Pattern 1914 Rifle

[Enfield47]

Last November I acquired a Winchester Pattern 1914 Mk. I* (P14) rifle chambered in .303 British and dated 1917. The P14 rifle is the predecessor to the U.S. Model of 1917 rifle. In fact, many of the parts are completely interchangeable between the two rifle models.

All parts wre in good working condition and there were only a couple of small areas of light surface rust. The bore is mirror bright with sharp rifling. The stock is an original Winchester P14 stock that was in fairly good shape except for two cracks that needed to be repaired to save it. The rifle has been through the Weedon Repair Standard during which the volley sight and pointer were removed and the unit disk on the right side of the buttstock removed and replaced with a wooden plug.

The stock had been sanded and covered in a coat of ugly brown paint at some point in its life which completely covered the stock's original finish. They painted over everything, including the volley sight dial, screws and crossbolt. Unfortunately the Pattern 14 cartouche on the right side of the stock was sanded off. The only cartouches that survived are on the bottom of the stock. I stripped the paint, did the repairs, and refinished it to its original finish of BLO. Details of the stock repair and refinishing can be found here.

I finally got a chance to take it out to the range Sunday and was impressed with how well it shoots. The bolt action is very smooth (typical of an Enfield) and recoil was pretty mild. It's amazingly well balanced for such a long rifle. It shoots about six inches high at 100 yards as most milsurps tend to do. I loved shooting it and can't wait to take it out again.

Here are a few pics.

[knucklehead0202]

it's a beauty, and was quite pleasant to shoot. recoil is gentle and the action is buttery smooth, very nice rifle.

[pitfighter]

Nice p14!

[quadmx301]

I've always admired the P14/17 rifles. Never got a chance to shoot one, and I've only ever handled one once. Great looking rifle! That refinish you did looks great.

[NOTABIKER]

I got to shoot this rifle at our WEGC outing last Sunday. It was very accurate and the bolt is about the best i ever tried on a old military rifle.
THANKS

[6mmintl]

And how accurate was it? ball ammo? handloads? distances? Im thinking of picking one of these up.

[NOTABIKER]

And how accurate was it? ball ammo? handloads? distances? Im thinking of picking one of these up.

66 year old eyes , standing hitting a 14 inch metal target at 100 yards. good enough for my gang.

[IrishJoe3]

Nice rifle! I was looking at a P14 yesterday; what is that disk on the left side of the stock, about half way up?

I have a M1917 in 30-06, and like you said, the bolt is silky smooth, and well balanced. It is a quality firearm and design!

[TRAP55]

Nicest stock restoration I've ever done.....and never touched it!
I'm impressed, you did a great job!
I am noticing no target pictures in your range report though.

[Mike A]

You're finding out why the Pattern 14 was used as a sniper rifle by the Brits in WWII. Accurate, good sights, mild recoil! And also long and heavier than the SMLE, so not so handy in assaults and broken country skirmishing.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

My first P-14 was the first milsurp I ever took deer hunting. It spent many years as my go-to rifle for everything. The sights are good, and the whole rifle is very well balanced. The only problem I have ever had with it is that it does not like the round-nosed 170 grain US ammo. Spitzer rounds worked just fine, but the 2nd and 4th rounds of the round-nosed soft points would always catch on the front of the magazine. If I had to live with just one of my milsurps, I could be quite happy with a P-14. I am glad that you managed to get yours back to decent shape. Be aware that they have a somewhat fragile leaf spring in the ejector, and that they frequently break. You can order replacements form Numrich, and they have a modernized version that uses a small coil spring to fix the problem. It is a drop-in part, and indistinguishable from the original unless you actually take apart the ejector assembly to look. I highly recommend getting one ahead of time.

-Mb

[Enfield47]

Thanks for the feedback guys. This was my first project gun and I really enjoyed the experience of restoring it. I have seen a few parts here and there that I should pick up for it so i have them on hand in case something gives out. I know one of the butt swivel stock screws is incorrect, so I should replace it with a correct one and that would be a good excuse to order some other parts too.

And how accurate was it? ball ammo? handloads? distances? Im thinking of picking one of these up.

I would have to let a better shooter than I attest to its true accuracy, but I was able to put several rounds in the 9 & 10 (a couple hit the bullseye). I was using the 6'oclock hold shooting at 100 yards. My rounds were handloads using a 150 gr FMJBT bullet and IMR 4064.

Nice rifle! I was looking at a P14 yesterday; what is that disk on the left side of the stock, about half way up?

That is the volley sight dial. There was a pointer that was originally attached to it so it could be used for lobbing bullets at long ranges, but it was removed during the Weedon Repair Standard process. At some point in its life someone stripped all the bluing off on both sides of it. When I got the rifle it was painted on both sides so I thought it was a brass dial. I'm thinking about rebluing it so it would look like its supposed to.

Nicest stock restoration I've ever done.....and never touched it!
I'm impressed, you did a great job!
I am noticing no target pictures in your range report though.

And probably the first one you did over the Internet.

I never remember to take a camera or save my targets for some reason. I also was shooting two other rifles so the target had holes from three different rifles.

For anyone who is one the fence about getting a P14 or an M1917, get it - you won't be disappointed. They are quite long and fairly heavy compared to some other rifles, but the receiver is built like a tank and will stand up to modern cartridges without any problems. It doesn't have a windage adjustment on the rear sight and that's about it's only downside.