1917 Remington

[ChuckS]

I recently bought a 1917 Remington that has an approx. 3/8 diameter half circle cut through the receiver directly in front of the "R" for Remington. I just noticed it after looking at other receivers. Does anyone know the purpose of this ?

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Many were de-activated by being drilled straight through so they couldn't possibly fire...without noticing the hole at least.

[Salt Flat]

Chucks, It sounds like one of the Danish 1917's. Do a search of the forum (upper right corner of this page). There are many posts (and theories) on why they notched the receivers on these rifles. Some say for cartridge clearance others say it was done to avoid cartridge mix ups and positively identify the rifles as 30-06. Salt Flat

[browningautorifle]

Not through the receiver? In front of the action? Yes Salt Flat, I would agree...pics would be priceless here.

[ChuckS]

Thanks to all. Yes, it appears to be a Canadian or Danish return to the U.S. Looks to be fairly common although there appears to be no agreement on its purpose. It doesn't affect the function or safety of the rifle, which is what I was worried about. This has taught me to be more observant when looking at a possible purchase. These are fairly rare in my area and I found this one after looking for quite a while and got caught up in negotiating the price. Easy to do in this great hobby.

[jamie5070]

The last I read about them they had to do with a sub caliber (.22) conversion device. Wish I had book marked that thread.

[ChuckS]

i just spent a couple of hours reading through all the related threads I could find and it didn't look to me like many people felt that the the .22 conversion theory was the reason for the notch in the receiver. Denmark apparently had a dedicated .22 rifle to use for training and target practice. It is a lot of reading-too much to get into here, but there are a number of theories and possible explanations. It seems, however, that no one has been able to come up with concrete proof for any of them. At least that is the conclusion I was able to come to. These types of mysteries just add to the enjoyment of the hobby for me. If I had gotten a 1917 without a notch in the receiver, I probably never would have known about all of this!

[RC20]

Any chance of a picture?

I just looked at my Danish return and nothing stand out but I may be off base

[Chuckindenver]

pictures...

[RC20]

no pictures?