Gun Show Find: M1917 Rifle

[peckman28]

Welp, I hit that small gun show down in Dale City this weekend, and this followed me home. Eddystone M1917, 1334XXX, barrel dated 11-18. I had all but given up finding one for a decent price, but at $495 I am happy with this purchase. I won't get to take it out to the range for a few weeks, but in the meantime it gets to sit in my safe and look pretty, right where it belongs

 

[Dave91]

Looks awesome. I have an Eddystone and it's the most accurate rifle I've ever fired.

 

[BigSteve57]

They can be great shooters. Ours is quite accurate and I have competed with it in the C&R matches at AGC. The front sight was off and had to be pushed left to center the point of impact. The rear sight aperture is rather large so practice centering the front sight in the rear aperture.

My best ever group of 3 was 1" at 200 yards. I may have just gotten lucky.

Here's the thread I started just after I got it and was helped a LOT by the folks on this forum:

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=58339

 

[peckman28]

They can be great shooters. Ours is quite accurate and I have competed with it in the C&R matches at AGC. The front sight was off and had to be pushed left to center the point of impact. The rear sight aperture is rather large so practice centering the front sight in the rear aperture.

My best ever group of 3 was 1" at 200 yards. I may have just gotten lucky.

Here's the thread I started just after I got it and was helped a LOT by the folks on this forum:

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=58339

VERY nice. Thanks for the link; how did you go about adjusting the front sight for windage? Did you buy a tool for it or just go with the wooden dowl and hammer method?

 

[Neot]

I grew up near Eddystone back in PA. It's nice to see a bit of history being appreciated! For $495 I would say you did quite well!

 

[mawkie]

There's a reason why the British Pattern 14 was a favorite of British snipers even though the P14 was relegated to 2nd line duty during WWI. And why Remington still offered the sporterized US Model 1917 as the Model 30 well after the war was over. It's a great design. You're gonna love it at the range!

 

[BigSteve57]

VERY nice. Thanks for the link; how did you go about adjusting the front sight for windage? Did you buy a tool for it or just go with the wooden dowl and hammer method?

I got a SKS sight alignment tool at Howard County Gun show for $10.00 and had a gunsmith mill off the end of the threaded bolt so it is small enough to push the sight blade. I then used Loctite to secure the blade in place.

 

[Jimbob2.0]

Pretty cool, always wanted one of those.

 

[BigSteve57]

Here's the real armorer's tool for pushing the front sight on a 1917:

 

[SKIP]

Here's the real armorer's tool for pushing the front sight on a 1917:

Does the tool remain on the barrel to sight-in or remove it before shooting?

 

[BigSteve57]

Does the tool remain on the barrel to sight-in or remove it before shooting?

I used mine to push the sight and then removed it. I think recoil would have thrown it off anyway and possibly damaged the sight base and/or shroud.

 

[mawkie]

Seem to remember seeing armorers kits for the Model 1917 out in the market some years ago along with some sighting kits from countries that used the Model 1917 and Pattern 14 rifles like Greece and Denmark.

 

[Maverick0313]

SWEET!!!!

 

[BigSteve57]

This is an interesting website for 1917 and other US rifles:
http://www.nicolausassociates.com/

This link is to their free area and you'll see a section on the M1917 Enfield here about 3/4 the way down the page:
http://www.nicolausassociates.com/free_stuff.htm

You can see the blueprints for a Danish variant of the front sight adjustment tool:
http://www.nicolausassociates.com/PDF/M1917FrontSightTool.pdf

 

[peckman28]

Here's the real armorer's tool for pushing the front sight on a 1917:

Niiiice. I have one that looks just like that for my Enfield No 4 Mk II, looks like it might fit here...