Stonefly_Soldier
New member
Just curious what people think of these rifles, if anyone has ever seen one thats been rechambered... I ended up with one through a funny series of events. and i'm pretty excited to try it out
300 win mag on a 1917 eddystone action
- Thread starter Stonefly_Soldier
- Start date
While the P14/P17 action are purported as being some of the strongest available, I'll give you an instance of this being subjagated by improper gunsmithing. I had one of these actions rebarrelled to 257 Wby by an experienced gunsmith. After approximately 200 rounds, the rifle suffered a catastrophic failure which almost killed me(lost several pints of blood, mangled face, lifeflight helo ride, jaws wired for 12 weeks). The culprit seemed to be the annealing prior to D&T for the scope bases which caused a stress area that later split.
No more military actions chambered for magnums/higher pressure cartridges for me. If you can't get it Magnafluxed, I wouldn't shoot it for anything. Just my opinion, those American Enfields can be strong but improper handling can compromise the strength.
No more military actions chambered for magnums/higher pressure cartridges for me. If you can't get it Magnafluxed, I wouldn't shoot it for anything. Just my opinion, those American Enfields can be strong but improper handling can compromise the strength.
warbirdlover
New member
The receiver shouldn't have needed annealing for the drilling and tapping. The typical hardness for rifle receivers and barrels is middle HRC 30's. Strong and tough but still machineable. If your gunsmith did the annealing with a torch (probably) he's NOT a good gunsmith but an idiot.
One of the first rifles I built was on a 1917 Enfield. Mine is a 416 Rigby.
The action is plenty strong enough. Yeah you have to open up the bolt face if you're going to a 300 WM, no biggy. I wont touch an action with heat. I used carbine drills and taps to install mounts. (Go slow, you don't want to twist one off). I gound of the ears, Openned the bolt face, modified (cut down) the extractor. I had to open the rails to get the Rigby cases to fit.
Only problem I had was the 416 Rigby kicks like a mule. You 300 WM wont be that bad.
But yes the 1917 Enfield is an excellent action as long as you don't screw up an unmodified 1917. There arn't enough of those left.
My action was given to me, all it was was an action. I have an "an issued" Eddystone I would never modifiy.
The action is plenty strong enough. Yeah you have to open up the bolt face if you're going to a 300 WM, no biggy. I wont touch an action with heat. I used carbine drills and taps to install mounts. (Go slow, you don't want to twist one off). I gound of the ears, Openned the bolt face, modified (cut down) the extractor. I had to open the rails to get the Rigby cases to fit.
Only problem I had was the 416 Rigby kicks like a mule. You 300 WM wont be that bad.
But yes the 1917 Enfield is an excellent action as long as you don't screw up an unmodified 1917. There arn't enough of those left.
My action was given to me, all it was was an action. I have an "an issued" Eddystone I would never modifiy.
Stonefly_Soldier
New member
Well, it's nice to hear the mostly good reviews. It's my first magnum rifle so I'm pretty excited.
What happened was one of my local pawn shops was having a 50% off everything sale. I went in and this rifle caught my eye. So I had them pull it down for me and the action seemed to attract my attention I was guessing it was an eddystone but I wasn't 100% sure. there was no stamping that showed the caliber so, it peaked my interest. Then I got to looking around and I noticed all the hand work done to make the action fit the stock. I also noticed the barrel had been floated, crowned nicely, and glass bedded. She had some surface rust and was a little worn but it looked like it had been built for the purpose of putting meat on the table. Needless to say the mystery intrigued me, so i started inspecting the bore and chamber. it was definitely a .30 cal of some sort. and the chamber was definitely larger than an 06... So as the guy at the counter and I had deduced that it was probably either a 300h&h or a 300 win. He said I needed to get it bore cast to be sure of the caliber before I blew myself up. I walked out the door with the rifle after filling out my forms and putting down the cash.
The next day I took it over to my smith and we looked it over and I told him the whole story and he walked me through the whole piece. he said that it was definitely a 300 win mag. He asked me how much I paid. I was a bit nervous but I told him that I had paid $180 and the guy at the counter had thrown in a 30mm gau9 cannon rd and a round for a .950 jdj(found out later that the value of those 2 rounds combined was worth more than I had paid for the rifle). He said that the barrel and action combo was worth about 250 and the custom work was probably worth another 100-150. The scope was nothing special and worth about $75. As he said, "ya know Casey, sometimes I hate you." Jokingly of course. It needs a cleaning, a couple bolts, and a run through the blueing tank and she'll be a nice little rifle.
Now I have to decide how much I like it after I've shot it. I think it'll be a fun project to restore it and see how accurate it is.
What happened was one of my local pawn shops was having a 50% off everything sale. I went in and this rifle caught my eye. So I had them pull it down for me and the action seemed to attract my attention I was guessing it was an eddystone but I wasn't 100% sure. there was no stamping that showed the caliber so, it peaked my interest. Then I got to looking around and I noticed all the hand work done to make the action fit the stock. I also noticed the barrel had been floated, crowned nicely, and glass bedded. She had some surface rust and was a little worn but it looked like it had been built for the purpose of putting meat on the table. Needless to say the mystery intrigued me, so i started inspecting the bore and chamber. it was definitely a .30 cal of some sort. and the chamber was definitely larger than an 06... So as the guy at the counter and I had deduced that it was probably either a 300h&h or a 300 win. He said I needed to get it bore cast to be sure of the caliber before I blew myself up. I walked out the door with the rifle after filling out my forms and putting down the cash.
The next day I took it over to my smith and we looked it over and I told him the whole story and he walked me through the whole piece. he said that it was definitely a 300 win mag. He asked me how much I paid. I was a bit nervous but I told him that I had paid $180 and the guy at the counter had thrown in a 30mm gau9 cannon rd and a round for a .950 jdj(found out later that the value of those 2 rounds combined was worth more than I had paid for the rifle). He said that the barrel and action combo was worth about 250 and the custom work was probably worth another 100-150. The scope was nothing special and worth about $75. As he said, "ya know Casey, sometimes I hate you." Jokingly of course. It needs a cleaning, a couple bolts, and a run through the blueing tank and she'll be a nice little rifle.
Now I have to decide how much I like it after I've shot it. I think it'll be a fun project to restore it and see how accurate it is.
Stonefly_Soldier
New member
sc928porsche
New member
To retemper an action or any gun part, requires a kiln, accurate thermometers, proper cooling media, a hardness tester and of course a good knowledge of metalurgy. Just remember that before you even spend your $ on the action, be sure to have it magnafluxed or x-rayed to check for cracks etc.
Stonefly_Soldier
New member
first couple of shots are definitely coming from a vice and a rope... then i'll shoot it from the shoulder if it performs well... the action and chamber looked to be in great shape... its just looks a bit ugly due to surface rust(itll get a trip to the bluing tank after testing)