Found one at a local gun shop for $349. Barrel is completely shot out. Stock is rough (cracked), however the action seems tight (exception is that there is a slight bit of pitting on the left side of the reciever).

Should I buy it for a custom conversion at a later date?

CMP shows rack-grade 1917 enfields for $350....i found an action here on AR, to buy for a project....

100 bucks, for a beater, perhaps 150 max

Anyone else remember buying "demilled" P14's for $39? Damn, I wish I had loaded up!

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
100 bucks, for a beater, perhaps 150 max

Yup, that's my take on it too.

I bought mine in 1965 at Sears & Robuck in Stockton California for $10 and it was a winchester and a P-17

If you want a P-17 that has a 7 Rem Mag barrel on it and a laminated stock, there's one here for (maybe) $200 plus shipping. Want it? It's a Remington!

PM me if you want it.

quote:

Originally posted by GAHUNTER:
Found one at a local gun shop for $349. Barrel is completely shot out. Stock is rough (cracked), however the action seems tight (exception is that there is a slight bit of pitting on the left side of the reciever).

Should I buy it for a custom conversion at a later date?

Holy crap!!!!!!!!!! At a local gun store here exists 2 P-17s, one is a 350 AI and the other is a 338-378. The 350 comes with dies & brass, for $700 and the 338-378 is $400. Both have nice stocks and barrels in pristine condition.

You can get the big CZ 550 Action, ie the 416 Rigby one for about $600.

A P-17 action would require more than $600 on top of the purchase price to make it suitable to use as a 416 Rigby.

It's your $, but even for free, military actions are more expensive as a starting point than the CZ 550 action.

I got less than $600 in my M34 and all I need is to get the stock whittled out of a blank that I had (free, off our farm).
I guess if you drop the action off and say "call me when it's ready..." those figures are accurate. Me, I got a good friend/mentor that is using me as the shop gopher "run over to so and so's and get this piece of stock" and "hey how would you like to go get pizza/fried chicken, etc..."; and in return is teaching me how to do stuff.

Learned how to make a sizing die today...the push thru kind. An incomplete die set in 280 Rem gace up it's FL sizer to teach me how to make a die, lathe-bore and hone with a tapered reamer. I needed a way to make my friend Paul some .505 Gibbs cast bullets (I confess, I have been trying to brown my way into a test session), and the 450 and 650gr cast stuff came out .5055". By the weekend we will be shooting the big dog! I also hope to be able to take the 505 apart and measure the box, etc to make my own serviceable model for the 550 line.

Rich