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CONVERTING .30·06 ENFIELD INTO SLICK<br />
.300 H & H SPORTER MAKES GOOD HOME.WORKSHOP PROJECT<br />
FOR METAL·WORKING HOBBYISTS<br />
THE BIG BARREL, long rugged action,<br />
and the low-cost availability of<br />
the "P-17" make many do-it-yourselfers<br />
cast an appreciative eye over these common<br />
military rifles. What we in Canada<br />
call the P -17, to distinguish it from the<br />
.303-calibered Pattern 1914 service rifle,<br />
is the "American Enfield," Model 1917<br />
U.S. service rifle. Made by Winchester,<br />
Remington, and the Remington-operated<br />
Eddystone, Pa., factory in War One, these<br />
rifles are attractive to the home mechanic<br />
with some of the basic metal working<br />
tools who wants to rework one to his own<br />
ideas of a sporter.<br />
The P-17 is chambered for the .30-06,<br />
but the action was originally designed for<br />
a slightly longer experimental round that<br />
was never produced. It is a good one for<br />
changing over to the powerful, flat-shooting<br />
.300 Holland & Holland Magnum<br />
cartridge. In Great Britain, the identical<br />
action is used by that company in making<br />
their .300 and heavier Magnum sporting<br />
rifles. The only cautio\! in selecting a<br />
P-17 for .300 conversion is that you buy<br />
a good rifle to start with. Many during<br />
War Two were rebarreled by High Standard<br />
or Johnson Automatics, so barrels<br />
marked H-S or JA near the muzzle are<br />
especially good for this conversion.<br />
After you have received your rifle, the<br />
first thing to do is remove the military<br />
stock from the action. Before you remove<br />
it, take note if it is closely fitted. You can<br />
use this old stock to take measurements<br />
for your new one.<br />
Next, remove the bolt and strip it down<br />
American Enfield is club as-is, can<br />
form basis of finest sporting rifles.<br />
Simple chopping of stock, sanding,<br />
adapts rifle for woods' use but if<br />
Hi Standard or Johnson-barreled can<br />
be worked over into .300 H&H Mag.<br />
to the bare bolt. Remove bolt plug and<br />
firing pin, and the extractor. The bare<br />
bolt will have to be set up in your milling<br />
attachment on your lathe and the bolt<br />
face recess enlarged to accept the larger<br />
head on the .300 Magnum case. An end<br />
mill approximately 18 to 20 thousands<br />
larger than the head of the case, set up in<br />
your chuck, will do this nicely. Make<br />
sure that you have it properly centered,<br />
and do not cut in deeper than the original<br />
face. Remember, this is merely enlarging<br />
the recess, not deepening it.<br />
The open corners of the lips may have<br />
to be rounded out with a fine file, and do<br />
not do this until you are sure it is necessary,<br />
depending on how the cartridges<br />
feed up from the magazine.<br />
The next step is making the reamer to<br />
rechamber your barrel. You can buy one<br />
if you wish but they are expensive to<br />
budget out on a one-rifle job. And anyway,<br />
you'll get a much greater kick out<br />
of making it yourself.<br />
Unless you have a grinding attachment<br />
for your lathe, to finish-grind after hardening,<br />
don't make it out of high speed<br />
steel. This steel will warp on heat treating.<br />
The best steel I have found for reamers<br />
is the brand known as "Keewatin." With<br />
this you can cut your reamer to exactly<br />
the size you want, and it will warp an<br />
absolute minimum from heat treating.<br />
Make your reamer not more than two<br />
thousands larger than the largest case<br />
you find. You will find they vary considerably,<br />
both in diameter and length.<br />
Buy two or (Continued on page 44)<br />
Fancy change-over uses new<br />
stock, short pipe and brake,<br />
action, magazine modified.<br />
<strong>GUNS</strong> JANUARY <strong>1960</strong> 37