M1917 Ejector Spring - factory

[Jim K]

I recently got from Nicolaus Associates (Garand, M1, M14, M16, Carbine, 1911, 1917, Militaria, and Small Arms Information) a book entitled "U.S. Rifle, Cal. .30, M1917: Diagrams and Pictures." There is other info but the main content is engineering drawings for the M1917, with revisions up to Oct. 1918.

One of those revisions is a separate ejector spring, replacing the spring built into the ejector which is subject to breakage. Unlike the common "fix" for the problem, the drawing does not show a coil spring, but rather a flat spring, curved into a shallow half-moon shape. One end is notched to fit over the ejector. The revised ejector has no spring built in and looks just like an ejector with the intergral spring broken.

The new type spring is made from .016" spring steel, is .281 wide and is .875" long before bending. The curved side faces outward and contacts the bolt stop spring. The puzzle is that it is unclear which way the notch goes. The drawing seems to indicate it goes forward, but an examination of the ejector system indicates the notch probably went toward the back and bore on the ejector about where the common fix coil spring goes.

Anyway, I though you might be interested to know that the ejector spring problem was recognized and a correction was in the works. Apparently, they didn't put the change into production before war's end, or retrofit any existing rifles.

Has anyone seen a M1917 with that change? It could be taken for a gunsmith fix if one did not recognize it, so maybe some were installed.

Jim

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