M1917 rifle with mystery Kanji

[xb0xisbetter]

I'm not sure if this is the place to post this, and if it is not, by all means, remove it. A few days ago I had posted these images in the M1917 Enfield section, and it was immediately suggested that I put it in the Japanese rifles section for better chance of accurate translation. Thus far there have been no responses translating the characters, or saying definitively where this rifle had been used based on them. I'm also not even certain that the Kanji are Japanese or not, as it has stumped a few people who are familiar with Japanese Kanji.

The exact same Kanji are present on the bottom of the barrel, near the chamber. and twice on the inside of the magazine floorplate.









I would greatly appreciate it if someone has seen something like this before, or could definitively translate the Kanji, as I have wondered about their origin since I found them when I first took the rifle apart.

Information

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[Boonie Stomper]

Very unusual. Are the other 1917 markings present? Is it Remington, Eddystone, Winchester? The markings appear to stamped pre-blueing. The first picture of the barrel almost looks like "PHIL" spelled vertically.

[Eaglelord17]

Well it looks like Katagana, and based off my friend who is trying to learn to read and write Japanese, it likely says Atherton.

Doing some googling led me to this
USS Atherton - Wikipedia

Basically it was a American warship, which in 1955 was transferred to Japan. I think there is a decent chance that it might have been a firearm in ships stores or something of that nature, and when the ship was transferred to Japan, the rifle may have gone with it. If I remember correctly Japan would have also been using a lot of .30-06 rifles at that point due to the occupation of Japan and American influence.

[xb0xisbetter]

Thank you for the responses. It is a bit of a mutt honestly. The Receiver is Remington, The Magazine and bolt look to be Eddystone, the Magazine floorplate looks like it is marked Winchester. I wouldn't read too much into the bluing. I believe that it was re-done at some point, as this rifle is heavily sporterized.

Another person learning Japanese has told me the same thing, Atherton. I had looked into that ship previously, and the Japanese, of course, renamed it. She was JDS Hatsuhi (DE-263) in Japanese service. I know it wasn't uncommon for the U.S. to dump these rifles off as token arms in lend-lease, and for arming the Philippine army, apparently even giving 50 to Greenland to defend themselves throughout WWII. I suppose it might be possible that we threw some in with the Atherton and Japanese armorers stamped them before the ship was renamed?

Additionally, the barrel is from 1918 and has not been shortened. Were the Japanese using full-length rifles on naval vessels?

Here's the entire album of markings:

http://imgur.com/a/9HgoF

[Patrick Chadwick]

Please refer to the original thread in the M1917 forum. Duplication is not helpful.