Need a good gunsmith for a 1917

[1972RedNeck]

I have 2 sporterized 1917s that have feeding problems. 300 WBY and 8mm rem mag.

Anyone know of a good smith in Western Montana that could work them over for me?

 

[E Butler]

Can I get a few pics of your sporterised 1917s? I have two actions and a finished gun in 1917 actions. Finished guh is a 35 Whelen. The others are going to be big bores. Thanks Eric

 

[Ontario Hunter]

See if Dennis Olsen in Plains is still in the business. He is the best in the state I think. He put the barrel on my 404J build on standard 98 Mauser. He was initially unwilling to do the feeding modifications. Not enough time available. So I did it.

I am curios about the feeding issues you're experiencing. Can you describe the symptoms?

 

[1972RedNeck]

See if Dennis Olsen in Plains is still in the business. He is the best in the state I think. He put the barrel on my 404J build on standard 98 Mauser. He was initially unwilling to do the feeding modifications. Not enough time available. So I did it.

I am curios about the feeding issues you're experiencing. Can you describe the symptoms?

Will do. Thank you.

My 300 WBY somehow gets bound up with spire point bullets. They get slid forward and with the bullet on the ramp a bit bind the bolt. Feeds great with RN bullets.

8mm Rem Mag the second from last bullet won't come up enough for the bolt to catch it. The front of the case is all the way up but the rear stays down just a touch. New mag spring helped but didn;t fix it 100%.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Will do. Thank you.

My 300 WBY somehow gets bound up with spire point bullets. They get slid forward and with the bullet on the ramp a bit bind the bolt. Feeds great with RN bullets.

8mm Rem Mag the second from last bullet won't come up enough for the bolt to catch it. The front of the case is all the way up but the rear stays down just a touch. New mag spring helped but didn;t fix it 100%.

Caliper the overall length of your 300 Wby cartridges. Spirepoint OAL may be too long. Are you reloading? If OAL is not the problem, then the rails may need to be cut back slightly at the point where the cartridges jump to bolt face. It's also possible the extractor has too much tension. I had that problem when building 404 on a standard 98 Mauser. But I'm fairly certain the extractor wasn't original to that rifle.

How many total cartridges in the 8mm RM magazine? Does the action have a magnum length follower or the 1917 follower?

 

[1972RedNeck]

4 in the box 1 in the chamber on both.

On the 300, the cartridges get slid forward from recoil. The bolt picks one up every time, but the next in line tends to bind the bolt for some reason.

SP and RN seated to the same length. Plenty of room in the mag for another .02" coal if desired.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Try adding a spacer in the box to keep the cartridges from moving forward after recoil. Be aware movement in the box can alter overall length by shoving bullets into case (if not crimped) which can not only mess with cycling but also change point of impact. If the shells are moving in the box that can also cause problems sometimes with belted cartridges feeding. This probably is not the issue but it's an easy temporary fix to see if any improvement. Glue the wooden spacer in the box with a spot of epoxy. You can always heat the box and loosen the glue to remove the spacer if necessary later.

Is the cartridge rim binding against the bolt face (i.e. not completely in position on bolt face) or the is bullet/shoulder binding against the chamber/rails?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

If you have true 1917 rifles then the bolt face and extractor had to be modified for 300 Weatherby. It has a significantly larger rim than 30-06. Perhaps the modifications were not enough to fully allow the 300 rim to jump onto bolt face properly. If your rifles were P14 then probably no modification to bolt and extractor would be needed. 303 Brit rim is almost same diameter as 300 Wby. If you could get your hands on a P14 extractor you might want to try it and see if the cartridges jump to the bolt face better.

Here's an extractor modification test from Duane Weibe's book on building big bore rifles on standard 98 Mauser. Remove the bolt from the gun. With bolt face up and using your fingers, slip a fully loaded cartridge under the extractor claw onto the bolt face. When bolt is changed to horizontal the extractor should JUST BARELY hold the cartridge on bolt face. (Edit: You should probably remove the firing pin before doing this test).

 

[1972RedNeck]

Try adding a spacer in the box to keep the cartridges from moving forward after recoil. Be aware movement in the box can alter overall length by shoving bullets into case (if not crimped) which can not only mess with cycling but also change point of impact. If the shells are moving in the box that can also cause problems sometimes with belted cartridges feeding. This probably is not the issue but it's an easy temporary fix to see if any improvement. Glue the wooden spacer in the box with a spot of epoxy. You can always heat the box and loosen the glue to remove the spacer if necessary later.

Is the cartridge rim binding against the bolt face (i.e. not completely in position on bolt face) or the is bullet/shoulder binding against the chamber/rails?

Bolt always grabs the next cartridge no problem. Just that sometimes it tries to bind up with the next one down.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Bolt always grabs the next cartridge no problem. Just that sometimes it tries to bind up with the next one down.

Sounds like the belt on cartridge picked up by bolt is snagging on the rim of cartridge below it. Can happen if the cartridges are not stacked exactly on top of each other, i.e. cartridges underneath sliding forward in box due to recoil. So you're saying no problems cycling a lone cartridge up from magazine?

Caliper your cartridge overall length then caliper the box length. The difference will be the thickness of spacer you need for front end of box. Someone can cut one for you from scrap lumber, preferably hardwood. Doesn't need to be exact fit. Glue it in place with a bit of epoxy (use isopropyl alcohol to clean oil from glue location inside mag box). If that cures the issue, then someone can either make a permanent spacer from metal or replace the box. The box clearly was modified/replaced. 300 Wby overall cartridge length = 3.562". 30-06 Springfield OAL (1917 Enfield) = 3.34". 303 British (P14 Enfield) = 3.075". Someone went overboard lengthening the box.

 

[1972RedNeck]

Sounds like the belt on cartridge picked up by bolt is snagging on the rim of cartridge below it. Can happen if the cartridges are not stacked exactly on top of each other, i.e. cartridges underneath sliding forward in box due to recoil. So you're saying no problems cycling a lone cartridge up from magazine?

Caliper your cartridge overall length then caliper the box length. The difference will be the thickness of spacer you need for front end of box. Someone can cut one for you from scrap lumber, preferably hardwood. Doesn't need to be exact fit. Glue it in place with a bit of epoxy (use isopropyl alcohol to clean oil from glue location inside mag box). If that cures the issue, then someone can either make a permanent spacer from metal or replace the box. The box clearly was modified/replaced. 300 Wby overall cartridge length = 3.562". 30-06 Springfield OAL (1917 Enfield) = 3.34". 303 British (P14 Enfield) = 3.075". Someone went overboard lengthening the box.

Correct. One cartridge in the box feeds perfectly.

Will stretch out my COAL on a couple heavy bullet rounds and see what happens.

Never had a problem with 220 gr RNSP bullets. 150 gr spire point are the biggest culprit.

What you are saying makes sense. I suspect that is the problem.