300 mag Mauser part 2--Pic heavy

shootuadeal

Here are the pictures of the mauser actioned 300 win mag I asked you about yesterday. I was wondering if it was safe to shoot 300 win mag rounds through it, and possibly what country it is from and anything else you experts can tell me about it.

Thanks alot in advance, here are the pics:













There really isn't anything else as far as markings on it that aren't visible in the pictures.

rufe-snow

The rifle was made from a Model 1917 U.S. made Enfield military rifle. It appears to be one of the ones made by Remington. These are h**l for strong actions that have been reworked/rebarreled for many magnum cartridges over the years.

That said, I would still take it to a competent gunsmith for inspection, headspacing and testfiring prior to selling it. As it has been reworked in the distance past by a unknown person, you don't if it would be safe for resale until a gunsmith checks it out.

sandwarrior

shootuadeal,

Agree with Rufe-snow. Excellent action for building on. And, take it to a gunsmith and have the headspace checked out or any faults the camera may not pick up.

The dead give-away is the safety. Mausers have a safety that swings over the top (3 position) on the top/back of the bolt. The other first indicator I saw was the bolt-release. On U.S. built Mausers (1903, P14 {Brit.}edit: {what you have} and Model of 1917{what you have}) the bolt release is considerably longer than Mauser built rifles. Third is the bolt handle. Most Mausers come straight out or have this lame looking bent down bolt handle forged with the bolt body. 1903's have a nicer looking bend to them but the body isn't forged with the bolt it's added later. P14/1917 have that double curved and downward bent bolt. It's also added after the bolt body is made. IMO it's the best looking and functioning. But, not the easiest to make.

perry shooter

These actions came with a protected rear sight on the back of the action.This is normally ground off to allow one to mout a scope base. Yours looks like there has also been some welding on the rear receiver area.and like the front area was turned down in a lathe[:0][:(]. I would be very careful with this Receiver.

shootuadeal

Thanks for the help guys.

Perry, I see on the front what you are referring to but I dont see what the point of turning it down would be. I dont see what you are talking about the welding on the rear reciever probaly where the they ground it down it looks like the put some JB weld(or equivilent epoxy) on there and polished it flat.

nononsense

shootuadeal,

The cylindrical area at the front of the action is where the hand guard ring sits to hold the rear of the hand guard in place.

The area on the rear bridge used to have large protrusions (often called 'ears') which protected the rear sight. When the rear sight is removed and the 'ears' ground off, there is an oval hole in the the rear bridge. On your rifle, this appears to have been fill in with either weld or some sort of epoxy. You'll have to tell us.

Your rifle, in its original form, is known to have been one of the strongest actions that gunsmiths use for high power/high pressure cartridges. Yours is stamped 'DP' which stands for Drill Practice. This was a form of demilling so that clubs and organizations could use these for drills and practice. The barrel tenon was drilled through and the hole through the chamber either welded or pinned and welded. These barrels were extremely difficult to remove in order to use the action. Normally we had to turn the barrel and cut a groove in the tenon to relieve some of the tension to allow the barrel to be removed. Sometimes the barrel was cut off completely and the threaded tenon turned down inside the action front ring.

I suggest getting an expert hands-on opinion from someone qualified with these actions.

Best.

MIKE WISKEY

just for the nit pickers, your rifle started life as a p-14 british rifle (re=remington/eddystone plant). As said above it is a very strong action and (assuming good workmanship) more than up to the .300 Win. Mag.

Mobuck

Just an FYI. I had one of these actions blow up in my face due to incorrect drilling&tapping operations on the front ring. In this rifle's case there may have been some extra stress on that area during the removal of the barrel also.

Alan Rushing

Shootuadeal,

IMNSHO: I'd definitely not fire this rifle, nor let anyone else use it nor let it out of my shop until after a complete and thorough check-up by a competent gunsmith.

Meanwhile: Could I trouble you for some additional photos? Were these that you have posted true to the colors? If it is possible to get better quality, more definition, clearer focus?

(( I believe that general angles and portions of the rifle: butt of barrel and entire action, etc are decent distance, etc. Could you give us several from directly overhead with equal lighting to left and right side of the action? A plain, non-glare background would be very advantageous. ))

Thanks, Alan

Ambrose

I would agree with Mike Whiskey that it's a Pattern 14, however, the RE marking indicates it's a Remington. A rifle made in the Eddystone plant would be marked ERA.

sandwarrior

Ambrose,

To clarify, the RE was a P14 marking and the 1917 would be marked Model of 1917, Remington? If so, my bad. Wasn't using the noodle there.

That makes sense now as I had to go and look at mine and it has the complete name 'Remington' on there.