Thread: Rebarrel options

My new to me p14 303-25 is proving to be a non shooter. Will send off to the gundoc to see if he can do something with it. I'm expecting to hear that the barrel is friar tucked though.
Thinking about rebirthing it. Think the chances of a 303-25 reamer around are a bit slim.
Have a spot in my arsenal for a bit of a thumper that might see some donkey culling in oz and maybe scrub bull or buff.
Options are 338fed 338-06 358 win and 35 Whelen.
I like the ballistics of the 33's though Foster's write up on them is less than stunning. Never used any though I thought the 33's would be great with 180-210gr projectiles.

I would probably favour the 35Whelen over the 358win as I could download to 358 ballistics if full power loads were a bit rough.

Appreciate your thoughts.

If it's a P14 action, the bolt face will only be suitable for the 303 rim size or magnum rim size. P17 is your standard '06 bolt face.

Can they be modded for std cases?

A 300 Holland and Holland magnum would be nice. A .404 Jeffery will be pretty close in size too. There is guy on Africahunting.com who lives in NT who uses a 300 H&H on buff etc.

Originally Posted by stevodog

Can they be modded for std cases?

Don't think so, but @gundoc might be able to answer this better.

have another look on Mr Fosters site...there is a guy with a necked up .303 ...think its to .350 and looks pretty good. or go down the route he has just done with a trueflight barrel and a lee enfield....chambered it in 7.62x54r

Interesting...a re-think is in order then.

BSA use to chamber Lee-actioned rifles in a number of calibres, one was a .375 Flanged Nitro-Express. Suppose to shoot a 270gr projectile at 1975fps. Taylor didn't think much of it though.
They also made a .330 BSA and a flanged version of the 8mm mauser called the .315 Austrian Mannlicher.
You can probably load them a bit hotter in the P14.

300h&h sounds good. Could I use any of the regular magnums like 300win mag, 308 norma mag etc?

Or 358 Norma Mag, excellent old time cartridge

Yep any of the modern magnums possible, they all have the same bolt face. The only thing to watch with the 300win mag will be magazine length.

Cool, good to know. Thinking 308 norma.
Another tack is to get a new barrel in 303-25 in 10 twist. A Smith named Swan in Brisbane has a reamer for this.
That would keep me using this curiosity as I have new dies and brass

Yeah, I was keen on doing this. Seems my bolt face is hampering me here.
I am interested in 308 norma mag or 300wsm. Probably wsm be easier to get together. Might be jumping the gun though. See what Deano says. Are people using suppressor or brakes with 300mags?

Could always go big with the 458 win mag or 416 Taylor, or 375 Ruger which doesn't have the belt

You can take P14 actions out to take 375H&H. Brownells used to stock the magazine boxes. I've got one action with timney trigger just waiting for the right barrel to turn up.