Questions on the M1917 Rifle

[RogerD]

Hello, recently I've been looking into a very nicely finished (hardly sanded down from what I can tell/feel,) M1917 Rifle. It's even got the original barrel, marked 1918, and is in great shape/condition. Currently it's up against an equally nice 1895 Chilean Mauser, which I've posted questions about, on the Mauser forums here. But to stick with the M1917, I was just wondering on some markings I saw.

First, what does the Eagle's Head with the 25, mean? I've heard it has something to do with Springfield Armory way back when, taking them and refurbishing them up a bit?

Secondly, I was wondering how mixed are the parts when it comes to these rifles? Like the old Soviet M19/30s, you can find pretty much either Tula or Izzy markings/parts, on the rifles. My own has these, and the reason I ask about the M1917, is because it says it's a Remington. Has a Remington barrel (unless the gun guy told me wrong), and everything about it is Remington it seems. Except for one particular little piece. I didn't realize it the first time I looked the rifle over, but recently when I was looking at it, I moved the safety latch back and realized on (I'm not sure what you'd called it,) the dark piece of metal that the rear of the hammer slides through, has the "E" for Eddystone (which I know was apart of Remington, but marked as their own,) and I was just wondering how common it is to see parts mixed and matched like this? And also, does the "E" make it any more valuable than it already is since from what I know, Eddystone was highly rated with these?

From what I know of the M1917, this hasn't been sporterized or anything, which is exactly what I don't want for such a beautiful rifle. Everything on it seems to have come just as it was out of the factory, but just looks like it's aged 12, not almost 100.

Thanks for the replies

Roger.

Information

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[Patrick Chadwick]

RogerD, someone has been feeding you fairy stories. The eagle heads with numbers are nothing to do with Springfield Armory, which never made M1917s. They are inspector's marks.

If you look at pp.105-106 of
"United States Rifle Model of 1917" by C.S. Ferris
you wil find detailed lists of observed inspection numbers.
In particular, you will find that "25" was an inspector working at Eddystone.

It is very common to find a bit of parts mixing on M1917s, especially on . After the P14, which had been intended to have interchangeable parts, but only achieved it in a limited way, the M1917 is notable as the first rifle to achieve a well-nigh 100% exhangeability between the 3 manufacturers - at least, after some start-up difficulties with Winchester. So any temporary shortages on the production line could and would have been filled by grabbing some parts from one of the other manufacturers. And don't forget, when in service, armorers would want to return a weapon in good working order as soon as possible, not keep it hanging around to find, say, the "right" barrel band from the matching manufacturer. And, no doubt, there were plain mix-ups on the bench.

No, the odd E does not make it more valuable. Collectors always prefer 100% parts match. And although I have read that good old traditional prejudice means that (for collectors) Winchester rifles are considered to be most desirable, especially if nicely "blued", as a shooter I reckon that Eddystone, being a dedicated factory set up purely for the manufacture of P14s and then M1917s, had a perfectly "tuned" production with no other activities to distract their attention.

Get Ferris for the complete story!


Patrick

[RogerD]

So the Eagle's Head/25 underneath it, had nothing to do with Springfield Armory, but had to do with Eddystone? That's good to hear, now I won't seem like such an idiot at the shop when I go back to look it over some more. haha But why would a Remington marked M1917, have Eddystone markings? Wouldn't it say Eddystone on the top of the receiver, instead of Remington?

[Patrick Chadwick]

If the "eagle head over 25" is on a Remington part, then you have discovered something new. The list published by Ferris is a list of observed numbers, so if you observe a new combination, it would be a nice idea to let him know, so that the list can be updated.

Patrick