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James K · September 13, 2013, 07:45 PM

Yes, there was a red band about 1 1/2"-2" wide painted around the stock and handguard just below the lower band. Some had a white stripe in the middle of the red band. The color was a rather darkish red, not bright red or almost pink like that one.

The purpose was so the British depot personnel could tell that the rifle was not for the .303 British like the nearly identical Pattern 1914. In fact, those M1917's seem not to have been issued, at least not in any quantity. Those that were issued went to the Home Guards, not to the regular army. Churchill complained to FDR that while the British were grateful for the rifles, they only got an average of 5 rounds per gun (and .30-'06 was not in the British supply system and not made by British commercial companies). Roosevelt replied that was all the ammo they could spare.

While it made sense to mark the M1917s because of the similarity to the P-14, they marked all rifles that were in a non standard (not .303) caliber, including M1 rifles which were marked the same way as the 1917's.

I don't know if any were destroyed; an awful lot came back in the 1950's and 1960's before the original GCA 68 banned import of all military surplus arms. Some may have been sent to Russia by the British, but the pictures I have seen indicate those were P-14's, not 1917's.

Jim

September 13, 2013, 07:45 PM	#9
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Yes, there was a red band about 1 1/2"-2" wide painted around the stock and handguard just below the lower band. Some had a white stripe in the middle of the red band. The color was a rather darkish red, not bright red or almost pink like that one. The purpose was so the British depot personnel could tell that the rifle was not for the .303 British like the nearly identical Pattern 1914. In fact, those M1917's seem not to have been issued, at least not in any quantity. Those that were issued went to the Home Guards, not to the regular army. Churchill complained to FDR that while the British were grateful for the rifles, they only got an average of 5 rounds per gun (and .30-'06 was not in the British supply system and not made by British commercial companies). Roosevelt replied that was all the ammo they could spare. While it made sense to mark the M1917s because of the similarity to the P-14, they marked all rifles that were in a non standard (not .303) caliber, including M1 rifles which were marked the same way as the 1917's. I don't know if any were destroyed; an awful lot came back in the 1950's and 1960's before the original GCA 68 banned import of all military surplus arms. Some may have been sent to Russia by the British, but the pictures I have seen indicate those were P-14's, not 1917's. Jim Last edited by James K; September 13, 2013 at 07:51 PM.