cleaning my U.S. Model 1917 rifle

bigmike349 · Jul 21, 2019

All,

I just purchased my first C&R, a U.S. model 1917 rifle. The rifle was advertised as having a poor barrel with fouling and possibly some pitting. how would you recommend I clean and protect the barrel of my 1917. are there any cleaning tools or techniques you can recommend?

Thanks in advance.
Mike

Oldcarjunkie · Jul 21, 2019

Well hopefully with a description like that you got a good deal on it ,

you will get different cleaning products from each person but based upon what i have and would use it would go like this

I would prob start with wipeout, let sit for a bit then patch it out, I would then Use a brush and a good cleaner, look up how to make "ed's red" , after cleaning i would patch it clean/dry and take it out for shooting, get it nice and hot and repeat these steps. when i was satisfied i would end with a patch of Ballistol

Doco Overboard · Jul 21, 2019

What I do for barrels that are worn or neglected is clean with boiling hot soap and water using a stiff copper brush. If it starts to show decent a little bit, Ill flood with liquid wrench or some other type of canned cleaner while continuing to evaluate the appearance. If the barrel displays uninterrupted rifling and no deep pitting, shoot it and then clean in a conventional method and see what happens. The thing about an M17 is that it has 5 groove rifling vs 4 like a Springfield. All this means is that the bore is slightly tighter due to more bearing surface regarding the area of the lands lands which may help you out regarding corrosion/wear.
Unless of course it has a JA replacement barrel which is two groove but you don't see too awful many of those around.

mawkie · Jul 21, 2019

I've had good luck scrubbing using Kroil and then if there's still fouling I go to my Outers Foul Out electronic bore cleaner. You'd be amazed at what still comes out of the bore.

bigmike349 · Jul 21, 2019

Oldcarjunkie said:
Well hopefully with a description like that you got a good deal on it ,

you will get different cleaning products from each person but based upon what i have and would use it would go like this

I would prob start with wipeout, let sit for a bit then patch it out, I would then Use a brush and a good cleaner, look up how to make "ed's red" , after cleaning i would patch it clean/dry and take it out for shooting, get it nice and hot and repeat these steps. when i was satisfied i would end with a patch of Ballistol

$515. I thought that was a pretty good price. Overall the rifle is in excellent shape from what I can tell. I am more of a collector than a shooter so it suits my needs well.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/820861509

Oldcarjunkie · Jul 21, 2019

bigmike349 said:
$515. I thought that was a pretty good price. Overall the rifle is in excellent shape from what I can tell. I am more of a collector than a shooter so it suits my needs well.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/820861509

Def seems like a OK deal compared to what i seen at the last gun show in york a month ago, they wanted 750 plus for those.

babalou · Jul 22, 2019

just saw

bigmike349 said:
All,

I just purchased my first C&R, a U.S. model 1917 rifle. The rifle was advertised as having a poor barrel with fouling and possibly some pitting. how would you recommend I clean and protect the barrel of my 1917. are there any cleaning tools or techniques you can recommend?

Thanks in advance.
Mike

I saw a MidwayUSA show like a couple days ago about the model 1917. Said it was a great gun...

Threeband · Jul 22, 2019

babalou said:
I saw a MidwayUSA show like a couple days ago about the model 1917. Said it was a great gun...

Considering it was designed by a committee...

Some have called it "big boned and beefy."

babalou · Jul 22, 2019

Yup

Threeband said:
Considering it was designed by a committee...

Some have called it "big boned and beefy."

Ten pounds or more. Started as 1915 i thought i heard and then 1917. Doughboys used as well as british until the got up to speed on their enfields

Threeband · Jul 22, 2019

Prototype was a Mauser derivation designed by a British committee and adopted in 1913 in a .276 caliber. Rechambered to .303 in 1914 as an emergency substitute standard to Beat the Kaiser, and made by Yank contractors. Rechambered again to .30-06 in 1917 and adopted by the U.S.

More than 50% of U.S. troops used it Over There.

https://www.mdshooters.com/showpost.php?p=3153772&postcount=18

babalou · Jul 22, 2019

Damn

Threeband said:
Prototype was a Mauser derivation designed by a British committee and adopted in 1913 in a .280 or .275 caliber I think. Rechambered to .303 in 1914 as an emergency substitute standard to Beat the Kaiser, and made by Yank contractors. Rechambered again to .30-06 in 1917 and adopted by the U.S.

More than 50% of U.S. troops used it Over There.

I could have saved time and just asked you instead of watching that show. American Rifleman last week. Started with .276 cartridge like the pattern 1913 then so on. Really interesting how both Winchester and Remington were building the enfields in .303 as contracts to England then decided to build with .30-06. Love those shows.

babalou · Jul 22, 2019

I was joking with you. I love to hear how a shit ton of people on here know a ton of things on older rifles and pistols and so many odd wildcat or out of favor rounds

grimnar15 · Jul 22, 2019

bigmike349 said:
All,

I just purchased my first C&R, a U.S. model 1917 rifle. The rifle was advertised as having a poor barrel with fouling and possibly some pitting. how would you recommend I clean and protect the barrel of my 1917. are there any cleaning tools or techniques you can recommend?

Thanks in advance.
Mike

Congratulations on your purchase - I hope you're excited. In addition to the advice of other members - if you're going to shoot the 1917 I do recommend you take to your gunsmith for a look over.

Red1917 · Jul 22, 2019

Excellent choice, I find when I reach for something in .30-06 to take to the range the M1917 comes with me a lot more often than any of my springfields or M1s.

mawkie · Jul 22, 2019

The original .276 was a good idea on paper but they had issues with this new high velocity cartridge. Not unlike the problems Charles Ross encountered with his new .280 Ross cartridge. I think both needed the metallurgy of the day to catch up to make them successful. In the end the British ran out of time with their entry into WWI. Luckily the rifle easily converted to .303 British.
Remington saw the strength of the Model of 1917 and continued production for a decade or so as the Model 30. It was plenty strong enough to handle all the new wildcat cartridges that came along. War production effectively killed off the Model 30 but they aren't hard to find and are very cool early sporting rifles. Photo is from an auction held a couple of years ago. $525 would have bought you this nice example.

Doco Overboard · Jul 22, 2019

Another curious thing about an M17 is it was produced in such great numbers with a propensity for a known defect regarding safety off discharge when the bolt is manipulated regarding incorrect operation of the safety not to mention blow ups whether it be from wrong ammo or problems with seamed barrels. A proportionally large number of documented failures that could just be a result of the number of rifles manufactured by the three manufactures vs the 03

bigmike349 · Jul 22, 2019

grimnar15 said:
Congratulations on your purchase - I hope you're excited. In addition to the advice of other members - if you're going to shoot the 1917 I do recommend you take to your gunsmith for a look over.

Will do. Do you recommend anyone?

Abulg1972 · Jul 22, 2019

The stock has been sanded pretty good on the OP’s rifle.

cleaning my U.S. Model 1917 rifle

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