Another project to finish BSA 303 P-14 Model D

[Brithunter]

Some may recall this one and again it is almost finished but needs a decent stock as it's original was well butchered. The rifle has been stripped cleaned a unused 303 Barrel from BSA that was then Ball Burnished by A.G.Parker in about 1954 according to the proof marks then for some reason it ended up in store until I managed to buy it through an RFD from John Knibbs.





  The barrel has been fitted with minumum headspace and the whole rifle reblacked a decent stock will finish the rifle off. We have the option of the standard P-14 magazine and trigger guard of the BSA straightend out one. It will likely depend on the stock that we can get to put on it which will be used. I also have scope mounts for it and a choice of glass that could be used as well as choice of the P-H 6E sight or a Redfield sporting aperture rear sight.

[gitano]

Nice!

Paul

[Jorge in Oz]

Nice BH. I love the M17/P14 rifle actions.

When the ears are removed they look very nice and I especially like the dog leg bolt.

Do you find it particularly heavy as it is a big action?

I have found a sporter in 303 that I'm keen on but would it be ok for stalking deer through thick bush. I don't mind a heavy rifle for hunting as I hunted with a Tikka LSA 65 for a few years.

[Brithunter]

Sorry I do not know the weight. Normally would just weigh it but of course that is not so simple now! So have for now resorted to the catalogues and in a 1960 Alfred. J. Parker catalogue found reference to their offering of sporterised P14 rifles that they claimed weight 8 1/4 lbs. The BSA versions had the ears removed and a sporting ramp foresight so should weigh a little less. BTW A.J. Parker were offering these P-14 sporting rifle conversions up to at least 1992 as I have a copy of their leaflet type "catalogue" here listing them.

My BSA Model E has a straightened bolt handle fitted by BSA that is shorter in length so it cannot knock the trigger finger under recoil as it seems some longer ones can. The No3 or P-14/17 actions are overly long for the 303 cartridge or course having been designed for the longer high pressure .276 cartridge itself a product of "The Bisley" school whom were enamoured with the 7mm bore and the Ross performance on the taget range and in competition. The Boers having shown what the 7mm Mauser rifle and cartridge was capable of that was their goal ..................... but I digress.

Now I have in the past used the BSA Model E sporting rifle for hunting and have shot Fox, Roe, and Fallow with it and did not find it too heavy however bear in mind my huntign was light compared with what you encounter down under. I have a few hundred yards to cover not miles and it was gently sloping not the mountainous terrain that you can encounter.

The fox was shot using Winchester factory 180 Grn SP ammuntion and it was destructive. At approx 70 yards it almost tore the skin off the off shoulder and ruined the pelt. So in my handloads I used the Hornady 150 grn Spire Point to great effect and as it was through the P-14 the load was hotter than one would normally use in a 303 of the Lee Enfield type. I was using  Pecar 3-7x36 scope on the model E rifle and here is the BSA Model E 303 sporting rifle:-

http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php/8821-303-Jc-load?highlight=303+sportign+rifle







Ahhh found some images on the old Pituretrail account from the talking Directory. I may not be able to post there but I can look.

Hope that is of some help tp you

[gitano]

Funny how things go. In the US, I THINK the first "dog-leg" bolt handle on a commercial, civilian rifle was the Remington 600 in the mid-'60s. (I could be wrong there so if anyone knows otherwise, please correct me.) That dog-leg bolt handle was one of the reasons given for the less than stellar commercial success of that model. Supposedly it was "too modern" or "too garrish" for the American rifleman at that time. Personally, while the bolt handle didn't matter much to me, I found my eye going there more often than not.

From a practical sense, it's one of those 'things' that makes an item less 'doable' for The Common Man. That's not a criticism, but rather an observation. There is no moral or other demand that what a business makes for commercial sale MUST be reproducible by someone working in their garage. However, it is something EYE look at when I look at a piece of manufacturing. "I could do that", means I might be more interested in the piece than if I look at it and say to myself; "No way could I replicate that."  To me, a dog-leg bolt handle practically shouts "You can't replicate this in your garage".

There IS a moral imperative NOT to make something unnecessarily complicated or use non-standard components SOLELY for the purpose of making difficult for The Common Man to replicate or FIX! Those people and companies (and GUILDS, etc.) that do that are people whose character is fundamentally lacking.

What's also interesting to me is the 'love' that P-14 rifles garner. For what ever reason(s), I have never been drawn to them. I don't dislike them, but they wouldn't be near the top of rifle actions that I would seek out to build a custom rifle. They are certainly above the Mosin Nagant and SMLEs (in all their variations). Of course there are those that 'love' those actions too. But the P-14 certainly seems to have a large 'following'. I must say though that the rifle in the last picture on the chair is a beauty!

Paul

[Brithunter]

Gitano thank you for the kind words. It could be even better with a few little tweeks. The cheek pice needs thinning at the front and the comb lowering there. It's rather fat at that point and I wonder if this was deliberate to allow for fitting to teh shooter. Remember this was the 1949-1953 period when these were made so scope use was not so common!

Chambering the rilfe in something like 7x64 or a cartridge that uses the actions length and strength would seem to make more sense... maybe 6.5x68 Schuler or 8x68S Magnum? Of course the P-14 with it's magnum size bolt face can be chambered in a number of suitable magnum cartridges. Perhaps 275 H&H Belted or 280 Jeffrey Rimless even? Heck even in 270 Winchester and in fact BSA did conversions like this on P-17 rifles that came in the same "Batch" in both 270 and 30-06. I just found a listing for one for sale in Canda that was rebuilt to similar style in 8x57 Mauser.

BSA bought three railway wagon loads of P-14 and P-17  rifles from the War Office although the majority turned out to be scrap or only usable as parts these had been in store and it seems were battle field pickups from WW1.  The Models A through E were a stop gap modle until the all new bolt action the Hunter was ready for production and that happened in 1953.

[Jorge in Oz]

Nice rifle PH.

I wouldn't mind a P14 in 8x68S also or 8mm Rem Mag.