Remington 1917 415xxx

[Deaf Smith]

Picked one up for $489, tax included at a pawn shop. Still in full stock with a 5 grove barrel that has sharp and clear rifling.

But, the barrel with a R and ordnance 'bomb', has 5 8 for the date.

I thought it would have 5 18.. but no, 5 8. is there something off on the barrel date?

The markings are quite clear, no refurbish.

Bolt has a R make and ordnance 'bomb' but firing pin hood has a E, Eddystone. Safety has a E to.

Also the stock has a nice finish (were they glossy finished or did someone redo-the stock?)

Any ideas on the barrel date and other things?

Haven't shot it yet but will do soon.

Thanks,

Deaf

 

[Jim K]

Can you post a picture of the barrel marking? You are right, 5 8 doesn't make sense, but maybe seeing what is there will help.

Jim

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Try this...

I had one with a JA 43 barrel, i.e. Johnson Automatics '43, I think it was one that had been rebarreled for issue to Free French or Chinese Nationalist troops, but never got shipped- no reimport markings anyway. I can tell you the roll stamps on the BBL were very lightly struck- try laying a peice of paper over the markings and lightly shade over them with a pencil to see if a 1 is revealed before the 8. Good luck!

 

[Deaf Smith]

Well the date markings are bold. Clear and well struck.

I'll make photos tomorrow.

Deaf

 

[Deaf Smith]

Ah... the '1' is almost gone! It is there but the '5' and '8' are bold.

So the gun has a 1-18 Remington barrel.

See the photos.


Deaf

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Nice! Betcha didnt know thats a 6-round magazine on that puppy too- even most printed resources say it's 5, but no- try it sometime...nice M1917!

 

[Deaf Smith]

Nightlord,

Actually I wish they had made it a 10 shooter like the No. 1 British Enfield! The mag would not have protruded that much.

Yes the mag was made for rimed ammo and 06 is rimless, hence a 6 shot mag.

Deaf

 

[gyvel]

Yes the mag was made for rimed ammo and 06 is rimless, hence a 6 shot mag.

Actually the original Pattern 1913 rifles were made for a rimless cartridge, the .276 Enfield, a rather fat round, resulting in a 5 round magazine.

Later, when production of the Pattern 1914 began, the fairly large rim diameter of the .303 round dictated a 5 round mag as well.

When the final variant, the U.S. Model of 1917 began production, the reduced diameter of the .30-06 allowed one extra round to be fitted in the mag.

 

[Jim Watson]

A six shot magazine when ammo was issued on five round stripper clips.
I wonder how many doughboys bothered to keep some loose rounds to top up with.

 

[Jim K]

As Gyvel says, the six-round capacity was an unintended consequence of the need to make as few changes to the Pattern 14 production as possible, and the concurrent need to use M1903 clips. The Army considered it a five-shot rifle. When Remington began to use M1917 receivers for its commercial M30, M30S and Model 720, they followed the lead of many custom gunsmiths - they did a cut and weld job on the trigger guard, resulting in a slimmer rifle that still held 5 rounds of .30-'06.

Jim

 

[boom boom]

Nice find. I like my 1917 Eddystone Rifle and my two P14's as well. But, I have the HS replacement barrel on the 1917 and my original 11-18 barrel stowed away.

One tip, make sure that the guard screw bushings are not proud under the receiver. Mine were proud of the wood and caused some accuracy issues at first. Found the solution on the milsurps.com website from a milsurp gunsmith aka chuckindenver.