Well, I think I got bit by the P17 Enfield bug. I visited the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredricksburg, Texas which by the way is a really great museum; in my opinion better than the D-Day museum in New Orleans. Anyway, they had a Model 1917 of Winchester Manufacture that was gorgeous. It was a beauty; looked stronger than nine acres of crushed garlic.

So, where can a person purchase an action suitable for converting to a custom rifle and how much can one expect to pay?

Also, what are the pitfalls, if any, to purchasing one of these.

Thank you in advance.

I have a Eddystone '17 sporter 308Norma,there are better actions to build off of.They have "ears" to cut off,they cock on closing,they are deep and heavy.
There was about 2 and a 1/2 million of them made in 1917 and 1918,1.7m Eddystone,.5m Remington and .25m Winchester.One of which you saw.The best made were the Remington ones,Eddystones could be brittle and crack.Most,if not all,were parts mixed at rebuild.
They are a British design for a 7mm "magnum" Pattern 1913,but the Brits didn't have powder or time to change over.The Pattern 1914 were made in the States in 303British.With the WW I,production quickly shifted to 30.06.They were the main battle rifle for the war (Sargent York used one )
Commonly called "Enfields" after the design team or P-17 as in pattern.

P17 is actually the incorrect name for this rifle. The rifle made for the Brits was known as the P14 but the US version was known as the M1917. The P13 was actually a British experiment with a .276 caliber cartridge.

The attached link will give you the full poop on this rifle..

http://www.odcmp.com/Forms/M1917.pdf

[ 05-11-2003, 16:44: Message edited by: Pa.Frank ]

Thanks ,Frank,for some of the interesting background history.The old forum Gun and Knife had a M1917 section,which had a lot usage history.As a Canuck,the use of Enfield is quite confusing.P-17 makes more sense as it was used by Canadians during WWII for home guard use.(mine)Purist nit-picking aside.

If any of you guys in Canada are planning a custom on a '17,call me first. I have a Churchill in 30-06 at 23". This is a '17 that has been rebarreled and restocked in England.The rear bridge as been filled,recontoured and drilled and tapped for the same Weaver #11 base as the front ring,has both bases installed.Bottom metal has been straightened and the stock is quite decent.You couldn't get the gunsmithing done on a military action for what I want for the whole rifle.Would make a nice 35 Whelen.I like these actions but have decided that I need better optics for the rifles that I use, rather than having so many extra rifles around.

What do you want for it Rembo? - Dan

Obviously, as my name indicates, I have an interest in these rifles, and I have a number of "custom" guns built on them, a .300 Winchester Magnum, 6.5x55 and .308 target rifles, as well as a couple of '14s, one of which has been rechambered with a .300 Winchester Magnum reamer to create a ".303 Winchester Magnum".

If you want to discuss this further, don't hesitate to PM me. There are a few things you need to bear in mind if you are considering a custom rifle based upon this action.

There was a time in North America when this was one of the most commonly used actions for building a custom rifle, and it remains the only military action that is really suitable for the big Weatherby, Rigby, A-Square magnum cartridges.

Checkout my post in the Classified section.Will entertain reasonable offers on everything.

[ 05-13-2003, 06:48: Message edited by: rembo ]

P-17 and Rembo-

You both have PM's.

Thanks,

The biggest challenge facing anyone using a P14 or P17 action is probably how to make it less ugly! Some go beyond this and actually make them attractive! I think there are some aspects of the design that are beneficial while others are not. The angled locking lug seats are beneficial. They offer great camming power on closing and ease extraction on opening. The forward angled rear guard screw seems stupid to me.
When the P14 was designed there were two great bolt stop designs out there. The Mauser and the Springfield. The design team carefully avoided both of these and came up with a boltstop which is difficult to operate combined with an ejector that is prone to failure. Nonetheless the action is pretty decent for many projects and I have a couple. I have been impressed over the years by the accuracy shown by many of the varmint rifles built on these actions. Regards, Bill.

One of the design features that's rarely discussed, but is truly exceptional is the safety. It's incredibly simple and user-friendly, and it supports all scope mounting. Remington actually continued with that safety in their Model 725, which was the "deluxe" rifle between the 721/722 and the 700.