mostly winchester 1917

[jimicrakorn1]

Hello, I picked up a 1917 yesterday, spent about 6 hrs cleaning it. Originally I bought it for my dad, but after cleaning and playin around with it, I might keep it. I've never been interested too much in surplus rifles but this seems pretty cool. Had a collector look at it, told me it is an early 1917 Winchester. The receiver, barrel, stock- win., trigger and bolt- rem., is it hard to find parts to make it all one manufacturer, is there any benefit to doing that? The rifling is in decent shape, not dark, stock looks pretty good, I paid $350 for it. Another question I bought a bayonet and scabard from a local gun store for $150. It's stamped 1917 W in circle one side, Bomb, eagle head with a j-1 under eagle head, US and an X on other side, blade is brite not polished or sharpened, handle worn but decent, is the bayonet original? I want to shoot this rifle, is there anything I need to know or look for that may cause a problem while shooting. Oh and I found a good deal on a 1903 Rock Island Arsenal while leaving the gun store today, so I bought it.... for my dad.

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[stonewall56]

If the rifle you bought hasn't been sporterised or altered you got a great deal. Look on the bottom of the barrel by the muzzle and see if it has been "imported" back into this country. Pictures please!

[Calif-Steve]

Southern Ohio Guns has/had correct bayonets for sale last year. You might try calling them to see if any are around.

[Dan Wilson]

Congrats on the rifle and even more with finding a Winchester bayonet (really hard to find) to go with your Winchester rifle (OMG did you really get the rifle for 350?????? Lucky Lucky).

I would clean it up and if every thing looks good to go take it and throw some lead downrange. Just check the first couple of casings after you shoot them, any big problems will show in the brass.

Chances are good that it will shoot just fine and last long time.

Congratulations for sure.

Dan

[Dan Wilson]

SOG has been out of the M1917 pigstickers for almost a year now, they did show up with some Remington's for 50 and Winchesters for 100 just recently but they were all gone within a couple of days (and it had to happen in the middle of the month, my allowance for the month is usually spent the first couple of days of the month so I missed out dagnabit).

Dan

[jimicrakorn1]

What will I be looking for on the casings, over expansion or splits or ?
I'll try to post pics but I have no clue how to do that, is there some instructional guide on this forum?
The only markings I found near the muzzle are on top, W, bomb,11-17.
So I probably got gouged on the bayonet... oh well, it's so intimidating on the rifle. I can't imagine being on the wrong end of one of those.

[budmant]

I don't think that was the intent...$150 for a "REAL" M1917 Winchester bayo & scabbard is a decent deal. As for getting the parts to make it all Winchester, get in touch with Sringfield Sporters...they should be able to hook you up.

[Dan Wilson]

You look for anything that looks unusual or abnormal like primer cratering or backing out, neck cracks and if your good with a micrometer or have a case stretch gage for reloading you can visually check how much case stretch you have after firing.

I don't think you got gouged on the Winchester bayonet, you probably paid a good price on it as the Winchester blades are pretty hard to find.

Dan

[Tom Doniphon]

If the bayonet is in reasonably good condition, you did not over pay for it.

An excellent condition Winchester Model 1917 bayaonet and scabbard can be worth well over $350.

[bordercav]

If you want to bring your Winchester up to spec, it will be somewhat more challenging than matching up a comparable Eddystone or Remington rifle. I'd recommend you start at Springfield Sporters. They charge 50% extra to pick specifically stamped parts but it's well worth it. Sarco has parts but they're not really geared to pick parts and Gun Parts Corp (Numrich) is a crapshoot for quality parts. Ebay can be expensive, particularly for W parts since they seem to bring a premium. I just finished restoring my Remington and I sold the handful of W stamped parts for a small fortune on Ebay. In fact, the W parts (compared to the E parts) almost paid for the rest of the parts I acquired to finish up the job. Is it worth it? I don't know. I had a good time doing it and finishing the job was worthwhile in and of itself. You'll end up with a more valuable rifle but at what cost? I ended up ahead in my quest but you never know. It depends on how many parts you end up replacing. Good luck!