Eddystone

When a lot of us think of World War I U.S. battle rifles, we think of the 1903 Springfield.  However, if you're looking at this, you probably already know that the M1917 Enfield (more correctly known as the U.S. Rifle, caliber .30 M1917) is actually the rifle that was carried by more U.S. servicemen than the Springfield in The Great War.  In short, Springfield and Rock Island Arsenal simply couldn't produce enough of the 1903 Springfield rifles to meet the needs of the United States.  Remington then took the British Pattern 14 design that they were already making for the British and re-tooled it for the .30-06 cartridge.  The design was accepted by the Ordnance Department and was then produced by Remington, Eddystone (a Remington subsidiary) and Winchester.  Although it's tough to come up with the exact ratio, it's estimated that 2/3 of the rifles used by the U.S. were the M1917 model and not the 1903 Springfield.

Since this is an Eddystone rifle, a little information on that factory might be welcome.  The British Commonwealth had contracted Winchester and Remington to manufacture Pattern 14 Enfield rifles.  J.P. Morgan financed and brokered the firearms deal between the British and the United States. Tools and equipment were purchased from Vickers and shipped to America to manufacture the P-14 rifles. Much of the equipment ended up at a Remington owned subsidiary’s manufacturing plant in Eddystone, Pennsylvania (previously the Baldwin Locomotive Works), thus the Eddystone Arsenal.

After the war, most of the M1917 rifles were placed in storage.  However, in the early days of World War II, both the U.S. and many allied countries found themselves once again short of main battle rifles.  Many of the M1917 rifles came out of storage and saw significant use in WW II as well.  In fact, the M1917 saw some use as sniper rifles in the Korean War and a few were even used in Vietnam.  Because the rifle is so robust and reliable, the Danish Sirius Dog Sled Patrol still uses the M1917 as their service rifle. The firearm can stand up to the bitterly cold arctic conditions that they face day to day. These are incredibly well-built rifles with very strong bolts.  They were, and still are, every bit the equal of the 1903 Springfield, although not as well known.

Our rifle is a consignment sale and it's a very nice looking rifle.  It's chambered in .30-06, has a 26 inch barrel and a fixed magazine capacity of 6+1.  The magazine can be loaded either manually or from stripper clips.  The serial number of 465139 was assigned by Eddystone in May, 1918 and the Eddystone barrel was manufactured in March, 2018.  The end of the stock is also correctly marked with the "E" for Eddystone.  We do not see inspector's cartouches on the stock, which would lead us to believe that this particular rifle never went through an arsenal rebuild.

The stock does, however, have some markings that we were not expecting.  The eagle’s head acceptance stamp is on the underside of the pistol grip and we expected to see that.  However, there is also a stamp of either “A” or “4A” in the same area.  We are not familiar with that marking.  Also unexpected is the “RCAF” stamp on the left side of the buttstock.  During the early stages of World War II, the Canadians were one of many allies that were short of rifles.  They purchased two different lots of M1917 rifles (in 1940 and again in 1941) and .30-06 ammunition for use with their home-based troops and with the Royal Canadian Air Force.  This freed up their .303 chambered rifles to be used with front line troops.  What we have here is likely one of those that went to the Royal Canadian Air Force.  There is also a number that’s stamped on the left side of the buttstock in the same area as the RCAF cartouche.  That number appears to be 70355.  We don’t know for certain but would assume that it was stamped by the Canadians after purchase.  There is a circular stamp on the right side of the buttstock that is likely the Canadian broad arrow property mark.  That would seem to fit with the rest of the history of the rifle.  We’ve included it in one of the photos.  Finally, there is a large “376” stamped on the right side of the rear sight and we can find no reference to what that number might be.

The majority of the parts that we see are correctly marked with the Eddystone “E”.  Parts with a clear “E” are:  underside of bolt handle, front sight, barrel, stock, receiver (of course), safety, rear sight leaf, bolt and the upper band.

The wood is in Very Good condition.  Sure, it has the normal signs of military use but we find no major defects, no cracks and no trench art.  There is a deeper ding on the right side of the buttstock and one on the left side as well.  These are shown in the photos.

The rear sight is the leaf design, graduated from 200 to 1600 yards.  When the leaf is folded forward (flat) the battle sight is automatically in place.  The sight adjusts freely and sight picture is easy to acquire.

The bolt cycles freely, locks up tight and the trigger is smooth and consistent in its pull.  The barrel is bright and the rifling is good.  The bore needs a good scrubbing.  We see shiny metal but there is also residue that needs removed.  We mention that to be complete in our description.

The bluing on the receiver and rear sight are better than expected and in Very Good shape.  The barrel and front sight do have some finish loss.  The trigger guard and lower barrel band have some pitting.  We do not find any rust on the rifle.

Overall, this is a very nice example of a M1917 rifle from Eddystone that doesn't appear to have gone through an arsenal rebuild.  We've personally bought a number of rifles from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP).  If you're familiar with them and with their grading system, we'd call this a Service Grade rifle and that's the best of their grades without going into very rare, auction only grades.  Of course, the M1917s aren't generally available from the CMP any longer.  If you're a fan of the very reliable, durable M1917 or a fan/collector of U.S. military surplus rifles, this one is definitely worth a look.  We don't think you'll be disappointed. 

Purchase is for the rifle and the reproduction sling as shown.  No case included.

This is a consignment sale and, like all of our consignments, we have not test-fired this rifle.  We have performed all function checks and find no mechanical issues.  As with all pre-owned firearm purhases, please review all photos carefully so that you are fully comfortable with the condition of the rifle