I recently picked up a Winchester P17 enfield that has been converted to a magnum bolt face. With the magazine full, cycling the bolt back hard will allow the stack of roungs to pop part way out, bullet first. Is this caused by a weak mag spring or rails that have been opened up too much?

Thanks,
Tim

could be follower, spring, rails, underrails, or box

jeffe

Jeffe,

Thanks for the reply. Any easy way to narrow it down other than swapping out the follower, spring and box?

Thanks,
Tim

spring first... find a rifle with a hard one and try... it could be, metalwise, wither too little cut (the "shelf" of the rail is too small" or too much rail cut off

jeffe

With these, the problem most likely is the mag well needs widening in the area of the shoulder to allow the case to sit well under the feed rail. Load 2 rounds in the magazine and look to see how well the follower pushes these against the sides of the magazine box.

I guess the most obvious things are what I should check first I loaded the magazine with several '06 cases and it feeds them fine. Looks like no modifacations have been done to the rails and follower at all. The rails have a shoulder on the left side that looks like it needs to be moved forward about 3/8" to alllow the shoulder of the case to fit under the rail. What modifacations are needed on the follower to facillitate feeding the mag case?

Thanks,
Tim

quote:

Originally posted by Tim_Ryan:
I guess the most obvious things are what I should check first I loaded the magazine with several '06 cases and it feeds them fine. Looks like no modifacations have been done to the rails and follower at all. The rails have a shoulder on the left side that looks like it needs to be moved forward about 3/8" to alllow the shoulder of the case to fit under the rail. What modifacations are needed on the follower to facillitate feeding the mag case?

Thanks,
Tim

The main job of the follower is to keep the cartridges neatly stacked and tucked under the feed lips or rails until they are brought forward by the bolt. The shape of the mag well, feed rails and ramp is usually what determines how the cartridge feeds from the box.

The undersides of the feed rails must accomodate the full case including the shoulder in order to prevent rounds from inadvertently popping up when least expected, or, when not desired.

Opening this area can be relatively easy, or, scary, depending on the case. You should seek a gunsmith who knows what to remove and from where to remove it. Feel free to drop me a PM if you need assistance. Good luck.