Jeffery P14 404 Inquiry

[wildcatter82]

Howdy All

Does anyone have any knowledge of original Jefferys built on P14s? I recently made a find at a small town gun shop and picked it up. My initial thoughts of "another ugly P14/1917" quickly disappeared when I threw the gun up and pointed perfectly....the gun is quite alive. It's a 9 Golden Square gun (so 1927-1957?) in 404. Upon cleaning the barrel I discovered the bore is pristine. I really don't believe this was a Game Dept gun, but I could be wrong. All numbers match, including in the barrel channel of the stock. It also has original P14 bottom metal, not the straight profile alloy one found on the Cogswell & Harrisons, etc. Still had the dogleg bolt handle and cock on closing.

Any information would be helpful! I have seen plenty of the C&Hs and other makers, but never a Jeffery in this configuration.

 

[TTundra]

No info to help, but I'm sure we all would love to see some pictures!

 

[wildcatter82]

 

[Berettaco]

That’s a great find!!

 

[Red Leg]

Very special between the wars rifle. Only the Brits could take a P14 and turn it into an elegant DG rifle. Most of these one sees have a new bolt handle. But this big fellow looks just fine.

 

[Sarg]

Beautiful rifle that @wildcatter82, I just this week got a BSA P14 Sporter but the better grade with the straight bottom & straight bolt (not better than yours better than my other BSA's) .

I also had for a short time a Jeffery P14/M17 actioned .375 H&H rifle, not as nice as yours & with the same bottom metal found on the C&H sporters which seem less rare ?

The inletting was amazing when I took the stock off, looked like the rifle was born in there, I had a Gibbs Styer that looked the same, amazing craftsmanship .

I think you are very lucky on that rifle deal !

Will see if I have a pic of it .

Found it .

 

[Shootist43]

Why am I never this lucky??

 

[xausa]

After World War I, Remington found itself in possession of a goodly amount of tooling and machinery which it had used to manufacture first P14 Enfields for the British and later M 1917 Enfields for the United States. An effort was made to find a way to use this machinery to make a hunting rifle for the American market. That effort culminated in the Remington Model 725, which was and is a fine example of the art of gun making. I believe it compares successfully with the efforts of British gunmakers to "sporterize" the P14 Enfield action.

 

[Red Leg]

This is one of the Cogswell & Harrison rifles built on a P14 action. It is a .318 WR.

 

[264]

Heres a pic of Chris's P14 / 17 404 jeffery, as much as I don't like the action very much its a fine rifle.
Left Chris's P14 404, ruger RSI 7-08, brno 602 404 jeffery

Chris with nice boar

cow 404 400gr woodie

 

[Sarg]

@264 is the rifle made by Jeffery's mate ?

 

[264]

Sarg, pretty sure it was a build by kudu services. cheers Mick

 

[rookhawk]

This is one of the Cogswell & Harrison rifles built on a P14 action. It is a .318 WR.

I love the C&H rifles from around 1950. They were using French Walnut at that time which was pretty odd for any firm. No burls or dark mineral streaks in any of them I’ve seen, but they all seem to have that beautiful quilted look. Thanks for sharing. Understated elegance.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

In the Post-War era, three English gun making companies used Pattern 14 Enfield actions on their magazine rifles:
-Holland & Holland (until 1957)
- W.J. Jeffery (until 1955)
- Cogswell & Harrison (until 1952)

I currently don’t have the W.J. Jeffery 1955 catalog near me, but they built these rifles in three calibers:
- .275 Rigby
- .30-06 Springfield
- .404 Jeffery

 

[Nevada Mike]

The P14 and P17 are reliable rifles. But no matter how you cut it, they are, and look like, converted military weapons.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

After World War I, Remington found itself in possession of a goodly amount of tooling and machinery which it had used to manufacture first P14 Enfields for the British and later M 1917 Enfields for the United States. An effort was made to find a way to use this machinery to make a hunting rifle for the American market. That effort culminated in the Remington Model 725, which was and is a fine example of the art of gun making. I believe it compares successfully with the efforts of British gunmakers to "sporterize" the P14 Enfield action.

View attachment 449064View attachment 449065

@xausa
Remington took the M17 and turned it into the model 30 and 30s well before the 725. I think the 722 was before the 725 but I nay be wrong. All this ked up to the current 700 series. The 30 and 30s were ita great granddaddy

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Heres a pic of Chris's P14 / 17 404 jeffery, as much as I don't like the action very much its a fine rifle.
Left Chris's P14 404, ruger RSI 7-08, brno 602 404 jeffery
View attachment 449266
Chris with nice boar
View attachment 449265
cow 404 400gr woodie
View attachment 449264

@264
Beautiful cow buff. The P14 is a big action that is extremely strong. The cock on closing makes it extremely fast to operate the bolt when you get used to it.

 

[Flipper Dude]

M17 in 404 Jeffery that I’m a little sweet on

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

View attachment 454384View attachment 454385View attachment 454388View attachment 454389
M17 in 404 Jeffery that I’m a little sweet on

@Flipper Dude
I wonder why you are a little sweet on it. You have a beautiful rifle.
Anyone who says you can't build a nice rifle out of an ugly old M17, P14 just has to look at yours to realise that you can.
Bob

 

[Flipper Dude]

@Flipper Dude
I wonder why you are a little sweet on it. You have a beautiful rifle.
Anyone who says you can't build a nice rifle out of an ugly old M17, P14 just has to look at yours to realise that you can.
Bob

If you will indulge me for a moment, I’ll tell you why I chose the Enfield. Totally unrelated to choosing the best action for the build

When I was growing up as a kid in East Texas, all of the grown men in my family hunted deer with shotguns and buckshot. Without exception. Granddaddy, 3 uncles, Dad, cousins, you name it. There was only one rifle available to everyone, and it was an old sporterized Eddystone In 30-06. Two stage trigger. K4 Weaver Ejector didn’t work and you had to flip empties out with your finger. It was simply known as “The Rifle”. If granddaddy suggested that one of the men sit on the “Long Piece” stand that morning, he might say “You be sure and take the rifle”. Funny, looking back, my uncles would take “The Rifle” and their shotgun, in case the deer walked out in shotgun range. That said, I’ll never forget their stories about shooting deer “clear to the other end of the Long Piece”. Legendary. Looking at it now, about 150 yards. As I grew older and became the only grandson that hunted, it fell on me to keep the rifle sighted in and in good working order.

It still sits proudly in my gun case, and looking at it and that old ugly safety takes me back to a happy place.