Winchester

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 Sprigfield rifles to meet the needs of the United States.  Remington then took the British Pattern 14 design 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.

Atfter 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.  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 really 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 384558 was assigned by Winchester in August, 1918 and the Winchester barrel stamp of 8-18 matches the receiver markings.  The end of the stock is also correctly marked with the "W".  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 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.  It has a very nice color and, overall, looks great!

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 and the trigger is smoother than we expected and consistent in its pull.  The barrel is bright and the rifling is good.  The bore is mostly shiny but also needs a good scrubbing.  We find no rust on the metal.

Overall, this is a very nice example of a M1917 rifle from Winchester 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.  Luckily, you've found this one.  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.