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Good question, but what I actually said is that the P14 bolt won't fit unless the breeching is changed. The scoop is that the P14 was made for the rimmed .303 British so the barrel breech is flat as normal with rimmed cartridges and the bolt is made accordingly. When the rifle was adapted to the U.S. .30-'06, Army Ordnance insisted that a cone breech be set up like that on the M1903, and the bolt had to be modified accordingly.
So for a given rifle, both types of bolts won't fit. The M1917 bolt can't be used in the P14 or vice versa. But the P14 bolt can be made to fit the M1917 if a new or set back barrel is used and fitted up to use the P14 bolt.
It would be much easier to just use the M1917 bolt and a cone breech, and open up the bolt face to accommodate the larger base of the belted case.
I didn't mention the .308 Norma Magnum since not many gunsmiths are familiar with it today, but it was designed specifically to allow "magnumizing" of M1903 and M1917 rifles, being of the right overall length so that the only magazine work needed was some alteration of the magazine rails. When Winchester came out with the .300 Win Mag, the nearly identical .308 Norma Magnum, which had no rifle manufacturer base, faded into the background and is now considered obsolete.
Jim
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