So, for the simple difference of five dollars 70+ years ago it sparked an interest in the. He couldn’t afford a 1917 since that tub of rifles was $20. Property marked) was purchased at Sears Roebuck from a barrel of rifles for $15. That lend-lease Lee Enfield (made by Savage and U.S. 303 he sporterized as a graded project in High School shop class back in the early fifties (try doing THAT today).

303, it is still a great caliber and classic rimmed cartridge, especially if hand-loaded. I bought a few for some shooter grade rifles and they are excellent, brought my groupings down significantly, and that is with the open sights. 303 P’14 barrels a few years back (short-chambered). Also, if you run across a “restored” (re-barreled) DP marked rifle examine it VERY carefully since the poorest condition rifles were pulled from the armories first for the DP conversion and many had issues, including cracked receiver rings (which is why some were demilled).Īnd, finally, since there is a barrel shortage, Criterion did a run of the. When stock shopping make sure you do not accidently purchase one that has had the scallops neatly repaired as they directly affect collectability (but not shootability). Since the drilled hole was lateral it left a large scalloped area cut in both sides of the stock just forward of the receiver. The receivers were then stamped “DP” for “Drill Purpose”. Many of them were demilled with a hole drilled though the chamber from the side and a pin welded in place.

The other reason the P’14 stocks and barrels are in short supply is that Britain and Canada used those rifles for Training and Drill. There are semi-finished stocks available for the 1917 but if your intent is a correct restore then it is not worth the effort. They can be interchanged with a little fiddling but there will be a gap at the magazine well and the floorplate will not be at the right level. The stock for the P’14 is slightly different in the magazine well area than the 1917. “eagle” ordnance acceptance stamp.Īs Clarence mentioned, many of the Model 1917 rifles and, to a lessor extent, the P’14 rifles were sporterized which creates a shortage of original stocks and barrels. All other small parts will be marked similar to the Model 1917 except for the lack of the U.S. The barrel will be marked under the rear handguard near the receiver (again with a W, R or E and the serial number of the receiver). The early rifles were marked on the receiver with simply a “W” prefix in front of the serial number and similar for the Eddystone and Remington (“RE” in an oval). Like the Model 1917 they were made by Eddystone, Remington and Winchester (with the Winchester being more desirable to collectors of course). The P’14 (Pattern 1914) rifles in original condition are getting pretty hard to find.

Pattern 14 enfield serial numbers