Would I need to make a relief cut on a centurion p14 to get the barrel off since it already has been rebarreled by century? I've heard the m17 in particular were a pain to get the barrel off. I was originally planning on using a m17 but figured that on if these centurions might save me some work. The ears are already milled off and the bolt face is ready for a magnum cartridge. I was also wondering if I started with a 300win would that make for minimal action work if as long as I stuck with a h&h based cartridge?

I can only answer your barrel question. I read everything I could and talked to everyone I could about the P14 and 1917 actions for several of my builds. It seams the original barrels were put on with way too much torque. If the rifle has already has a new barrel then there is probably no issue. Otherwise a relief cut is wise. It takes most of the issues out of un-barreling. When you remove the barrel is it also wise to magnaflux (sp?) the receiver. Any automotive crankcase shop can do it for you while you wait for about $50. It will identify if the receiver has any cracks.

Just put it into some gasoline and then wipe it off. any crack will show right away. P14 will require some work to make anything but a 303 feed. I have done many of them. I never torque off a barrel; I always part them off but your new one might not be on tight. Big shoulder is the problem.

Thanks for the heads up. Any opinions on the Boyds stocks for these guns? I'm not sure I want to tackle a building a stock for this gun. I'm going for a relatively basic, durable gun. I'm planning on leaving the cock on close as it doesn't bother me, and making it primarily a open sighted rifle for now. I'm thinking of maybe shaping the rear of the action a little bit and filling the duck pond with a piece of brass.

Cock on closing is a better system; most Americans do not understand that. Less effort in opening the bolt makes for a faster action, which is why the British designed it that way. More extraction power too; as you aren't trying to cock and extract all at once. Boyds stocks are fine for mass produced stocks, but LOP is short, for me. I usually weld a piece into the bridge recess. Brass would work but not as good as steel for scope base screws. Oh, I see you are using open sights. oops.

Most of the custom Enfield's I've seen have the cock on open, but in my opinion why change the original design of the rifle. Like you said, they made it cock on close for a reason. It was proven in war and that's the ultimate test imo. Is there any tricks to welding up the rear bridge if I chose to do so? Will it mess with heat treat?

People make the cock on opening because that is all they know and the smith makes money doing it. No, don't worry about heat treatment of the bridge; only important part is the extraction cam and if you tig it, or mig, you won't put that much heat into it.

What's your opinion on shaping the rear bridge? Ive seem some rifles that were contoured to a 700 or a m70 and it appears that some are left close to original. Bear in mind this is a p14 and not a model 30 so its pretty flat.

Shape it like a 700 rem. Or leave it flat whichever you like better. Remember all Model 30s started out life as P14s. Well, M1917s anyway. I always make them round because they look better and less like a hacked up P14 that way.

My P14 is a BSA Model E (still in 303) but it is ground to Model 70 specs. The hole spacing of the rear base in the BSA's is not the same as a Model 70 though, if you are drilling yours I'd certainly match it to Model 70 spacing.

If you do a search for the BSA Model E you'll get some images of what is possible stock-wise, beyond the approach taken by the Custom stocks we see here from US 'Smiths.

Cheers