Need help identifying my rifle

[DBMeed]

I recently inherited a .303 british rifle, and other than that I do not know much about it-If anyone could tell me how much its worth, accuracy, effective range, etc. it would be much appreciated.

[DBMeed]

I tried to get the highest resolution pics I could, if you need more just tell me what you want a close up of

[jack404]

G'day and welcome

at first i thought it a Remington Enfield sporter or Canadian club rifle

but note the Arrow acceptance mark making this a sporterised Remington enfield

so value, if it was original it'd be twice as valuable market wise as it is now sadly

accuracy with a decent sight on it is 1200 yards effective group , volley fire
800 yards point target marksman
600 yards infantry qualifying mark

put a scope on it and load up some zingers ( mil ammo varies too much )

and you can use it in F class shoots ( 1000 yards)

if i'm correct this is a early early one , part made in england to be copied and tooling set up in the american fashion and manufactured from there , to kick off the deal i think 5000 part gun where sent to the US assembled in the US but basically had been built and stripped in the UK ( It has UK proof and export marks and some marks have been X'd out )

if Original its a collectors piece

this has extensive mod's done, safety moved to the right ( common enough but cuts the value in half straight away unless done by parker hale or BSA they did good jobs and had a special made receiver, this one was bubba'd

though looks to be a VG bubba , still a bubba

( sorry i'm guilty of doing the exact same thing 20 + years ago buy 100 ww2 rifles and sporterise them and sell em as deer or pig rifles )

just my idea

[GunHugger]

I have s l o w internet...

I'll come back in an hour and see if they all loaded yet.

[jim brady]

Me too - GunHugger. Still downloading... I bow humbley to Jack's superior wisdom on the .303 rifles. Looks to me to be a sporterized P-14 Enfield. If that be the case, value is about $150 to $200 around here.

Not being a Sergeant Alvin C. York, I'd figure that as a hunting rifle and current sights it would drop a deer or elk with a properly placed shot at upwards of 200 yards with a 180 grain commercial hunting round.

Good looking rifle. I'd be proud to take it to the range or hunting. Caliber id up there with .308 Winchester and .30-06. Not exact, but close enough that I wouldn't want to duck one........

[jack404]

actually i'm confused , its part P-14 and part not

gonna fix the pic's back in a sec

still big but dont take 10 mi's to load

( i like big clear pic's , but thats over kill even for me )


the

.303 NITRO PROOF

is overstamping the british ( or canadian) arrow and proof

meaning it was proofed in the UK then had a export stamp put on it again

got me ..

it has early UK acceptance and proofs and later UK ones and some are crossed out in the US import fashion

and a whopping great Remington emblem on top !!!!

i'll pass for any clear statement folks maybe the barrel was a later Import ? but theres brit marks on the receiver section too . so i dunno

[DBMeed]

Originally Posted by jack404

put a scope on it and load up some zingers ( mil ammo varies too much )

This rifle doesnt appear to have standard scope rail/mounts, what do i have to do to get them/where can i get them?
Also, how can I add a scope without lowering any value it might have?

[jim brady]

Scope bases are not going to be easy. I did the same thing with an Enfield that was re-barreled to .458 Win Mag. After a lot of research, I found that the closest you will get is to find bases that fit a Model 30 Remington. They made a sporter version of the M1917 Enfield and the receiver contour without the protective 'ears' is about what you are looking for.

I wouldn't worry about lowering any value. It's still worth around $200 any way you slice it. If you are looking to make this into an expensive rifle, I'm affraid you are going to be disappointed in the end.

My two little pennies here: if you hunt or target shoot, fix it up with a scope and enjoy it. If niether apply, sell it and enjoy your $200. Good luck!

[DBMeed]

ok thanks everyone!

[jack404]

http://www.rpgfirearms.com.au/SCOPE%20MOUNTS.htm

scope mounts for your rifle

[RJay]

Perhaps a Bannermans Special?, It is hard to put a label on that one.

[nmckenzie]

Went to Google Image and tapped in REMINGTON EDDYSTONE PATTERN 14 RIFLE MARKINGS. Amongst the photos which cropped up was one of a barreled action bearing the same RE marking. It's for sale at lawrenceordnance.com, and is listed as a .303 Pattern 14 (No.3 Mk1/1*).

[Jim K]

RE (Remington Eddystone) was the marking used by Eddystone on the Pattern 1914 rifles made for the British. Later U.S. Model 1917 rifles were marked "Eddystone".

The other markings cover several periods. The broad arrow and the British military proof and acceptance markings were put on when the rifle was accepted for British service in 1916. The ".303/Nitro Proof" marking and the commercial proofs were added when the rifle was sold out of British government stores. The "Star" on the receiver is the "double broad arrow", made by placing a second broad arrow point-to-point of the original, indicating the rifle was no longer crown property.

There is a lot of history there, but now it is a "sporterized" militry rifle with a low value.

Any scope bases for the U.S. Model 1917 "Enfield" will fit the Pattern 14.

Jim

[jim brady]

There is a little fly in the ointment on scope mount bases. The protective 'ears' have been mostly removed, but not to the point that the contour of the rear bridge at the receiver is changed all that much. That was often a common practice during the heyday of butchering - err, 'sporterizeing' - military rifles in the 50s and 60s.

Two options as I see it - either have the rear of the receiver contoured (sort of costly to have it done these days) like that of a Model 30 Remington, or there used to be an outfit that made a base that fitted into the slot milled in for the rear sight. I haven't lived in town since I retired, so I don't know if anyone makes or still carry them anymore.

[nmckenzie]

Originally Posted by jim brady

there used to be an outfit that made a base that fitted into the slot milled in for the rear sight.

I think that was a Parker-Hale item. Before going nuts trying to locate one, you might ask around to see who might have a decent selection of Weaver scope ring bases. The rear base would be the simple one - dead flat underneath, preferably low, with sufficient hole spacing to clear the milled area in the rear ring. Once that's temporarily rubber-cemented to the top of the rear ring, it's just a matter of going through an assortment of front bases to match the rear. Using the bolt body as a guide, lay a short section of cleaning rod across both bases, switching heights on either until the rod is parallel with the bolt body. I know this sounds kinda rinky-dink, but I've used the method successfully to fit bases on receivers that've been thoughtlessly reshaped to no known specification.

[Jim K]

Using a "dead flat" rear base depends on the contour, that "fly in the ointment", as well as having the lightening hole, if any, filled in. As one who removed lots of those ears and filled lots of those holes, I can only say that I tried to keep a reasonable contour and that the bases sold for the M1917 do work with the "ears" removed. Since the contouring was done by hand, installing the rear base may need some adjustment to the receiver or base, or the use of a shim.

Actually on that rifle the ears appear to have been removed, but the top of the receiver not contoured at all, something I should have mentioned in discussing scope mounting.

Jim

[nmckenzie]

Originally Posted by Jim K

Actually on that rifle the ears appear to have been removed, but the top of the receiver not contoured at all, something I should have mentioned in discussing scope mounting. Jim

Hence my thought of going dead flat and low for the rear base. I can recall going bonkers with P-14s and US1917s on which someone had removed the ears and then arbitrarily ground the rear ring to what sort of, kind of, maybe, resembled the rear ring contour of a commercial Remington 30-S. That was, as the say, back in the good old days - circa 1965 or so.

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by jim brady

. I did the same thing with an Enfield that was re-barreled to .458 Win Mag.

yikes.. i had no idea the action was up for that kind of retrofit!

[jim brady]

My apologies to all - I referred to a Model 33 Remington - I should have correctly referred to the Model 30. That Enfield is quite an action. The one I had was re-barrel to .458 Win Mag. With that barrel - even short as it was - about 20 inches - the darned thing was VERY heavy and kicked like a Missouri mule. Killed at one end and maimed at the other. Ole Doc made me give her up.

[nmckenzie]

Originally Posted by soundguy

yikes.. i had no idea the action was up for that kind of retrofit!

A customer of mine back in the late '60s had a US M1917 rebarreled to one of the really big blasters - .505 Gibbs if memory serves me. Douglas did the barrel and associated bolt face, extractor and ejector work, but I don't recall who did the stock - at the time it would've been Bishop or Fajen. I'd recommended at the time he add an additional recoil lug below the barrel, but last I saw of the barreled action he hadn't followed through on the suggestion. This fellow did love the M1917 action and large cartridges - .458 Win., .460 Wby and the like. I suspect he had a chiropractor on retainer.