Help identify rifle

cjunrau

Well-known Member
I know there are a lot of educated in firearms on here and I would be great full for any suggestions.
cvphoto109261.jpg
 
Long stroke Enfield design. Could be chambered for 303 British (originally), 30-06, ,270 or similar non belted cartridges. Reliable and strong, it can be manufactured to handle Magnum belted cartridges.
 
British Proofed 30-06. If it is yours, have it looked at by a gunsmith and if sound, sight it in. It deserves a 200 dollar scope. I own a 30-06 Enfield with a Star rated barrel and it is very nice. Jim
 
As noted, it appears to be a 1917 Enfield or close variation. Excellent Mauser-derived action, and with more made than the 1903 Springfield for US service in WW1, thousands still survive--often sporterized--and remain excellent hunting or even target rifles. A friend had one with a custom walnut stock that was a tack-driver and accounted for many deer over the years. If you want some history, the video below goes into considerable depth on the rifle and its use.
1917 Enfield
 
Though both are bolt actions, the derivation idea is limited. The Mauser has front of bolt locking lugs, where as the Enfield has Rear of chamber lugs. The rear lugs allow shorter bolt stroke for the same cartridge/bullet length. But has somewhat less rigidity. With good design, they are both sound designs. Jim
 
I also have a 1917 Enfield that has a Bishop stock, glass bedded with original length barrel and a scope. Yes it is a tack driver. I have taken a number of deer with 1 shot. Heavy, yes but on a windy day I feel it is steadier than a light rifle. My serial # is in the 1,240,xxx range, so must be a late one.
 
These were sometimes called Eddystone enfields. The action is different from that in the Lee-Enfield, which was a cock-on close rear lug design developed by James Paris Lee (an American). The Eddystone was known as the P14 (Pattern 1914) as the British attempted to resolve some perceived shortcomings in the Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield (SMLE) then in common issue for the British. The project was abandoned with the onset of WW1 as the British went to war with what they had. As the others have noted, the tooling and plants were located in the US (to build rifles for the British under contract), and the US pressed these into service in 1917 to make rifles of the same patterns but for US forces--in US service they were known as the Model 1917. The US had them chambered for 30-06, although yours is clearly British proofed. They were actually more widely used in WW1 by US forces than the official rifle of the time, the '03 Springfeld. This one has been extensively sporterized as the rear aperture sight assembly seems to have been ground off. Yours likely has a long history to it as the British proof marks on a 30-06 rifle is an odd combination. 303 British would not be re-chambered as 30-06 as the bore diameters are different--a complete re-barrel would be required. It is possible some work was done in Canada, which could also explain the British Imperial markings. Post some more pictures of other markings if you can.
 
Not my rifle, neighbors. Shoots well just wanting to scope it. to find bases need to know what type rifle it was. Thanks for all the info so far. He will be great full for any info. Thanks again.
 
Janicholson: Not exactly sure what you mean by front of bolt versus rear of chamber lugs, but I think you may have the 1917 Enfield (which has front of bolt locking lugs) confused with the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (Or SMLE--the standard British service rifle of the time) which has rear of bolt locking lugs. I'm linking another video by the same authors of the first, which takes a long look at the development of the Pattern 14 Enfield--the precursor to the 1917 Enfield, with essentially the same mechanism, and should explain this in more detail, complete with animations of the mechanism and a lot of primary-source info such as British specifications and trials explaining its derivation from the Mauser. It's worth 40 minutes of your time, as it will explain it more clearly than I can write it up here.
Pattern 14 Enfield
 
The 1917 Eddystone is a Remington made at their Eddystone facility. It is a cock on close also.
The British needed rifles. They got a contract with Remington and Winchester. After the contract was filled, the action was modified to accept the 30-06 cartridge and sold to the U.S. as the 1917. I've had an original for over forty years including the bayonet.
Most of the rifles used in WW1 were 1917s. They unfortunately were phased out after the war.
 
It was probably drilled and tapped for scope mounts when it was sporterized, so knowing the particular model of rifle isn't going to be of much help when looking for replacement mounts. You'll need to go by the locations of the scope mount holes and find mount bases that match. I just looked on the Leupold site and they don't seem to publish this information, but if you're able to take accurate measurements of the holes I imagine Leupold can tell you which scope mount bases should fit.

The M1917 Enfield is a nice rifle, sporterized or not.
 
Redneck: Interesting. I've seen many sporterized M17's for sale, but never an original. You're lucky to have one!
 

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