Eddystone M1917. What to look for?

[userformerlyknownasfitty]

Hello all,

LGS near me has listed an Eddystone M1917 in their latest email for $850. I've always wanted one of these, but I've never spent any significant amount of time researching these. I was going to head into the LGS today to check it out, and I was wondering what I should look for.

So far, I've compiled a few things that I should look for:

1) All matching parts: Apparently all 1917's have many of their parts labeled with a letter and date. The letter refers to the manufacturer, and so E stands for Eddystone, R is Remington, and W is Winchester. So being an Eddystone I am going to want to be seeing all "E" parts on this rifle.

2) Ordnance bomb proof: This will be on parts like the barrel and some others. I forgot all of the places where these bombs should be found. But apparently this is helpful when identifying original parts on the gun. Of course, letter has to be matching as well.

3) Look on barrel for JA/HS/RIA markings in order to identify replacement barrel.
3a) If barrel is a replacement, check receiver near where it meets the barrel for a crack. Apparently there are many reports of cracked receivers on replaced barrel 1917's.

4) Parkerized finish or blued: Apparently all 1917's came from the factory with a rust blue finish. However, many of these rifles were parkerized by the government at some time that I can not recall. Blued guns are worth more than their parkerized brothers.

5) Wood on the stock: Is it in good original condition or was it bubba'd. I am aware that I should also be looking for cartouches. This is something to be looked at for any C&R rifle.

6) Bore condition: Probably one of the most important things for me since I intend to shoot this rifle. Again, something you want to look at when considering buying any firearm.

Is there anything I am missing? Also, what kind of condition should this be in if $850 is to be considered a fair price. I am clearly not an expert on these things, but $850 seems kind of high. Is this thing only worth it if it's all original, blued, and in good condition?

Always appreciate the help. Cheers!

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I own a 1917 rifle. It is an essential part of any 20th century American milsurp collection.

Forget about all matching parts when it comes to American milsurps. I am sure there are all matching 1917's out there but I've never seen one. $700 to $900 will be about the range of unbubba'd 1917's with good bores. I know mine has mixed parts but I don't care. Same thing with my Garands and M1 carbines.

Cartouches are nice, but any type of USGI wood in good condition is sufficient.

I don't know if any 1917's are import marked, but that is one thing I would avoid on an American milsurp of any type.

[userformerlyknownasfitty]

I own a 1917 rifle. It is an essential part of any 20th century American milsurp collection.

Forget about all matching parts when it comes to American milsurps. I am sure there are all matching 1917's out there but I've never seen one. $700 to $900 will be about the range of unbubba'd 1917's with good bores. I know mine has mixed parts but I don't care. Same thing with my Garands and M1 carbines.

Cartouches are nice, but any type of USGI wood in good condition is sufficient.

I don't know if any 1917's are import marked, but that is one thing I would avoid on an American milsurp of any type.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah my Garand is a CMP mix master as they all are, and she works great. Idk I guess for some reason I thought that bolt guns were more often found in one piece. Is it not important to have an original barrel on the 1917? Especially considering the crack issue that is reported on rifles with replacement barrels?

So I'm guessing that if I am to pay $850 for this, it had better be in good condition to make it worth it?

[God Bless America]

I would say VERY good condition. That bore better be shiny!

And look for cracks in the front receiver ring. It sometimes happened during rebarreling.

[loademup]

Just about everything you would want to know about the U.S M1917 " Enfield" can be found in Dick Culver's 2003 detailed article at odcmp.org "The U.S. Rifle, caliber .30, M1917".

Here is a link to the PDF:

http://odcmp.org/503/rifle.pdf

According to Culver, no attention was made to keep parts matching when the rifles went through U.S. arsenal rebuild (like during WW2).

[userformerlyknownasfitty]

Just gave it a look over. It was an old cmp gun. The gun was in decent shape, but it was only that. Just decent. Whoever owned it took minimal care of it judging by the crud that was in the nooks and crannies of the gun. Bore had absolutely strong rifling, but it was quite dark and foul. So at this price, I decided it was a no-go.

Thanks again Calguns!

[sbo80]

I'll own up, I paid a little less than that for mine, and felt it was a good buy. Metal is very pretty and stock is great, bore very good. Not all matching, Remington receiver and barrel both 1918, but several Eddystone parts including the stock itself. I probably wouldn't have paid that much if not for the condition, and at least the barrel same make as receiver. It's a late production so would not have been shipped over to the war (going by Culver's production numbers and serials, assuming a constant output rate my serial dates to on or about the actual day of the armistice). It may have gotten all mixed up during re-arsenal, but obviously the barrel was good enough to stay, and I don't think it was refinished. Bottom line, I'd say that's a decent price for a very good condition rifle.

[userformerlyknownasfitty]

I'll own up, I paid a little less than that for mine, and felt it was a good buy. Metal is very pretty and stock is great, bore very good. Not all matching, Remington receiver and barrel both 1918, but several Eddystone parts including the stock itself. I probably wouldn't have paid that much if not for the condition, and at least the barrel same make as receiver. It's a late production so would not have been shipped over to the war (going by Culver's production numbers and serials, assuming a constant output rate my serial dates to on or about the actual day of the armistice). It may have gotten all mixed up during re-arsenal, but obviously the barrel was good enough to stay, and I don't think it was refinished. Bottom line, I'd say that's a decent price for a very good condition rifle.

I'm glad you enjoy your rifle. I should have taken pics of it to show you guys the condition of the rifle in question. I definitely wouldn't say it's very good.

Was your rifle parkerized or blued?

[sbo80]

I'm actually not positive. I'm not real smart on finishes, and it looks blued to me, not the gray/green rough I'm used to seeing on Garands and M1 carbines. But Culver's writeup says my serial range may be Parkerized over smooth steel which he says looks a lot like blueing, so

[a308garand]

If you would not mind sharing the location where the rifle is for sale? Maybe someone else might put some work into it

[TRICKSTER]

This link will show you what and where each part should be marked for the rifle to be correct as manufactured. There are correct rifles out there, I have three of them, one from each manufacturer.

http://m1903.com/m1917markings.htm

[loademup]

It's a late production so would not have been shipped over to the war (going by Culver's production numbers and serials, assuming a constant output rate my serial dates to on or about the actual day of the armistice).

I've used the website below to look up the manufacture date of my M1917s. You just put in your rifle's serial number. If I remember, it gives you the year and month of manufacture for the M1917. In the Long Guns section of the web page, just click on the Model of your M1917 (Eddystone, Remington, Winchester) to use the date of manufacture lookup function.

http://oldguns.net/sn_php/milmods.htm

[God Bless America]

...It was an old cmp gun.... Bore had absolutely strong rifling, but it was quite dark and foul.

Might have been an American Legion return with many blanks through the barrel. Those can clean up nicely, but many cannot.

[Sauermonkey]

M1917

I acquired a arsenal rebuilt 1917 a few years ago the stock was in rough shape and the barrel crown was dinged up. After fixing the stock and cleaning up the
Crown with a hand crowning tool it turned out to be a great shooter. Did I mention that it is also a century arms imported rifle. It most likely sat in England
As part of lend lease war materiel.

[huntingsocal]

Yeah $850 is top end for a 1917 in really good shape IMO

Scan CMP forums and you can find some good deals in the trader section