My father has two of these rifles, almost idential, and we can't figure out what they are. They're chambered in .303 British and have integrated 5-round mags. One was purchased (new, I think?) in the 70's, not sure about the other. I've taken photos of every marking I can find on it. Any ideas?
Help identify this .303 British bolt-action?
- Thread starter Jordan01
- Start date
It's a Pattern 1914 Enfield. I don't know much about them, this one I believe was made by Winchester ("W" serial number) and then would have been shipped to the UK where it got the British Broad Arrow and Crossed Pennant/G.R. proof mark.
P14, Pattern 1914. Sporterized.
This is after several years of my memory so don't take it as gospel....
Brits needed more rifles in WWI, couldn't make no.1 mk3's fast enough, so Winchester and Eddystone tooled up to make P14's for them. 5 round internal box mag, .303 british. Mauser style action that's cock-on-close.
Round about 1917, the US gets involved and realizes they need more rifles yesterday. Since Winchester, Eddystone, and Remington are already tooled up to make P14's, they simply changed the rifles to .30-06 and started cranking them out. The American .30-06 rifles are M1917's. Because the box mag was set up for the big rim on the .303 originally, 6 .30-06 rounds will fit in the M1917 magazine. I want to say more M1917's made it to France than M1903's in WWI. There was serious discussion following the war to replace the M1903 altogether but it didn't go anywhere. Post-war, Remington used up remaining parts in Model 30 production.
Anyway, OP, collector value goes to pot once someone chops the stock and refinishes it.
What it used to look like:
This is after several years of my memory so don't take it as gospel....
Brits needed more rifles in WWI, couldn't make no.1 mk3's fast enough, so Winchester and Eddystone tooled up to make P14's for them. 5 round internal box mag, .303 british. Mauser style action that's cock-on-close.
Round about 1917, the US gets involved and realizes they need more rifles yesterday. Since Winchester, Eddystone, and Remington are already tooled up to make P14's, they simply changed the rifles to .30-06 and started cranking them out. The American .30-06 rifles are M1917's. Because the box mag was set up for the big rim on the .303 originally, 6 .30-06 rounds will fit in the M1917 magazine. I want to say more M1917's made it to France than M1903's in WWI. There was serious discussion following the war to replace the M1903 altogether but it didn't go anywhere. Post-war, Remington used up remaining parts in Model 30 production.
Anyway, OP, collector value goes to pot once someone chops the stock and refinishes it.
What it used to look like:
I believe you are correct there is an old “American rifleman article that talks about Alvin York being issued and trained with a 1903 but then being issued a 1917 once he arrived in France.
These rifles can be rebarreled to 338 Lapua and work perfectly with a reworked magazine while keeping the external look like the original 303/30-06 battle rifle. In 338 Lapua you then have the most powerful infantery rifle in the world that is a perfect backup to any 338LM sniperrifle.
Recoil might be an issue with the steel buttplate..
Recoil might be an issue with the steel buttplate..
You will have to most likely finish the disassembly to get the history of this. If you haven’t done so yet, look up British proof marks online and start tracking around the action like a codex. You should be able to get this down to time frame of manufacture and the mark of armory/factory. You can also see if there has been any additional caliber mods, etc
