Should I buy Eddystone 1917

ok, well i read through that pretty quick, and i must say it made me laugh,
though i dont doubt the writers claim, i questions his testing just a bit.
my first redflag is his background of an ART director, and not a gunsmith, machinest or metalurgist,
what supprised me even more is that anyone would grab a good rifle and wack it over a railroad track..the term duuuh comes to mind..
it was geared mostly at low numbered 03,s and ill argue the fact anyday about his testing as well.
yes, i have Hatchers notebook, and if he actually read the thing he would have came to the same conclusion as i did.
that the SHT 1903,s failed from bore obstruction, early Zinc bullets, firing 8mm Mauser in them ect..
and its not that the SHT 03 will just fail at the drop of a hat, its how they handled a failure.
you can blow any rifle up and you dont have to try that hard.
its how the metal acts when it fails. the SHT 03,s tended to shatter, DHT broke as well, but they didnt shatter, the NS 03,s pealed away like a banana peal so to seak.
the 03 is 2% NS, and surface hardened, as is the Remington 03,s and A3,s
the Smith Corona A3 is 2.5% NS, and Heat treated through and through.
likely the toughest reciever made. {iv drilled them i know}
all M1917,s were 3.5% NS, and surface hardened, and as i said before, very soft, iv bent them before, they do bend back..that was a ohS*% momment.
so...without knowing the history of the sportered 17 or the the one he busted over a railroad track..the real facts will never be known.
were they in a fire at one time? rusted? dont know,, he didnt say.
i for one doubt the claim of a box of cracked 17 recievers, pictures? serial numbers???
so far i am the only one to show a picture of a cracked 17 on the net that i know of, if anyone else has a one,.by all meens share..
i dont doubt that some 17,s Eddystone,Remington and Winchester, cracked do to pour barrel removal or installations over the years..but..
but they are rare indeed.
youll likely find more modern rifles 700,s 110,s 77,s with cracks then 1917,s
ill dig out the picture of the cracked 17 i had..

this was a sporterized 1917 that was sent to me to remove the nice original barrel that it had for a original 17 he wanted rebarreled.
after i pulled the barrel, set the other rifle up, i noticed that this one had some issues, and had likely had heavy rust or had been in a fire at one time.
and the first out of hundreds of 17,s iv seen with a crack in the receiver ring, also notice the lug ways are scalled badly, and a lot of wear.
they other 17 that cracked was from the same thing,,a fire, a hot fire as well, it cracked back by the bolt latch, and not the ring, it ended up as art deco, for display for the boyscouts.

The CMP prices are real.. and they are not always in stock.

As others have said for $300 I would take it home. I picked up my first M1917 (Eddystone) a week or so ago and paid more than $300. My 1st M1917 - Military Surplus Collectors Forums

The stock may clean up real nice and then you would have a great shooter with a good bit of history... a win/win :beerchug:

I hope to shoot mine this weekend.

Good luck

I bought it today. Couldn't stand leaving it there. The guy that knew more about the rifle was there today. The stock has been refinished, I knew that. The rear sight is missing the peep sight when it is in the down position. The ladder sight is intact. The rifling is shallow but it is a two groove rifling and I'm wondering how deep that was to begin with. They did allow me to take it apart to check the receiver and the barrel under the wood. Receiver checked out ok with no visible cracks with the liquid test. Barrel has almost no rust on the exterior under the wood. A very small amount that I believe will come off easily with steel wool. The small portion of the barrel that is exposed has more rust on it but I checked it after getting it home and it too appears to only be surface rust.

The finish on the stock comes off pretty easily. It has been sanded with a vibrating sander (I recognize the marks as I have one) and probably not hand sanded afterwords. Stock looks pretty nice under the crap they put on it.

Metal needs cleaned pretty bad but doesn't appear to have much rust on it or pitting. Front sight is a bit loose.

Original price was not $399 but $499, they had it sitting there at that price for two years with no takers and decided it was time to get rid of it and try to regain some of the money they had in it. They were taking a loss in selling it to me for $299.

I will post some photos when I have more time and I'm sure will probably have a few more questions at some point.

And thanks for the advice. I believe I will be quite happy with this once it is cleaned up.

sounds like a good buy, 2 groove barrels are likely a JA Johnson Automatice barrel,
nothing wrong with them at all, all the ones iv delt with have shot very well.

The nicest (by far) 2 groove Johnson barrel I ever had was no good. It would "pop over" at around 35 rounds from heat. Completely lose its bedding and climb 12 -18 inches on target. I took it to Perry, came home and sold it!!! Only M1917 I have ever had with this problem. By far the HS barrels are keepers, no question about it. I have 2 mint Winny M1917's, but they are too mint to use in matches. Oh, my. The Winny's were highly regarded by the Brits in WWI, and they should know.

"Are these prices for real?"

- Why do you think we are advising you to get the rifle (unless, of course, it is obviously faulty - but you have got to do some evaluation yourself)?
Even wrecks have a value when plundered for parts.

I came across both pitting and bell-mouthing when looking for an M1917. So when I finally found one with a mint bore, but well dinged woodwork (from 90 years of being shunted from one arsenal to another), I didn't fret about the state of the wood or wonder if I might find a cheaper one if I looked for several more years, but bought the rifle on the spot. I know that many collectors buy "pretty", but I buy "performance". That's just my taste, and no-one has to agree.

And I don't use headspace gauges, since I don't fire headspace gauges, but loaded cartridges. Sorry if that sounds sarcastic, but the real criterion is head clearance, the space left between the base of a real cartridge case and the bolt face. Which is +0.006" for my rifle/ammo combination. Small clearance is good, but negative clearance means that the rounds are being cammed into the chamber. And rim thicknesses etc have manufacturing tolerances too!

Don't worry - be happy! Go and get it.
And get the books!

Patrick

My Eddystone groups beautifully. As long as the receiver isn't stretched or one of the brittle ones that weren't properly hardened, an Eddystone is a great addition.

You are thinking of low number 03's. There was never a problem with a P-14 or 1917 having bad heat treating on the receivers.

Sounds like a great deal, frankly!