I've always wanted a .303 British hunting rifle. Didn't want a SMLE military rifle or a sporterized one, I wanted an actual commercial hunting rifle. A classic English "Stalking Rifle" would really ring my bell, as would a clean 1895 Winchester but....$$$... Anyway, while at a show on Saturday I flipped the tag over on a BSA commercial .303 built on the P-14 Enfield action. This action has never appealed to me but it was in very good shape and it was a genuine English made .303 hunting rifle, not a reworked military rifle. It's just a nice honest older rifle that looks like it could tell a few stories so it followed me home. I can't find a reference to BSA rifles built on this action in any of the value books so am curious if anybody here has one or has any hands on knowledge of them. Don't think it's anything special but can't find anything on it. The receiver is drilled and tapped and the holes may not be original. I pray I can match up some easily obtainable Weaver bases to the holes so I can slap a vintage scope on it and get it back in the woods. The barrel is stamped "215 bullet". I hope it'll do ok with 180s but if not I'll get some 215 gr Hawks or Woodleighs.
BSA built some commercial .303 rifles based on the SMLE action, too, with different trigger and safety. I have seen a commercial action that looked a lot like a SMLE up top, but appeared to be totally commercial.
All these rifles were in one-piece stocks, too. Usually, they went for around $300.00 or so in the US, because no one knows what they are.
I have an Enfield in 30.06 with the BSA logo, too. I've also seen one of these in .270 with the BSA tag.
I'd love to find out the story on these as to where and when BSA produced these. I'm thinking they bought up surplus after WW1 or 2 and "sporterized" them, machining and drilling the action for conventional scope mounting. Like to know if these were manufactured in the US for Enfield, or actually made by BSA under license from Enfield.
One clue is that, when I ordered a replacement trigger from Dayton Traister for the Enfield, it didn't work and they modified it for according to my instructions to make it work proper. They were quite mystified as to why the need for a mod, knew nothing about Enfields with BSA logo. It did get rid of the horrible two stage pull, much better.
I've been told that these are some of the strongest actions ever made, capable of being taken to any magnum that will fit the magazine. When I had mine customized the smith had a helluva time getting bluing to take on the receiver's steel because it was so hardened.
Mine is remarkably accurate, regularly putting up sub-moa groups with Federal Premium ammo.
I recently emailed BSA in Britain asking if they could give any history, but never got an answer back.
Be careful when mounting a scope to check alignment of rings. Surfaces where bases mount on mine were poorly done, and took some touch up during the custom work. I bent a scope tube before I figured this out.
Couple of pics post-rework from about 20 years back.
Mine does have the typical stampings, near as I can figure, of a military Enfield.
One little tip for the .303, if you're not used to rimmed cartridges in a conventional bolt action. Be sure to load each shell into the magazine so that each lies with the rim in front of the one beneath it...or you'll have a real jam up. Commonly happens with both these and Lee Enfields.
I have one of these rifles in 303British cal. The receiver was tapped and drilled (presumably by BSA) for Parker-Hale bases #3 front and #4 rear. The previous owner had fitted Weaver #35 front and #36 rear bases as the screw spacings exactly match the drillings for the Parker-Hale bases. Presumably he had done this because of the difficulty and expense in obtaining Parker-Hale rings. Unfortunately the Weaver #35/#36 combination, intended for Remington 700 series and clones, does not have the correct height differential front to rear to put the bases into alignment. There is a 21 thou' discrepancy. Also the #36 base has a larger receiver face radius than on the rifle so the base can rock side to side. Probably this caused accuracy problems so he sold the rifle. Lucky me! The BSA-Enfields receiver top faces were reground to the profile of a Winchester model 70. The correct bases are Weaver #46 front (vintage long-tube scope) or #402 front (modern short tube scope) and #47 rear. Unfortunately you will have to get one new hole drilled and tapped in the rear receiver ring to fit the #47. It is possible that a #49A will fit in place of the # 47 without re-drilling as the height and radius are the same, but I have not been able to ascertain the hole spacings in the #49A from my source. http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/CheatSheet.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=572 Hope all this info is of use to you and not tooo tedious. Best Regards, Kevin Mayes.
Last edited by kevthefarmer; 05/28/09. Reason: spelling
These rifles were built in the period 1949-53 from the actions of British P-14 .303 (built 1916-17) and U.S. M-17 30-06 (built 1917-18) rifles that had been declared obsolete models in 1947 by Ordnance, and subsequently "sold out of service". Both these WW1 models were manufactured exclusively in the USA by Winchester and Remington. The series (may have been called "BSA Model 100")was produced in a range of variants from model A to model E. Model A and B utilised sporterised military stocks. C had a new stock with pistol grip and raised cheekpiece but retained the cranked bolt handle and deep bellied magazine floorplate from the parent rifle (sir springers and mine are this model). D and E had new stocks and the bolt handle modified to a more elegant shape and the floorplate reshaped to a smooth line with the underside of the stock. All had the rearsight ears ground off and the reciever top face reprofiled similiar to a Winchester model 70. All the conversion work was done in Birmingham, England. It appears that within a given model there was a considerable variation in the exact detail of the work done over the few years they were made, though some of this could be due to post-manufacture customizing of individual rifles. They were produced in .303 (ex.P-14) BSA serial No. starts with "M" (mine is M7501). 30-06 (ex.M-17) ser.no starts "H". 270win (ex.M-17) ser.no starts "HA". Original service serial numbers were ground off, though some military markings remain visible. These details are based on the few rifles I have seen and heard of and if they are wrong I apologize! Your 215grain refers to the bullet used for the proof firing (220gr in the case of the 30-06). the service bullet throughout the period the P-14 was used remained at 180 grains weight. Best Regards- Kevin Mayes.
You have a reworked military,the only Enfields that were factory sporting rifles were the Remington M-30s and rare M-720s.A bit of history,Britain received M-17s as Lend-Lease.Plus,they had the P-14s as stock. I have late model Winchester P-14 which I stocked with a Boyds JRS semi. I did with my idea of English stauking,iron sight high classic butt,open grip and a slight sloping fore-end.
A little update here. After my original post, I was able to locate most of the info you guys have shared on Gunboards.com, including a photo of a page from a '51 Parker-Hale catalog that shows this rifle and variants of it. Mine is the model "E". I took the gun to work (gun store) and began trying Weaver bases until the #35 & #36 matched up. I did run into the height problem but shimming brought it right in line. I put an old Weaver 4x on it and took it to the range. I was happily surprised to shoot a couple 1" groups with the Wolf Gold (Prvi Partizan) 150 gr load. Really didn't expect groups like that but I'll take it! I ordered some Woodleigh 215s and Hornady 174s and will take these to the range for the first time this week so we'll see what it does with those. Thanx for all the insight.
If you can claim that a rifle (models C,D&E) that inherits only its action from a military rifle is a "reworked military" rather than a factory sporter. I consider that the Remington 30 is not an Enfield at all- it is a Remington derivative of an Enfield P-14/M-17.
These rifles were built in the period 1949-53 from the actions of British P-14 .303 (built 1916-17) and U.S. M-17 30-06 (built 1917-18) rifles that had been declared obsolete models in 1947 by Ordnance, and subsequently "sold out of service". Both these WW1 models were manufactured exclusively in the USA by Winchester and Remington. The series (may have been called "BSA Model 100")was produced in a range of variants from model A to model E. Model A and B utilised sporterised military stocks. C had a new stock with pistol grip and raised cheekpiece but retained the cranked bolt handle and deep bellied magazine floorplate from the parent rifle (sir springers and mine are this model). D and E had new stocks and the bolt handle modified to a more elegant shape and the floorplate reshaped to a smooth line with the underside of the stock. All had the rearsight ears ground off and the reciever top face reprofiled similiar to a Winchester model 70. All the conversion work was done in Birmingham, England. It appears that within a given model there was a considerable variation in the exact detail of the work done over the few years they were made, though some of this could be due to post-manufacture customizing of individual rifles. They were produced in .303 (ex.P-14) BSA serial No. starts with "M" (mine is M7501). 30-06 (ex.M-17) ser.no starts "H". 270win (ex.M-17) ser.no starts "HA". Original service serial numbers were ground off, though some military markings remain visible. These details are based on the few rifles I have seen and heard of and if they are wrong I apologize! Your 215grain refers to the bullet used for the proof firing (220gr in the case of the 30-06). the service bullet throughout the period the P-14 was used remained at 180 grains weight. Best Regards- Kevin Mayes.
Kevin, thanks for that info! I've searched high and low to find out when BSA got involved with these actions, even an email to BSA themselves (no answer back), with no luck.
Serial # on mine starts with the "H".
I believe mine originally had the sporterized version of the military stock, which had the finger sized groove cut along the forearm sides. No raised cheek rest on mine.
These can be very accurate rifles. Indeed, I won a few turkey shoots with mine, which had some of the rest with their fancy Sakos, Weatherbys, etc, doing a few double takes on my old girl!
The steel in these actions is mega strong. When I had it refinished and customized, the smith had a helluva time finding a bluing technique that would work properly with this steel.
The one thing I can't figure out, however, is where the original action was manufactured. I understand very few, if any at all, were made at Enfield. Apparently all were made in the US at one of the three plants. Are there any markings left on these BSAs that will identify which plant?????
Old friend of mine had one in .270, as you mentioned.
Awesome post! Thanks for bringing that info here!
(The BSA Model 100, Google reveals, is a side by side 12 ga. shotgun.)
I carried the model E to the range this morning to try a couple handloads. When I bought this gun I was not expecting a tack-driver. I figured it would shoot a couple inches or maybe a little more and as long as it would shoot "minute of deer" I'd be happy. My first trip to the range with the Wolf Gold factory load showed this old thunderstick would shoot far better than I'd hoped. Today the 174 gr Hornady RN on top of IMR 4350 rivaled the factory load with groups of 1" - 1 1/2". There are better powders for this cartridge and I figured 4350 was a bit too slow but it sure shot well with it. I was more than happy and didn't expect to better the accuracy I had gotten thus far. I had loaded 6 cartridges with the Woodleigh 215 gr over 40 gr of 4320 just to see what the heavy bullets would do. The first 3 shots can almost be covered by a penny, measuring 5/8"! Thinking this was clearly a fluke, I shot at a fresh target and repeated the same. If I had shot the same target I'd have had 6 rounds in about 3/4". I'm still amazed. This old rifle with a 2 stage trigger and a 35 year old 4x scope outshoots many of my "high dollar" rifles costing 3 times as much or more. This has definetly been one of the more pleasant surprises in used rifles I've bought. Maybe one day I'll get modern to where I can post pictures of this stuff.
The original actions were all built in the U.S. by Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone, which was an ad-hoc subsidiary of Remington arms. Originally it was intended for Vickers to build them in the U.K. but they could not get their act together in time. All the major design was done by RSAF Enfield, hence the name. Minor production design details were made by the various manufacturing plants, hence there is some incompatability issues when sourcing spare parts. BSA did a pretty good job of grinding and polishing the actions and it is possible that all identifying marks were removed. However, all the smaller components except the very smallest carry a W,R or E to indicate the manufacturer. Generally, the Winchesters are considered to be the very highest quality, with the Remingtons, then the Eddystones being somewhat less so, that is not to say that the latter were in any way suspect. I believe BSA favoured the Winchesters for their re-stocked models, but that is only based on the few I have seen personally.
My two BSA "Enfield" 30-06s are definitly a reworked military,I also have M-17 sporter. Cock-on-closing,two stage triggers,dog's hind leg,the same HD barrel contour and one even has the deep belly.I don't have problems with it. The receiver metal is the same as pre-war M-70s. These rifles were very well made. They so well made,that except for early Winchesters,parts of the M'17 are totally interchangeable. In fact between the wars,they kept hands busy rebuilding M'17s so you can have R,W, and E, on the same rifle.For building customs,they are poor man's M-70.
There only flaw was the ejector spring breakage,so for the M'17 get the Gun-Parts kit or as you have to do on the P-14, coil spring it.
It took me long enough but I finally have some pictures to share of the model "E".
Typical 100 yard 3 shot group with the Woodleigh 215 gr RN.
A doe that I killed with it on Saturday. This one was shot with the 215 Woodleigh. I killed one last season with the Hornady 174 gr RN.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working/hunting with this old rifle over the last couple seasons. I have been absolutely amazed at how well it shoots and it's been a real joy putting it back to work filling the freezer.
It took me long enough but I finally have some pictures to share of the model "E".
Typical 100 yard 3 shot group with the Woodleigh 215 gr RN.
A doe that I killed with it on Saturday. This one was shot with the 215 Woodleigh. I killed one last season with the Hornady 174 gr RN.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working/hunting with this old rifle over the last couple seasons. I have been absolutely amazed at how well it shoots and it's been a real joy putting it back to work filling the freezer.
Very nice!
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