How many m1917 lovers out there?

[North Plains]

Here is a 1917 I bought from Jeramy at lucky sporting goods. Had it rechambered to 300 H&h,new bolt Handel,converted to Cock on opening. Now am working on getting it inleted into the new stock.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Very cool rifle and new chambering North Plains...Looking forward to seeing it when it is finished.
Andy

 

[bsa1917hunter]

User123, that is Very cool. I'll bet you had a blast, shooting that old rifle. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

View attachment 506526
Here is a 1917 I bought from Jeramy at lucky sporting goods. Had it rechambered to 300 H&h,new bolt Handel,converted to Cock on opening. Now am working on getting it inleted into the new stock.

That's a nice slender looking stock. Sounds like it has some good upgrades (c on open and new bolt handle). Does it also have a timney trigger? Good luck with your inletting. Hopefully you also glass bed it. Give us a range report and more pics when you get her done. Thanks!!

 

[North Plains]

I bought the speed lock kit from Dayton traister. Came with new fireing pin spring,cocking piece, and trigger. Inleting is tougher than I thought might take me all winter.

 

[xlsbob]

small town yard sale find

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I bought the speed lock kit from Dayton traister. Came with new fireing pin spring,cocking piece, and trigger. Inleting is tougher than I thought might take me all winter.

You have the right attitude. Just take your time. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful and functional rifle. My buddy was just over at the house and he was looking at my sporterized p14 303 British laying on the work bench and asked a couple times what I'm going to do with it. I told him I'm going to throw it in the BSA model e stock and probably sell it. I have no use for a 303 british... he asked, "how much". I told him, for you $150.00. He got choked up and said I always wanted to get one like you used to have. I may just give the dang thing to him. I've been hunting with him since I was 10 years old. His birthday is on the 19th. I might just surprise him with that rifle all fixed up and refinished.. I'll probably put my project on hold and start on that one..

 

[North Plains]

BSA. Sounds like your a good friend. I have a p14 that I had converterd to 404 Jeffery. It doesn't feed right. I'm taking it back to the guy for the third time hopefully he can get it feeding this time.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

BSA. Sounds like your a good friend. I have a p14 that I had converterd to 404 Jeffery. It doesn't feed right. I'm taking it back to the guy for the third time hopefully he can get it feeding this time.

Good luck with it. 404 would be cool.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Alright, I've got my buddies P14 inletted into the BSA model E stock. Had to cut the mag box down .140", so the floor plate would seat into the bottom of the stock. Also had to inlet the floor plate from the straightened P14, so it would fit the stock. I'll glass bed and make sure it has good freefloat as well. Maybe do that today. Then after that cures, I'll start in with the tru-oil to seal up the stock. Should look pretty good when I'm done. I'd like to guarantee it shoots 1 moa 3 shot groups when finished, but I don't know how the old 303 British will shoot. Never messed with one, so we'll see. I was happy to see you can buy factory 303 ammo at the stores for about $18.00/box. I was wrong on my friends birthday (my other friend's birthday is on the 19th), it's the 25th of this month, so that gives me a little more time to play with this one, before I give it to him. Jut a little progress here: Inletted, sanded down and a little stain added to stock. Checked everything for function, re-drilled and tapped the scope mount holes, removed white line spacers:


Sorry about the crappy cell phone pic. I'll have better ones when finished...

 

[orygun]

@bsa1917hunter , that's a fine looking hunting rifle, right there. The 303 is plagued with headspace problems in SMLEs and their type, but even those could be very accurate. Dad had a No4 MKI-T that he shot with a Weaver peep. My uncle said a quarter would cover 3 shot groups. Dad never ever bragged about it, but Uncle Ted said there were few that posted better targets than Dad.
When you first mentioned it was a 14, not a 17 I thought, "Cool!"

Hope your friend thinks it's as special as I do.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Thank you! That was very nice. Cool story. As for my friend, when he first saw the rifle, laying there in parts, he asked a couple times what I was going to do with it. I told him I didn't know. Right away I knew he wanted it. He said, "I've always wanted a rifle like you had when we were kids". He's like a big brother to me and can get sentimental sometimes. Funny thing is, my wife was standing in the doorway of the garage and overheard our conversation. She later told me in the car, as we were heading to Portland for dinner. She said, "you should just fix it up for him. When is his birthday? It's coming up isn't it?" I said yeah. She said, "you should just give it to him then". I said, yep that is the plan. Of course, it will go through an FFL etc. Just so no one gets the wrong idea. We have a friend that does transfers, so it will only cost my buddy $10.00..

 

[orygun]

What is the plan for optics?

My wife understands the important stuff, too. That's a win-win!

 

[ma96782]

Me too.....I'd love to see the finished project. Please, give us a total cost when you're done. Certainly, alot of time and money was put into this project.

Some of us can only dream about converting a military rifle into a sporter (if a gunsmith was doing it).

Then, OK, Ok, ok.....some of us, "would not even dream to sporterize". So be it.

Before and after pics too.

_________

As for your friend's P14......
$10 for a transfer/background check.....is a super deal.

Course FREE would be even better. Dam those politicians and liberal voters.

Aloha, Mark

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Me too.....I'd love to see the finished project. Please, give us a total cost when you're done. Certainly, alot of time and money was put into this project.

Some of us can only dream about converting a military rifle into a sporter (if a gunsmith was doing it).

Then, OK, Ok, ok.....some of us, "would not even dream to sporterize". So be it.

Before and after pics too.

_________

As for your friend's P14......
$10 for a transfer/background check.....is a super deal.

Course FREE would be even better. Dam those politicians and liberal voters.

Aloha, Mark

I agree buddy. Damn politicians and liberals!!! Anyway, back to the rifle. I have a few thinned coats of tru oil mixed with mineral spirits on the stock now. Working on filling the grain a little. Light wet sanding with a slury etc. With this rifle, i don't see a gunsmith touching it. I'll do all the work, so it's not going to cost anything, except for my time. I also have a nice new Timney 110 laying in my parts bin, that i'm contemplating putting in this ol girl to make it that much nicer. I'll get some pics to you guys after I get it done. Hopefully by the 25th. of this month. Should get a range session in in a few weeks as well. As for a scope, I'm thinking a good ol Burris FFII 3-9x40 since they are on sale for $131.00 and that deal is too hard to pass up. That's the scope that is going on my BSA model E, as soon as I get back to that project. Also, before I forget, the glass bedding turned out great on my buddies P14. Let's hope she shoots good. I'll be damn happy if it shoots moa 3 shot groups...

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Some of you guys want to see before and after pics. I'll do even better and keep you updated with photos of progress. Like I said, bedding came out good. Wet sanded with thinned tru-oil yesterday. Here's what it looked like after filling in some grain:



Glass bedding:


Today after full strength tru-oil application:




I want to get at least another good 5 coats of tru-oil on this one, maybe even more if I can before the 25th..... Project going well though. When done, I'll post pics of how she turns out. Should look pretty good...

 

[MountainBear]

A pink eraser, the large rectangular ones with the angled ends wrapped in wet/dry paper works great to work up the slurry and get the grain filled.
I'm sure you have your tricks as well, as the stock looks nice. I think your friend is going to love it!

 

[bsa1917hunter]

A pink eraser, the large rectangular ones with the angled ends wrapped in wet/dry paper works great to work up the slurry and get the grain filled.
I'm sure you have your tricks as well, as the stock looks nice. I think your friend is going to love it!

Thanks. I appreciate that.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Well, this morning I woke up, thinking I would put my old Weaver K4 on my buddies rifle. Good old steel tube weaver. I'll probably end up puting something newer on there for him later down the road, but this will get him up and running. So, here's the metal after cutting the mag box down to the appropriate height for the new stock (old BSA model E), cutting action screws down to length and installing the Timney 110 sportsman (5 shot trigger):

 

[MountainBear]

Not a 1917 (although you can see one in the background, just to keep it thread appropriate).

But I felt the need to fondle, and decided I should share some red pad goodness with you @bsa1917hunter...
1898 US Krag rifle. It has a Lyman 34 rear sight with a flip down aperture and an early banded and ramped Lyman front with a brass bead. Feels like something that would have been a meat getter back in the teens and 20's. Makes me happy when I look at it.

Still need to put the escutcheon in the stock for the fore end screw to hold it all together right, and maybe inlet some nice island base sling swivels, but it should be ready to hunt for next years deer season...