Should you buy over the internet? Hmmm...I will pause before doing so again.

In my previous thread about having "accidentally purchased" a rifle through playing with proxies on www.auctionarms.com this is how I came by this .375 H&H on a P-14 receiver. This rifle can be seen on the following link http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=3077868

Stock:
Having only seen lots of photographs of different species of wood I believe this to be a cheap piece of English walnut. It is very hard and has a most curious feel to it and is very smooth. I find it difficult to put down once I have it in my hands. The shape fits me well as does the length of pull, at least I won't have to spend any money there. From the photographs it looks like it is set up for receiver sights, not so, the comb is straight with next to no drop at the heel. While the cheekpiece is shaped weird being almost the full length of the butt, it is esthetically pleasing and feels good which is what counts. There is no cast off that I can see. Overall there are a few bumps and dings but it was a previously owned rifle after all. I am pleased with this part of the rifle.

Barrel:
The barrel has the same contour as my ZKK-602 but is 2 inches longer. The seller had advertised a length oif 28 inches but he measured from the breechface to the muzzle, from the front of the receiver ring I have exactly 27 inches. Since the thick contour it is muzzle heavy with the balance point about an inch or so forward of the front guard screw. The front sight has been machined from a single block of steel and is a banded unit. There are a few machining marks left on it so whoever did it wasn't a perfectionist but you can't see the marks unless you are being picky...I am picky. The blade is a tall thick affair you could bend if you had a large enough hammer, it really is bomb-proof. The whole appears to be silver soldered on. Unfortunately the ramp portion wasn't done and there is a gap there which I find distressing. I won't have it redone since it is mostly cosmetic as the banded portion is solid.
What really frosts my sphincter are the four screw holes that indicated a scope mount in the forward position that had been filled with screws, ground off and blued over! You can barely see two so expertly done were those but the other two...yuck. One has a dimple from a centerpunch and the other a gap between the screw body and the hole. I have emailed the seller regarding this and am awaiting his reply. This should have been disclosed before sale.

Receiver and magazine:
Very nicely done work on the receiver, MUCH better than my A-Square Hannibal receiver, also a P-14. Nice square edges with the sharps nicely rounded all polished up just right. The bolt has been polished to a mirror smoothness. The receiver sight is a Redfield steel unit must be vintage since they don't make steel bodies anymore. Again here is a boo-boo, it has been mounted just a tad too high on the side of the receiver so it looks like the horizontal windage portion is bent down slightly. Really obvious too is the screw protruding into the right raceway that binds the bolt and has left a mark on the extractor. A bummer. This brings me to the extractor, someone ground off an upper and lower portion so the extractor lip looks like a tooth! I will have to post pictures 'cause this is the weirdest thing to see. It works flawlessly but gives me the creeps. You'll have to see it.
The magazine box has been silver soldered to the guard and is very solid looking. There is an aftermarket trigger on the rifle that is exceptionally crisp, frighteningly so. I dry fired it and was wondering when the trigger would break...CLICK! I have a keeper there.

Bedding:
The whole is bedded forend to tang with Brownell's. Very well done if sloppily, there was a gob of modeling clay still in the receiver recess. I will have to relieve the area behind the tang and guard.

The Question: Would I have purchased this rifle had I seen it on the used gun-rack? Probably. I would have offered to buy but would have demanded the receiver sight be squared up and the protruding screw be taken care of. Buyer Beware so it goes. I am satisfied, I have another .375 in a unique, good looking stock that with a few massaging operations will turn out to be a very nice rifle, all for the buy-in of $535.00 delivered into my hands.

[ 09-10-2002, 00:48: Message edited by: Roger Rothschild ]

Looks like a good rifle, tell us how it shoots.

Roger,

It sounds like an interesting rifle!

Another thing to worry about for me anyway would be how deep the holes are that were done in the barrel and filled with screws. Any sign from examining the bore of dimples or dark spots at 12 o'clock?

The receiver sight in the photo is clearly not in the right position as you note.

I wonder what the extractor grinding was supposed to accomplish?

I would like to hear how it shoots too, and how your correspondence with the seller goes.

jim dodd

Here are some pics:
Is this receiver sight installed too high on the receiver or what?


These are the screws that were ground off and blued over, pen is pointing to hard-to-see ones:
Front

Back


Weird Extractor:

Notice the definite tooth shape.


Bolt now polished not blued as in pic:


Word to the wise; ask lots of questions! I'll have the receiver sight remounted and send the guy the bill, if he is any sort of gentleman he'll pay it, if not...the Lord will take care of it.

[ 09-08-2002, 05:51: Message edited by: Roger Rothschild ]

Roger,

I was looking over your pics, daydreaming of my project, when I noticed the bolt handle -- the one in the AuctionArms pics was blued, the one in your pictures is polished steel. What's the story there? Did you notice that? I hope you checked headspace before firing it!

Very nice looking gun by the way. I hope mine turns out like that.

Todd

Thanks Todd,
Yes I picked up on that as soon as I opened the box.
This individual has misrepresented the rifle.

Ron Sundberg
527 Devoe St.
Olympia, WA 98501

The place of business is called "Sport Shop" or that is how the fellow who answered the phone.

The blueing salts are leaking from under the front sight band too.

I am waiting to find out how much a replacement rear receiver sight will cost from Garry Fellers out of Ft. Worth. Once I have that I am going to write him a letter and ask him to repay me the money of the sight taking into consideration of the other faults. If he is a gentleman he will, if he won't...I'll let the Lord take care of it.

I am looking forward to shooting it, once I get a rear sight.

Any one know of any reasoning for cutting the extractor like that? Its very intresting looking, but I dont see a purpose.

Except maybe, for single shots, to allow the extractor to snap of the rim more easily. Instead of placing the cartridge into the magazine and having it fead out properly.

Kristofer

[ 10-15-2002, 11:22: Message edited by: KBGuns ]

It sure does look funny and I do not trust it either. I cycled about 20 rounds through the magazine and they worked no hitch. Still don't like it.

Roger,

I don't think that the extractor has been altered. Just the opposite. I have two untouched(never barrel... ever!) in the white P-17's made by Winchester with exactly the same extractor. If I am correct the extractor was designed like this to function properly with the rimmed .303 British round and the P-14's came with a more standard looking extractor arrangement for use with rimless cartridges. Maybe someone who knows will post and clarify this.

Also, I would have the headspace checked as the seller could have sent the rifle with a different bolt than what was represented in the auction pics. Better safe than sorry.

[ 10-15-2002, 21:14: Message edited by: DavidReed ]

Mr. Rothschild, you say, "if he is any kind of gentelman, he will pay for the new sight!"

I think if he were any kind of gentelman he would not have sent you a rifle that ws put together by a plumber, in the first place, and I think you will be simply wasteing an envelope, 37 cent stamp, and paper to send this creten a letter! Sorry about your experience with this fool!