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.

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Originally Posted by stevodog

Can they be modded for std cases?

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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.

Might be a bit much gun for me...wasn't so long ago I was loading 110s in my 270w as a low recoil round:O_O:

Yup really need a P17 bolt to swap if you use a 3006 family head size. This can be done on a p14 so its not out of the question and cheaper than buying another rifle/action so this is still something if you are set on cartridges based on the 3006 like the 35 Whelen etc.
You have a long action so why go for a 300wsm?
7mm rem mag wouldn't go astray, nothing wrong with them either.
Any of the belted mag cases are your oyster here-338 win mag for example but again if you are staying away from recoil maybe not.
264win mag would be a cool cartridge and are pretty cranky for an oldy.
Believe it or not there is a 416 on a 303 case called a 416 Strauss I believe.
Not that silly ballistics for it either and the mag box and feed rails would be pretty much the same.

Yes, be interesting to see where it ends up. I have a habit of coming home with something different than I set out to get:pacman:

Mates done a 35-303 on a p14 action.

Sounds interesting...who set this up for him?

With luck the gunny will find something obvious and turn it into a shooter. I would definitely price up one of these Swan barrels from Brisbane...would be mint with a 10 twist rather than current 12

brand new trueflight and put the old girl back to .303 british.....recoil wont be an issue and you will be back to an accurate good to 300 easy rifle.

Yep, that would probably be most suitable...sage advice again from Mr Duck:thumbsup:

if you want lower recoil you can even load old girl with 123grn pills designed for the x39mm as quite a few guys are using them in 3ohs with good results.

My only thought on this is that if yor are paying for a brand new barrel why pick the 303? The same money will get you the 25 cal that he has already keeping it original if in spirit only.
Main thing with picking a different chambering is that the feed rails would probably need some work but you would get a more potent chambering for only a little more work and in the case of the 303 far more bullet options

The problem with the 25 will be the reamer. Not sure what's involved in getting a barrel from oz.
I have a 243, 284 and 308 so I guess a gap would be for something bigger.
A 303 has some nostalgia I guess and would be cool having one shooting better than when made.

303-25 been around for a while. I would imagine there is one somewhere here in NZ.
Try Hugh Bradley at Stager sports. His barrels are pretty well priced and he's been in the game for bit so would be well worth a try

Thanks, ill keep that in mind. The gunsmith is flat tack and will look at it in another month.