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My First M1917
I finally got My Salvage grade 1917 from CMP on the 5th. The whole rifle was complete, and way more than I expected.My Sn is1090955, and has an 8/18 eddystone barrel.Rem bolt, and stock(i believe),win floorplate, and front band.everything else eddystone.Rifling is very tall, and distinct,but is "frosted", and was buried under what seemed like endless blank residue.stock and metal wer all varnished,but cleaned up nicely,eagles and OGEK cartouche all sharp!
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...Family/012.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...Family/013.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...Family/014.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...Family/015.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...Family/016.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...Family/017.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...Family/024.jpg
now cleaned up,dents steamed,oiled, and rubbed down with Fairtrimmers...
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/M1917004.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/M1917003.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/M1917001.jpg
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/M1917006.jpg
She sure is a sweet shooter,I like it more than My 03A3 :-O
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Let us know how it shoots!
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Very nice. She cleaned up great.
Best Regards
Lisa
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Well if it shoots good I would say you got your money's worth.
Looks pretty nice though and the wood cleaned up real good.
Dan
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Well I went to the 100yrd range today...Yikes!!! Windage was WAY off.was using battle sight, I had to aim 4" to the right(5"'s would be "dead On",then I could only get a 4 inch group. I know a lot of it was My fault, as I only had a small toolbox as a rest,but I'd say 3 "inches would be it's best at 100 yrds.i did run 20rnds through it , and I love that action,nice trigger pull, and its comfortable. I noticed it is very ammo sesative, and hates LC 69 ammo.I will experiment with some reloads,but all in all, I'd say I'm happy..It's nice to bring a piece of history "back to life".:thup:
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You have a great rifle! No it's not brand new, but it is a "piece of history." There's a lot to be said for that.
You can adjust your windage by drifting the front sight. Get yourself a better rest before you decide that 4" is the best the rifle can do. Try the Greek HXP M-2 from the CMP. Also try some commercial hunting ammunition with heavier bullets, ie., 180 gr. One M-1917 I owned has a sewer pipe for a barrel but it positively adored 180 gr. round nosed bullets. It would routinely put five of those things into 1-1.5 inches at 100 yds. If I'd had better sense, I would never have sold it. But of course, hindsight is always "20-20."
Sincerely,
BruceV
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Thanks Bruce. I am planning on trying different recipes when I reload,as all My ammo on hand were loaded with 150gr bullets to feed My M1's. I must admit, I put off buying a 1917 for years( I thought they were too ugly),I could now kick myself for this.As I was working with that wood, and "getting to know"Her,I came to see,and feel Her beauty.I really look forward to experimenting with her.Oh, I must admit,there is one thing I do not care for, and that is 0 windage adjustment on rear sight.I am going to have to drift the front sight as Bruce stated,but it would be nice to be able to adjust the rear as in My 1903-A3,M1 carb,M1 Garands,Oh well, can't change history!:D
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You can always put a Parker Hale sight on the rear. The number is PH5B. There is a nice picture of an M1917 with a PH5B site on an earlier post in this forum. I bought one on ebay a month ago for $134.50 with shipping. It requres no modification and bolts on to the existing rear sight. It is fully adjustable for elevation and windage. They show up on ebay fairly often. I have not tried mine yet because my M1917 is still at the gunsmith getting checked out. I bought my Enfield two months before you got yours. I picked out mine at the CMP north store. Serial is 1005625. Mine is awfully pretty for a salvage grade.
Regards, Bruce VS
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I put one on one of my rifles a few months back. It required one modification. The bolt stop spring would not fit into the slot on the PH5B. I donot know if the P-14 rifles had a spring with a narrower tail or not. I measured how much the slot on the sight needed to be widened. Split the difference. I then used a file to remove on one side first and the the other. I used the type of file that one half has teeth only on the edge and the other has teeth only on the flats. The sight works great.
john
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A few hints to getting the best out of your Eddy without wasting months on trial and error:
4" of horizontal center at 100 yards is too much. Milsurps frequently have damaged (obvious) or worn (not so obvious) crowns, from general rough use or, curiously enough, over-enthusiastic cleaning with pull-throughs, chains etc. And this wear is often one-sided, causing poor groups that are way off center. So, before worrying about subtleties of bedding, get the crown checked. I did that with my Eddy, and 10 euros to a gunsmith to freshen up the crown turned a doubtful specimen with 4" grouping into a keeper with 2" grouping. And, if you want the best from your rifle, you will have to get into reloading. Don't aim for 1 MOA groups with surplus ammo. You may be lucky, most aren't.
Use nothing lighter than the 167/168 gn HPBTs from Sierra or Lapua. Or the 180 gn round-nose flat-base style for 100 yards shooting.
Seat the bullets to be about 20 thou off the lands, using an RCBS competition seater or equivalent. This is realistically repeatable. I do not recommend following those who claim to seat their bullets 3 thou off the lands - you cannot hold a +/1 1 thou tolerance in real life unless you have, amongst other things, a constant-temperature environment. And perfectly (well, as perfect as I can manage) seated bullets will show a couple of thou difference in overall length, because of minute profile variations - so don't go by OAL, you must have the competition-type seater, find the contact point, and then back off the 0.020.
I use the Vihtavuori powders, so I have the Vihtavuori reloading manual, and have found the "recipes" to be very good, with the proviso that seating depth must be adjusted to your rifle (see above).
I think that is enough for now - check the crown, correct if necessary, and get some first class ammo or make it yourself!
Patrick
