P14 accurizing information

[Scott from Indiana]

I got bored and bought one of the Criterion P14 barrels for a rifle that had a damaged barrel. With the action rebarrelled, bolt lapped and headspacing complete, I noticed that the action rocked in the forend like a rocking horse. The "King" bushing at the front of the triggerguard did not line up properly with the action, creating an elevated pivot point in the forend. Looking to correct that. Can anyone point me to any accurizing information that my Google searches have not picked up?

Thanks,

Scott

[kcw]

You may wish to obtain the NRA reprint "British Enfield Rifles". Pages 7-9 deal with the Pattern 14 rifle. Page 9 includes the section "Proper stocking method". Assuming that you have a GI stock, you want the loosely fitted action to rest upon the receiver tang and the forward part of the barrel channel where it lies upon the raised "pad" which is milled into the stock to support that part of the barrel near the muzzle. Loosely fitted, there should be a bit of air between the bottom flat of the receiver in the lug area, and the stock. When the action screws are properly drawn up to spec., the receiver lug area would then be pulled downward against the stock, closing the previously mentioned gap between the lug area and the stock. The idea here is to place a bit of pressure between the forward stock "pad" and the underside of the barrel near the muzzle. If I recall correctly there should be about 5-6ibs pressure between the "pad" and the barrel in that area. What you commonly find is that the wood under the rear tang has turned into nothing more than greasy "mush" on these vintage stocks, incapable of keeping the receiver tang properly elevated so as to achieve the previously mentioned wood to metal relationships at the lug area.
I like to dig out the rotten "cavity" around the rear tang bushing (I believe there's a bushing there) with a Dremmel and refill it with suitable bedding material. I then place a spacer (Maybe .0010? thick) between the stock and flat under the receiver at the lug area. While the bedding material sets up, the action will rest firmly only upon the spacer and the "pad" in the stock near the barrel muzzle. Once the bedding material has properly cured you can then remove the temporary spacer and properly affix the action to the stock to determine if you've obtained a suitable pressure situation between the stock and the barrel near the muzzle. The bedding at the tang can subsequently be added to or ground down if more or less pressure is required.
Additionally you would want to bed the area between the rear face of the recoil lug and the stock.

[Scott from Indiana]

Downloaded the reprint, read the section suggested. Once I get the front triggerguard screw fit correct, I will work on the receiver fit in the wood. Wood under the tang seems pretty solid, may try a shim if it doesn't need too much adjustment. Thanks!

[kcw]

Scott, Regarding that "King" bushing issue. I'm unclear as to your situation. Are you saying that the steel bushing in the stock is too long, that it sticks up and rides against the receiver "lug", therefore not allowing the action to be properly seated into the stock?

[Scott from Indiana]

What I am seeing is that there is a slightly raised section (would correct terminology be "on the recoil lug?") where the front triggerguard screw fits into the receiver that appears to have been intended to fit inside the bushing. With the receiver in the stock, that raised area does not completely line up with the bushing, causing the bushing to push up on the receiver when the front triggerguard screw is tightened. Ideally, the bushing appears intended to slip over the raised portion and fit snugly against the receiver. With this rifle, the receiver sits slightly forward, causing the bushing to sit on top of the raised portion of the receiver instead of fitting over it. I have access to another p14 that appears to be bedded correctly, with pressure on the barrel pushing it to the bottom of the barrel channel. I will see if I can take that one apart and see what the difference is. Does this make sense to you? I may try to take a picture and see if I can either post it here or post a link to it so that you can see what I am speaking of.

[kcw]

You're correct Scott, the lower end of the recoil lug should fit down inside the top portion of the bushing. And likewise, the lower end of the bushing should then fit into the slight recess around the forward screw hole in the trigger guard. How does the lower end of the bushing align with the trigger guard? You have no issues with the alignment of the rear bushing/trigger guard/ receiver?
Assuming that there's no problem with the bushing at the trigger guard, it's possible that the forward bushing hole was drilled at a slight angle, the lower portion may line up with the recess in the trigger guard, but the top is too out of spec to engage the lower end of the lug. Of course if the action screw manages to get through so as to engage the threads in the lug, then the alignment can't be off by much. If "the receiver sits slightly forward", then the bushing is tilted slightly rearward (assuming the lower end of the bushing properly engages the trigger guard). If that is the case then I would tap out the bushing and use a suitably sized rat tail file to file out the hole in the stock so as to bring the bushing into proper alignment. Then I would secure the bushing into the now oversize hole in the stock with small amount of Brownell's bedding material around it. Then CAREFULLY & GENTLY install the receiver and trigger guard, being careful to make certain both the receiver lug end and trigger guard recess engage the bushing as they should (You might want to use and extra pair of hands for this), snugging up both action screws. After the bedding material has suitably cured remove the action/ trigger guard and determine of the bushing is well affixed in the hole. You may find that you need to stuff additional bedding around either end of the bushing with a toothpick.
It sound to me as if you have stock that got by an inspector. That can happen during the rush of war time production.

[Scott from Indiana]

kcw, You are correct. The hole in the stock was not straight, the trigger guard end was tilted back towards the trigger. Rasping out the hole (just at the trigger guard end) to allow the bushing to fit at a true 90 degree angle to the stock allowed the bushing to fit correctly over the recoil lug and, it appears, inside the recess in the trigger guard. The correct fit also stopped the rocking of the action and I now have some weak downward pressure of the barrel against the stock at the muzzle end. Before I Acraglas the bushing in, I want to do some more measuring and fitting to make sure that the bushing is the correct length, as it doesn't seem like it was properly fitted when the rifle was built.

I like to think carefully about anything that involves removing metal or wood, it is easy to remove and hard to put back. You definitely pointed me in the right direction. Thanks very much for your assistance!

[kcw]

Now that you've eliminated the rocking on the forward bushing, and obtained some "weak" downward pressure at the muzzle, you may wish to consider fashioning a "U" shaped shim of suitable thickness to go between the rear bushing and the tang at the rear end of the receiver. This will serve to slightly elevate the rear of the receiver and correspondingly serve to slightly increase the gap between the "flat" at the receiver lug area and the stock. Then, when the forward screw is drawn down, you'll further increase the pressure between the muzzle end of the barrel and the stock. The use of such shims are a common "fix" on P14's, 17's & 03's. People use leather, brass, a piece of old credit card. Ultimately you may wish to consider a permanent shim of glass bedding as mentioned in my 1st post.

[kcw]

BTW Scott, who did the rebarrel work for you? I have an all "original" Winchester P14 which unfortunately has a near sewer pipe barrel. I have long considered a new barrel.. The local guy says that I'd have to provide the finish reamer and gauges as he doesn't have anything for 303B. I sort of hate to make such an investment for a one time use.

[Scott from Indiana]

Once I am certain that I have the bushing length correct, I will concentrate on the barrel pressure. One of the things that led me to look closely at the front triggerguard and bushing was the lack of any significant contact/crush marks on the wood in the area of the front triggerguard screw. And the rocking. I still may need to shorten the bushing a little to get good contact with the wood. Then I can fix the bushing in place and see about shimming or filling in under the tang. I did my own barrel work, the hardest part was/is getting the old barrel off without damaging it. Or twisting or cracking the receiver. I wanted to save this barrel, even though it was damaged at the front sight and counterbored, it does appear to be original and serial numbered to the receiver. If you don't need to save the barrel, a parting cut at the rear shoulder of the barrel makes everything go a lot easier.

This is the second .303 barrel I have had to finish ream, the first time I bought the gauges and borrowed the reamer, this time I bought the reamer too. I think that I will have at least one more to do; I have another RE P14 with a so-so Winchester barrel on it that may get the Criterion treatment if this one works out well. That one still shoots pretty well though, so I didn't see any reason to rush into it. You may want to check into renting the reamer, I know that you can rent them for about half (or less) the cost of buying, maybe you can rent the gauges as well? You really only need the go and no-go for this job. Do a google search for "chamber reamer rentals" or "finishing reamer rentals", you will get some hits. Or just bring it over some Saturday afternoon....