
As a follow on from this post, have now had this rifle passed on to me. I’ve been quietly looking around for a 7x57 that had good bones but left me enough to put some love into. After nearly two years, the universe dropped it in my lap. Isn’t karma wonderful!!
Attachment 230635
It’s an interesting bit of kit with a mishmash of different components. After much digging and some help from @Kimber 7mm-08, have established that it’s an Enfield P14 action (Eddystone built) then post WW2 surplus bought up by BSA, late 40’s early 50’s, where the actions were machined, restamped with BSA logo and stock sporterised but still is .303 caliber. Spread around the Commonwealth and sold on to the public.
I’m only guessing but possibly during the mid-late eighties or early nineties, it was fitted with a Hawkin barrel, chambered in 7x57, 23.25” long with a 1:11 twist rate. A Tony Hawkin barrel??? Little or no info about these aside from the fact that he was well known in black powder circles but did produce the odd centrefire barrel as well. Any feedback would be welcome.
The action carries a set of Parker Hale dovetail mounts. Not sure if it’s relevant but they’re 16mm across. I did put a set of REM700 Talleys next to them and it seems that the holes line up and the action is machined to suit. I did read somewhere that the P1917 action went on to become the Remington 30 so maybe some compatibility there???
Attachment 230636Attachment 230637
The Timney trigger was a real bonus.
Attachment 230638
The fit up of the BSA stock of unknown vintage, is crude to say the least but for some reason this whole combination just feels right. Nicely balanced and comes to the shoulder beautifully.
The previous owner purchased this rifle from, I think Allan Millar’s in Dunedin, mid ‘96 and has had it ever since. It developed feed issues and attempts at rectifying the problem failed so its languished in the gun safe for the last ten years or so. I’m told it was a good shooter and am inclined to believe so given it’s makeup. Time and some attention will tell.
Nice one. Classic old rifle in a classic calibre.
If it has a little BSA roll mark on the top rear of the reciever probably under the rear scope base it is deffo a BSA. They did models A to E.
D and E were pretty much the same. Sporter stock, new barrel, rounded reciever drilled for bases and a side aperture. Pretty much a mauser sporter.
The lesser ones got a barrel and reciever rounded off but retained the fish belly mag and original stock
I think the A models might have had an eye cast offer them and sent out to work but can't remember.
Feeding could have something to do with a 303 bolt on a 7x57 case. The rims is smaller and probably won't extract and/or slip under the extractor properly. Basically a push feed that won't extract well.
Try a 303 shell in there and see.
I have a target rifle on one of those and they did just that with the bolt as there weren't many around supposedly. Probably need a P17 3006 follower as well as it would be more suited to the 7x57 and not the taper of a 303.
Unless this is all waffle and it was built on a P17 and you just have PITA feeding issues
Yup a BSA alright.
They had varying different profiles but similar hole spacing. On several of mine that part with the BSA logo is on the piss. One side is lower than the other.
Some swimming may be required.
I got some followers the other day but couldn't guarantee if one is a P14 or a P17 the latter I reckon you could do with. Spring is probably ok
Mind you I could compare it to the 303 jobbies and see if it's different.
Reckon it's either a C or D with the dogleg bolt. Model E had a straightened one
Just had a look. It's not a D so it's a C most likely unless it has a different stock as it looks like an E model
Attachment 230654
Attachment 230655
Great, I’ll digest all that info for a bit. Will also upload a few more photos over the next day or so. There’s very few clear stampings on the action, I guess a lot of info would have been on the original barrel. Did you see what looks like a very original model B for sale on TM??
I've seen a couple of P14s for sale but really need to stick to really cheap or mint barrel.
Got one recently, just a bare action still with the rear sight ears on and the barrel has a bloody bend in it 2" from the end. Buggered if I know how you would do that but I can sort it.
Pity it isn't a sporter action.
Have to make up some gear and remove the barrel
Update on the old girl. Just back from the gunsmith to rectify the scope mount issues. I’d noticed the rear mount was canted off to one side, the alignment was off and the front mount had a broken screw. There was also evidence of another hole for the rear sight that had been filled.
While trolling the interweb for any info on various mount options I’d found a single line reference in one of the US blogs that mentioned that BSA had machined the action to match the Win. Mod70 which is machined lower at the rear. This may have been a byproduct of removing the sight guards.
Mod70 rear mounts come with three mount screw variations. On a whim, I’d picked up a set of bargain bin dovetail mounts with the .030” spacing and sure enough, they matched the rear screw hole and the one that had been filled. Result!! and now she’s setup to take modern mount options and the old Parker Hales are consigned to the parts bin.
Attachment 251038
I have an old Weaver K4w sitting on the shelf so mounting that up is next on the list, then off to the range to see if she feeds properly and is a shooter or not. Which reminds me, still need to find ammo.
Excellent
Any chance of a photo of the bolt face, I'd be keen to see what Tony Hawkins did to accomodate the 7mm Mauser round, of course, if you're rebarrelling it's possible he swapped in a M17 bolt & extractor. I have a couple of Hawkins barrels, a very accurate one in .308 Norma Magnum & a not so accurate one on a VZ33 action. It got two goes to get there, after a total abortion of a job by a Timaru gunsmith close to 50 years ago on a standard M98 action. Rod Wood re-turned it to a very pretty slim barrel on the VZ33 but I've not been able to do much in the accuracy stakes with it but with my go to .257 Robts, I haven't felt the need to try too hard.
Hope these are of help.
Attachment 251158Attachment 251159Attachment 251160
To be honest I reckon he used a P17 bolt.
The bolt doesn't look like it's had much in the way of mods/welding.
@shanana in regards to the vz33, that's the one that isn't working properly?
If that came out as an 8x57, they shouldn't have done anything to it.
Might explain why the bolt slot was opened up for the dogleg. Not sure if the s/n and mark help identify it.
Attachment 251176Attachment 251177
Yup I reckon you are right.
That model stock would've had a straight bolt. Most likely a bog stock P17 bolt for the rimless cartridge and had to make the stock fit
I see there’s a swag of P14’s on TM currently and a P17. Never seen so many.
In someways, I’d really like to replace the stock. It’s had a lot of wood removed from the forend and I’m sure from the butt as well. Also, quite a bit ground off the front of the grip which meant I had to repair the grip cap instead of fitting one that was sent to me. Praise the lord for JB plastic weld!! Saved the day on the buttplate as well. Can’t really tell that I’ve had a go at them. The less said about the checkering job the better.
Attachment 251303Attachment 251304
I did buy this as a project rifle. Something to muck with without spending too much on it and shoot the odd animal with. Need to keep that in mind and just enjoy it for what it is. As I’ve said before, it just comes naturally to the shoulder, better than some of my other more modern guns so looking forward to getting it back into action..
The bugger is they cost as much to rebarrel as anything else.
Plus because of the the large diameter barrel tenon there isn't much in the way of a tale off that will fit.
A bit like rebarreling an old 303.
You have to want to do it.
I have been trying to get one with a good barrel for a while but not much about unless you want to pay heaps.
Plus bugger all in the way of sporter stocks about unless you want to import a Boyds
@csmiffy The VZ33 action had been tapped for scope mounts so wasn't original & back then, I wasn't interested in a short uncomfortable 8mm Mauser so had it rebarreled to 7x64. I've never done much with the way of load development, I initally thought it wouldn't shoot for shit but found the scope I had was shifting its zero from shot to shot, teach me for going cheap. I did change the scope & it was a heap butter but there it rested. I @Sidetrack, thanks for posting those photos, I'll dig a P14 & M17 bolt out & compare them with your photos, I can probably put a photo up too.
It is possible I hear to cut the existing barrel's square cut section off, and use that threaded internally to accept the new barrel. Bit of farting about though.Quote:
Originally Posted by csmiffy
Mainly Guncity by the looks of them & my word, do they want big coin for them, or what. :oQuote:
Originally Posted by Sidetrack
@No.3 yup I've had that suggested to me a while back for one of my P14s. There is a bit of jiggery pokery going on as if the chamber is a bit big its a bit more dodgy.
A barrell stubbing project.
P14 BSA sporters with good barrels can command reasonable coin but even the military stocked jobbies don't seem that cheap anymore.
If the barrel is naff its worth the stock and action.
7x64 is a cool calibre
here are a couple of photos of the different bolts as promised. The M17 one is above the P14 one.
Attachment 251745
A view of the ends of the two bolts M17 to the right with the larger extractor to grip rimless cartridges, The P14 to the left with the slimmer extractor hook I think due to the rimmed cartridges (.303Brit) it was designed to work with. The breech on an M17 was conical much like the Springfield & pre 64 Winchester Model 70. The P14 had pretty much a flat breech with a ramp milled out for the extractor to slip into & a groove on the left side for the nose of the left locking lug to turn in. I do think the bolt you've show @Sidettrack is a M17 bolt bolt with the left locking lug ground back to fit in P14type breeching, maybe. ;)
Attachment 251746
