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Found a M1917 type rifle at local gun store. It is marked ERA. It is chambered in .303. Who made this one?
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"In God We Trust" -
Might be a P14. Pics?? -
Eddystone made that one.Comment
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I don't know if the Brits made any of them. They were never proof marked until released for surplus. Brit military was not subject to Brit proof law!You can never go home again.Comment
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It IS an Eddystone made (so basically a Remington owned factory) Enfield Pattern 1914 rifle, no doubt.Comment
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The 'ERA' P 14s were made at the Eddystone, PA plant of the Remington Arms of Delaware Company.Comment
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As part of the British proofing requirement at the time they were sold off as surplus, the P-14's were stamped NOT ENGLISH MAKE along the left side of the receiver. I have a Winchester which escaped the Weedon Repair that removed the volley sights. Has the original Winchester stamped stock and is RAF markedComment
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The P14 was simply adapted from the experimental P13 in cal. 276 which had been going though generally successful field trials when WWI broke out. It's likely that the P13, with it's modern high velocity round, would have replaced the Lee Enfield designed rifles, as was the plan, had the war not broken out. With the war on it, didn't make sense to ramp up for a new round but rather it seemed sensible to adapt the P13 platform to 303, and create the P14. That was accomplished quick enough but then there was no factory time available in Britain to produce the required tooling and then to make the guns in mass quantity. For those reasons production was successfully farmed out to U.S. companies, which turned out to be most fortuitous when the U.S. entered the war horribly short on rifles in April 1917. The U.S. War Dept. put out and emergency call for proposals for rifle designs. Along with other relatively minor modifications, the good folks at Remington slapped an 06' barrel on a P14. With the P14 contacts nearing completion it only made sense to modify the existing P14 equipment and quickly crank out M1917's.Comment
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Are there RAF markings in the wood, or on the disc, on your P14 mannparks? The reason I ask is because most P14's I've seen have had the "Weedon" repair done to them which eliminated the barrage sights. However my RAF marked P14 retains the barrage sights. I'm just curious if RAF inventory might not have undergone the Weedon repair between the wars.Comment
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KCW, short answer, there can be as many as eight different types of markings on the P 14 .the Rondel,
or the marking just on the right side in front of the brass marker on the stock is mfg. all in a circle (I.e.) IR,IW, and this gun I.E.
Under the pistol grip would be proof marks,and a weedon mark six pointed star over a letter The letter designates the contract firm ,my rifle has no weedon mark because it did not go through their rebuild process.
Ownership and acceptance marks on the receiver consists of which countries ,mine is a Great Britain ,there is also Australia ,Canada ,New Zealand, South Africa.
The weedon repair service started in 1939 by the British government.
Just a sidenote have you ever watched the show foyles war it's on PBS ,takes place during World War II on the south coast of Britain .one of the episodes has a wonderful sniper P 14 Mark I.
CharlesComment
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Barrage sights? I believe you meant "volley sights"
The original idea of "spray and pray' saturating an area with "to whom it may concern"
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Now you have me intrigued. Was there actually such a thing as a Pattern 14 Mark I rifle and, if so, was there ever a Mark II? Also, it seems that the Brits went back and forth on the "Pattern" nomenclature versus "Number" (as in Number 4 Mk 2). Does anyone here know if there was any logic behind this or was it just bureaucratic inconsistency?"They've took the fun out of running the race. You never see a campfire anywhere. There's never any time for visiting." - Joe Redington Sr., 1997Comment
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