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Old March 9, 2013, 04:56 PM   #1
mark clausen
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1917 eddystone

My brother inherited this from his long gone father in law. He has had it for years and wanted me to check it out. I'm not really a milsurp guy so I thought I'd ask youall for any info age wise on the origonal configuration of the gun. 50s era sporterizing still looks very good. He is interested in scoping it. That looks difficult to me given the shape of the reciever. Just looking for thoughts and info. Thanks Mark

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Old March 9, 2013, 06:51 PM   #2
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Personnaly? I would not try to put a scope on it. Here in the Greater Northywest; getting your hands on a 1917 Eddystone still in good to great shape(ie: not rusted out, not a lot of holes drilled in it, with a good bore) is almost impossible. You didn't mention the bore? Is it in good shape?
Anyway, if everything is as good as the outside, I would take it to the range to see how it performs with some diffrent loads. If it shoots well, I might have a nicer stock made for it. Just me a talking here.
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Old March 9, 2013, 07:33 PM   #3
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Somebody already fixed that rifle beyond the restoring to orginal configeration. Mainly grinding off the ears.

So go a head and put a scope on it. It will make it more usable.
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Old March 9, 2013, 08:22 PM   #4
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To mount a scope properly, the gunsmith will have to weld a steel block into that hole in the rear of the receiver (intended to lighten the rifle - it didn't help much). Othewise, there is no place to drill the hole(s) for the mount.

That will probably require rebluing the action, since it would be difficult (but maybe not impossible) to do that welding without damaging the bluing.

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Old March 10, 2013, 08:58 AM   #5
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FUBAR

Sportered beyond repair, good for hunting.
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Old March 10, 2013, 09:52 AM   #6
mark clausen
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I was wondering what that hole was. It's looking like scoping is out. The bore is in really good shape. Haven't had a chance to take it to the range yet. My nephew shot it a couple times a few years ago and declared it junk but he thinks anything thing not black and stainless is junk. That is why my brother brought it to me to look at. It doesn't look like it saw much use after being sporterized. The blueing is strong. It shoulders nicely. The sights really aren't that bad. I hope he uses it even if we dont scope it.
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Old March 10, 2013, 10:18 AM   #7
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It is what it is !!!

Quote:
Somebody already fixed that rifle beyond the restoring to orginal configeration. Mainly grinding off the ears.
As has been the case with many surplus rifles. Shoot and enjoy as is. ...

I assume it's still a 30-06 ??

Be Safe !!!
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Old March 10, 2013, 10:42 AM   #8
mark clausen
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Yes, still 30 06. In fact when I opened the door in the buttstock I found two old rounds with an RP head stamp
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Old March 10, 2013, 11:11 AM   #9
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Well, P17s are supposed some of the strongest actions around, and large enough to take a 375 H&H. Or maybe a 458 Lott ...
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Old March 10, 2013, 11:16 AM   #10
PetahW
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B-Square makes a scope mount & rings for the 1917 Enfield, including the Eddystone.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/103...1917-p14-gloss


Looking at the buyer comments/reviews, and thinking about the 1917 rifles, I would think additional mount screws are needed, and that the receiver & bridge needs to be spot annealed before any D/T, due to the exceptional hardness.

If the B-Square base doesn't already have mounting a screw hole just ahead of where it passes over the hole in the bridge, it'd most likely possible to drill new holes in the required location.



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Old March 10, 2013, 11:38 AM   #11
mark clausen
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Thanks for the B square info. I will check that out. As I said in my first post I dont know much about this model. Is Eddystone a manufacturer or type of this model?
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Old March 10, 2013, 04:00 PM   #12
James K
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Just FYI, most of us didn't grind off the "ears", we cut them off with a hacksaw, to no specific specifications. That is why it is sometimes hard to get the right scope mount base.

Jim
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Old March 10, 2013, 06:25 PM   #13
mark clausen
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The long ago smith left no evidence of the ears at all. It seems to me that these old sporters are greatly under appreciated. The checkering might leave something to be desired but the metal work is beautiful.
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Old March 10, 2013, 07:04 PM   #14
PetahW
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The US Gov't made their rifles at US Arsenal's - Eddystone (in PA) was one of them, along with Springfield (In MASS) & Rock Island (a Mississippi River island between Davenport IA & Rock Isl, IL).



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Old March 10, 2013, 11:30 PM   #15
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Eddystone was not a government arsenal, it was a private factory operated by Remington. Remington and Winchester contracted with the British at the start of WWI to build their Pattern 1914 rifles for them, since all the British factories were tied up making the SMLE Mk III (later called the Rifle No. 1 Mk III).

As the British contract expired, the U.S. entered the war. The government factories, Springfield and Rock Island, were unable to meet the need of rifles for an expanding army, so the U.S. Army contracted with the existing private factories to produce a modifed P-14, made for the American .30-'06 cartridge. That rifle was called the Model 1917 and so many were made that it, not the Model 1903 Springfield, was the primary rifle of U.S. troops in France. The troops invariably called the latter rifle "the Springfield" and the Model 1917 "the Enfield", recognizing its English origin.

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Old March 11, 2013, 09:50 AM   #16
mark clausen
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Keeping in mind that this gun is chambered in 30 06, I found this stamp on the barrel while checking out all the other markings
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Old March 11, 2013, 10:51 AM   #17
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Thanks for the correction, Jim.



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Old March 11, 2013, 03:51 PM   #18
James K
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Those "Made in XXXX" marks are what is known as the "country or origin" or "COO" mark, required of all products imported into the U.S. Up to 1968, that included guns, but GCA '68 changed that to the importer and caliber, the former because it had proven very difficult to trace the Carcano used in the JFK assassination.

But that mark was almost always put on, not in the exporting country, but in the U.S., in bond. And the folks doing the stamping were minimum-wage laborers, not gun experts, so if an American-made Model 1917 was in with a bunch of Pattern 1914's, it got stamped "Made in England."

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Old March 11, 2013, 05:25 PM   #19
mark clausen
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So it was incorrectly stamped made in england when it was origonally made, and carried by a US soldier. Is that correct?
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Old March 11, 2013, 09:18 PM   #20
James K
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I don't know for sure who carried it but it definitely was made in the U.S., at the Remington-operated factory at Eddystone, PA, down the Delaware river from Philadelphia. And the barrel is American-made (and probably original) and has the normal U.S. eagle inspection stamp and Ordnance "bomb".

So whoever put on that "Made in England" stamp goofed.

FWIW, not the first or only time. I have seen U.S. Savage and Canadian Long Branch No. 4's with "ENGLAND" on them. Same thing. Importers had people stamping those guns as fast as they could wield a hammer and, as I said, they were not gun experts. They had to stamp so many hundred a day and that was what they did.

Jim

Last edited by James K; March 11, 2013 at 09:25 PM.
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Old March 11, 2013, 09:29 PM   #21
mark clausen
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Thankyou Jim, This is the second time you and the other usual suspects have been a great help to me on an old gun.
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Old March 11, 2013, 10:13 PM   #22
James K
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Or not. I have been reminded that some milsurps were "sporterized" in England c. 1955. (Sam Cummings, of Interarms, owned a controlling interest in Cogswell & Harrison and they did a lot of work on guns that Interarms would import into the U.S. or sell worldwide.)

Guns that were extensively modiified or re-worked in England had to be proved in England and if the work was extensive enough that they were considered "new" guns, had to be marked as "Made in England". That does not look like a product of Cogswell & Harrison, but it might be interesting to check if it has any English company markings or proof marks.

The rifle is certainly a U.S. Model 1917, sold as surplus, and almost certainly sporterized here in the U.S., but I am posting this in the interests of completeness.

Jim
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Old March 11, 2013, 10:39 PM   #23
mark clausen
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I have a Mossberg 42 MB. They were 22 caliber training rifles sent over there through the lend lease agreement. Before these guns were repatriated they were proofed and stamped accordingly so I am a little familiar with British proof marks. I will look more closely at this one.
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Old March 12, 2013, 09:51 PM   #24
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I dont know much about US rifles but isnt the flaming bomb a dead giveaway for a service rifles??
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