Does Anyone Recognize These Markings/Proofs??

[Chuckindenver]

most my favorite weapons are ones that i was givin by long last family or friends,..the real value is the good feeling they give you when you hold them or shoot them,
with me, its almost like they are right there with me...

[040x]

Couldn't agree more Chuck. Cheers.

[JGaynor]

its hard to be certain from the pictures but it also appears that the front of the magazine assembly has been straightened, The issue units had a sort of dog leg bend upward so the P14 magazine could accomodate the rimmed .303 cartridge. When production was switched from the P14 to the US M1917 the dimension was not changed, The result is both the P14 and M1917 are kind of thick and ungainly looking through the magazine area. Some gunsmiths who converted these to sporters slimmed the action down by straightening the magazine assembly frame.

By milling the protective "ears" for the rear sight and modifying the magazine someone lavished a lot of time and money into this conversion.

I agree with the others. Keep it as is. Maybe with a refinish if you desire as a tribute to the family member who did the work. But also use it enjoy it and pass it along when the time comes.

Regards,

Jim

[040x]

Will do. It is the Model P17, Winchester. 30-06.

[Doug Rammel]

What's a P-17??

[040x]

Oh not much, Just this Junky old useless pile of scrap metal that will take an apple off the top of your head at 500+ yards! But when would that have been usefull? Definately not WWI, WWII, or any of the following wars. Cheers!

[Chuckindenver]

he was being a smart ars, the m1917 Enfield was the US rifle, made after the P 14. Pattern 14 for the Brits, no such rifle as a P17...

[smellie]

Canada used quite a lot of US Rifle, Caliber .30, M-1917 rifles during the Second Great Unpleasantness....... and we called them P-`17s. Matter of fact, there are actually Canadian manuals in existence referring to it by that name. It was the OFFICIAL term for the rifle in Canadian Service.

Good rifle: fast, powerful and reliable. And that Enfield-rifled barrel prefers flatbase bullets and will outlast a Springfield barrel about 3 to 1 with modern powders.

I have pretty much the twin to the OP`s rifle, given to me by a very dear friend just shortly before he passed away. It was the last rifle he bought and it was the last rifle he fired. He gave it to me the last time we shot together.... our final range session in a 28-year sequence. Mine is a very nice BSA conversion which looks a great deal like the OP`s rifle. It is topped with a 1960 steel-tube Weaver K-4. There is no price on it, nor will there ever be. And it shoots better than I can hold it, shot-for-shot, rapid, at 6-inch falling plates at 275 yards in bad light.

A rifle such as this is no longer "collectible" by most standards. About all it is "good for" is keeping your freezer filled for the next century or so.

One would think that really should be sufficient.

A FINE Toy!

You are very lucky, friend.

And your great-Grandpa had excllent taste.
.

[Chuckindenver]

i dont agree with a sporterized 17 not being collectable..
i own a 1917 that was sporterized by Clark s Campbell AKA: Campbellbook. iv turned down quite a bit of money for the rifle, well more then a nice original military 17 would be worth..
i also know a few collectors that collect, custom built sporterized rifles..and some are valued at thousands of dollars...
a collection is valued at the person thats wanting it, and what they value the item...
i used to view this in the same way.. be it cars, bikes, guns, stamps coins ect... its all in the eye of the collector and what they collect.
i have a beat up rusty. POS of a Winchester 1917 no rear handguard, crusty bore, no extractor..ect.. real value is about 250.00 for some reason,, i have had offers of well over 4 grand for this rifle, and i turned them down...seems that little sheet of rice paper as a war trophy and a bit in Leatherneck mag, with the guy and the rifle with the story of how he took it off a dead VC.. upped its value just a bit..
we collect history...not just the wood and steel.

[GUTS]

The factory workers coined the term "P17" and it kind of stuck, from what I understand. I still call it the US Rifle, cal .30, Model of 1917.