M98 bolt face

[airedog]

Will the M98 bolt face handle magnum as well as standard cartridges without any modification?

[iiranger]

As I recall, the Standard Mauser rim is 0.473 in inches. ".308 family" is same diameter, but slightly thicker.  And the magnum is approx. 0.510 IN INCHES... Lousy fit. You can "open the bolt face" and it has been done many, many times, but "as is?" NO! NO! NO! P.S. The P-14 Enfield rifle for the .303 British cartridges is correct bolt face. .303 and Magnum have same diameter. [This gun, WW I, was made for Uncle Sam in .30/'06 and called the M-17 Enfield...]

[papitt]

What is the going price for a lee enfield  in 303 british ...I don't think I've ever seen one of these guns the old gunsmith I worked for as a kid always talked about them  He kept telling me it was what I needed because I wanted a 300 win to built..

[John Traveler]

A Lee-Enfield in .303 British is absolutely the wrong place to start for a conversion to .300 Winchester Magnum.  The action is neither long enough, nor strong enough to handle magnum pressures.

The "Enfield" action mentioned is the P-14 in .303 caliber, or it's US version called the M1917 "Enfield".  This is truly a magnum length action, but converting it to a sporter is a lot of work and expense.  Work needed includes: opening up bolt face, grinding off rear sight ears, drill & tap for scope mounts, bending bolt handle, rebarreling, and restocking, etc.

The late, great P.O. Ackley wrote that he did not recommend rechambering the original .30-06 barrel to .300 Winchester magnum because the chamber area was rather thin, and he had encountered conversions with bulged chambers.

[Rangr44]

FYI  The British Lee-Enfield .303 is a rear-locking bolt, while the P-14 U.S. Enfield (made by several US makers) is a strong, front-locking bolt, ala Mauser 98.

The P-14 action, while recommended over the Magnum Mauser action due to lower cost & better availability & strength, is a bear to sporterize - requiring removal of huge receiver sight ears & radius grinding the receiver to accept scope mounts, and welding/reworking the bottom metal from militaty config.
It isn't a good basis for a medium-to-light rifle, but excellent for a "heavy", like a .375 H&H or .458 Whatever.

The needed aftermarket adjustable trigger availability is about the same as for a Mauser or Springfield.

[gunnut69]

Renovating the P14 (or 1917) isn't that bad. Especially if doing a lot of the work yourself. Radiusing the 'ears' can be done with a home built jig. The safety can be used with little modification. The rifles were British designs and are cock on closing..  Most folks will want that changed to cock on open. Triggers are very military but are easily replaced. The actions are strong as the devil and long enough for nearly any round. Even the 505 will work with minimal shoe horning. They used to be dirt cheap but most have disappeared into collections (at horrendous prices). I have a Winchester made version re-barreled and chambered in 300 Win Mag with a special order long throat. This allows the 200 bullets I use to be seated only to the base of the neck. This allows a greater usable internal capacity and greater velocity. I've killed several deer with it and accuracy is great.. Some models, the Edystones made ones I believe, have a large hole in the rear ring. This presents more sprterizing problems, but not insermountable.

[drdougrx]

Hi Guys,

This is an interesting thread.  I have a US Enfield P-17 made by Winchester in 30/06 that my father in law gave me many years ago.  I have looked into sporterizing it at least a half dozen times over the years.  I just think the expense would not be worth the trouble and my gunsmithing skills are, "challenged" , at best.  Best of luck if you attempt the project Airedog!!!  Post pictures!!

[gunnut69]

Your 1917 Enfield has a couple of strikes against it. These are huge actions and opening the bolt face is an extra cost. If building anything on the 308-30-06 case they are way over sized and a Mauser is likely a better place to start. Also the value in unaltered condition on the military collectable market for these rifles has sky rocketed. So a P14 is usually a better place to start as the bolt face is already opened up.. If building a real thumper they are quite easily the best way to go. Parts are readily available and the sight ears and humongous bolt stop are both fairly easy to correct. They still suffer from lack of recoil surface for the real kickers but that to has work arounds. I recently bought 9 partial actions annd at least one is quite likely to become a 416 Rigby! Perhaps a 505 Gibbs?? That last may be too much fun even for me.

[Steve P]

I have a 338 Win mag I made on a Mauser 98 Action.  Opening the bolt and extractor was a little time consuming, but worked perfectly.  With all of the newer dies and calibers popping up, I would look at something just a little different.  I have a 30-06 AI that I am getting 3000 fps with 165gr bullets.  This is 300 win mag velocity without having to modify the bolt face.  Lots of wildcat rounds are made from 30-06 brass.  Combine with an Ackley type improvement and you can easily get magnum velocities without as much cost.

Steve 

[gunnut69]

One thing you might want to consider DRDOUGRX before sporterizing the M-1917, Its. Winxhester manufacture adds several hundred percant to it's calue as a collector piece. I discourage the sporterizing of old military rifles unless they're already damaged beyond repair. The P-14's are available and at considerably lower cost than the winchester built 1917's..