"The Last of the American Enfields"

[ArtPahl]

I recently acquired a Remington model 720, supposedly the last attempt by Remington to build a sporting rifle on the American Enfield action. Only a few thousand of these rifles were built before the war and I have been looking for one in original guise for quite a while. As most here know, most of these rifles were in "SPRINGFIELD, 30 CAL. 1906" (AKA .30/06), with a hand full in .257 Roberts and a few dozen in .270. As the story goes, at the start of the war, the Navy Dept. bought up all the unsold .30/06 720's, amounting to 1,000 rifles +/-. Mine is apparently one of those, with the crossed cannons and the FJA acceptance stamp. We know that, after the war, the Navy awarded some of these rifles, still in the box with sling, etc., as shooting match trophies. I have always been curious as to what was the original intent the Navy had for procuring these rifles. Certainly there must have been thousands of model 1917's in government storage that would have been more useful for any military purpose than the 720. Has anyone ever heard of 720's being issued anywhere?

[steveu]

I was told that the Navy bought them to use as guard guns at Naval Facilities.

[breakeyp]

I have one of the Model 720s that went to the Michigan State Police. If anyone is interested.

[ArtPahl]

I am interested. Tell me about it.

[Surpmil]

They should have copied Col. John George: put Lymans on them with G&H mounts and issued them to the Marine Corps. (though George used a Mod. 70 of coures)

[Sunray]

Remington says this.
Model 720 | Remington
These guys say this.
NRA Museums:
"...I have one..." Rock Island Auctions sold one in 2011 for a bit over 3 grand. USN apparently used 'em as 'Trophy's' for shooting competitions.
https://www.rockislandauction.com/de...720-rifle-3006