M1917 notched receiver

[Tom in N.J.]

I believe the Danes modified the receiver with a notch just to identify the rifle as being in U.S. cal. .30 rather than British .303. The long cartridge theory doesn't hold water as the magazine box was not extended for a longer cartridge. The Norwegians notched their K98s that were re-barreled to U.S. cal. 30 and extended the magazine to match. (7.9 X 57 to 7.62 X 61)

[Calif-Steve]

Apparently, the Danes didn't have any .303 P14's, only M1917's. So any mix-ups were not happening, in the first place. Also, the Brits painted the handguards with red paint. A very quick .30-06 identifier. We still haven't gotten this one figured out.

[shjoe]

nice to know that folks are keeping a keen eyeball out for those particular norwegian modified danish M1917s. if we had a bit more info from our norwegian members, it may help clarify why they made the notch. i suspect that because the norwegians routinely notched their rebarreled 30-06 mausers for cartridge clearance when using a stripper clip, the procedure was continued in error on the M1917s if they assumed they were P14s. just a guess/opinion. the post front sight change out appears to be a danish modification to enhance marksmenship. possibly used in target matches. if so, the number of notched M1917s with a front sight post could be relatively low, say around 11K, from one of the earlier shipments from norway to denmark. interesting.

[bb1]

delete posting

[Calif-Steve]

The Norwegians had a major project when they changed over to .30-'06 from 8mm. Nearly 300,000 Germans surrendered in Norway in May of 1945. Both the Army and the Militia had their rifles changed over. I have NOT checked my Norwegian Model 98 to see what happened to the clip guides. But I realize that the German 8mm guides will not fuction with US .30-'06 clips. Since the US M1917's were OK, I am not sure exactly what the Norwegians would have done to the M1917's. Or, even why they would have done something. Remember, Norway has a very literate society and probably the average shooter knew what a 8mm cartridge was. Who and why receivers were notched remains a mystery.