I have an remington 1917 enfield that "needs" some conversion. My dad would like a rifle in 300 mag. or maybe even 375 H&H.

How much work would be involved in making the conversion to say...a 300 or 375 H&H? The ears have been milled and the current caliber is 30-06. It has the usual sporterized characteristics. Would feeding and bolt work be costly, or is it an easier conversion than it sounds? (I've heard enfields are difficult to work with)
thanks

The model 30 remington enfield was avalable in 300HH.

My 1917 enfield is now a .375 H&H...totally safe and shoots well. It has a new bolt handle, Timney trigger, cock on opening conversion, Three position M-70 safety, flat floor plate, Shilen barrel, drilled and tapped for scope mounts, Magazine altered for the long cases, feed rails altered, bolt face altered, hi-polish blueing, a beautiful fiddleback walnut stock, fancy checkering.......

Unless you're able to do most of this work your self, I'd advise you take it to your nearest dealer and trade it for a new M-70 .375 H&H and be money ahead.

The Enfield does make a very fine sporter in (up to) .458 Lott.....but it's a helluvalotta work.

GSP7, I think you are mistaken, Rem 30 as far as I know was never made in .300 H&H, factory calibres that I recall offhand were '06, .270, .25 Remington Very likely .35 Remington and, near the end, .25 Remington Roberts and .257 Robers. But not a long magnum to my best recollection.

If the exterior is already to your liking, this in not harder or eaiser change than a mauser to a 300 win mag...

order your barrel, or send to pacnor and have them do the whole thing...

a local smith with charge you a good deal.. i would estimate, for 375, the cost of the barrel, mounting (100 to 150), feeding (50-75) and bluing.

or merely reworking to 300 HH, a fine round, should run about 150.

jeffe

I don't think it's that big a deal, but it takes a bit of work. Removing the factory barrel is best done by making a relief cut in the existing barrel shoulder. If you want a .300 Winchester magnum, the existing barrel can then be set back a bit, and re-chambered. If it's in decent condition, it works great as a magnum.

I did exactly that on my first '17 and I got 400 full-power rounds out of it before that original 1917 barrel (which was on its last legs when I got it) finally gave up the ghost. I replaced it with an E.R. Shaw barrel and it gives me even better accuracy. However, even that original barrel was no slouch. With a bit of forend bedding, it eaisly gave me groups better than 1 m.o.a. and 3150 f.p.s. with 180-grain bullets. Many people regard E.R. Shaw barrels with disdain, but the few I've ordered have been more than acceptably accurate for hunting rifles based on old military actions. And at their price, they're hard to beat ($135 pre-chambered and threaded for your action). On the other hand, if you want to buy a premium barrel, you can't go wrong.

The existing magazine box works well for a .300 Winchester Magnum, provided you keep the overall length of your loaded cartridge at 3.370". The existing follower works, too.

Modifying the boltface and the extractor for the magnum cartridge are not a big deal. Sometimes the additon of a tiny bevel at the bottom of the bolt face makes feeding slicker. It sure works on mine.

If you want to go .375, just call up Gun Parts Corp and order a Magnum magazine box for this action. It'll cost about 10 bucks, if I recall correctly. It'll require a bit of grinding to get it to fit, but that should be simple and short work for a gunsmith with a milling machine. While you're at it, order the coil spring ejector from them, too.

Frankly, the grinding of the ears and drilling and tapping for a scope are the biggest parts of the job in sporterizing an Enfield. If that's already been done, your proposed conversion should be much easier and cheaper.

You might want to think about an after-market stock from Boyd's or Richard's Microfit. That should run you less than $130. I really like the Dayton Traister trigger, and they make an entire speedlock kit for this action that's very slick indeed. It sells for a little over $50.

One final consideration is the "belly". As you know, this action has a big magazine box that creates a pronounced "belly" in front of the trigger guard. This belly can be eliminated by cutting and welding the bottom metal into a straight line. If this is done, you'll need to accommodate the change by cutting the magazine box down accordingly and purchasing an after-market trigger and stock specifically designed for this modification. (The fact that triger and stock companies make factory replacements to go specifically with this cut-and-welded bottom metal should give you an idea of how common and simple this conversion is.)

Finally, some people like to have the bolt handle replaced. Personally, I've not found this necessary. Anyway, I kind of like the distinctive look of that dog-leg handle because it's the tell-tale sign that the action is an Enfield. However, the vast majority of people think it's ugly as sin. If you don't like it, you can have it cut off and replaced with an after-market handle -- at extra cost.

Other than the above, you should have great service out of your Remington '17. I'd recommend that you go for it. I'd probably try to use that original barrel as a .300 Winchester Magnum first. After it gives up the ghost, you can always try a .375 barrel. If you do it this way you can have fun for less expense up front and do the full conversion later, although I'd recommend removing the belly, etc. at the outset.

Just my 2 cents.

P-17,That's making it too easy.The rear of the box can easily be removed and turned around to give that extra length.