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.30-06 Springfield (7.62×63mm) rifle cartridge for which the M1917 Enfield was adapted. Before World War I, the British had the (SMLE) as their main rifle. Compared to the German Mausers or U.S. 1903 Springfield, the SMLE's.303 rimmed cartridge, originally a black powder cartridge, was ill-suited for feeding in magazine or belt-fed weapons and the SMLE was thought to be less accurate than its competition at longer ranges. The long-range accuracy of German Model 1893 and 1895 Mausers in the hands of Boer marksmen during the Boer War (1899 -1902) made a big impression on the British Army, and a more powerful, modern rifle was desired. Thus, even though improved Lee–Enfield variants (the SMLE) and ammunition with pointed (spitzer) projectiles entered service after the Boer War in 1910, a committee was formed to develop an entirely new design of rifle and cartridge. The starting point was to copy many of the features of the Mauser system.
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Hi, I will post a picture of my model 1917, it has a odd stamp on the reciever and stock a capital 'C ' with a arrow head inside any ideas?? Happy A 'C' with an arrow inside indicates canadian ownership. If your firearm does have a serial number, if you will call or email us the serial number and model number we can determine the approximate age of your firearm. Contact Remington through their Help Center by e-mail at [email protected] or call their historian at 1-800-243-9700 Mon-Fri 9-5 EST.
The rifle was developed at the at in the United Kingdom. This development named the or P13, included a front locking, dual lug bolt action with Mauser type claw extractor as well as a new, powerful rimless cartridge.
The design carried over a Lee–Enfield type safety at the rear of the action and a bolt that cocked on closing to ease unlocking of the bolt during rapid fire. An advanced design, for the era, of aperture rearsight and a long sight radius were incorporated to maximize accuracy potential. Ease of manufacture was also an important criterion. However, the onset of World War I came too quickly for the UK to put it into production before the new cartridge could be perfected, as it suffered from overheating in rapid fire and bore fouling. As it entered World War I, the UK had an urgent need for rifles, and contracts for the new rifle were placed with in the United States.
They decided to ask these companies to produce the new rifle design in the old.303 British chambering for convenience of ammunition logistics. The new rifle was termed the 'Pattern 14'. In the case of the P14 rifle, and were selected. A third manufacturer, Eddystone Arsenal – a subsidiary of Remington – was tooled up at the in. Thus, three variations of the P14 and M1917 exist, labeled 'Winchester,' 'Remington' or 'Eddystone'. World War I When the U.S.
Entered the war, it had a similar need for rifles. The had delivered approximately 843,000, but due to the difficulties in production, rather than re-tool the Pattern 14 factories to produce the standard U.S. Rifle, the M1903 Springfield, it was realized that it would be much quicker to adapt the British design. Although it might have been faster to retain chambering for the.303 British military cartridge, the design was modified for the U.S.30-06 Springfield cartridge to simplify ammunition logistics. The Enfield design was well-suited to the.30-06 Springfield; it was a big, strong action and was originally intended to employ a long, powerful, rimless bottlenecked cartridge. Accordingly, Remington Arms Co.
Altered the design for caliber.30-06 Springfield, under the close supervision of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department, which was formally adopted as the U.S. Rifle, Caliber.30, Model of 1917.
In addition to Remington's production at and, Winchester produced the rifle at their plant, a combined total more than twice the 1903's production, and was the unofficial service rifle. Eddystone made 1,181,908 rifles – more than the production of Remington (545,541 rifles) and Winchester (465,980 rifles) combined. Although standardization with interchangeable parts was intended, early Winchester rifles (including the first five-thousand with a simple W on the receiver rather than Winchester) used slightly differing parts, causing interchangeability issues with the rifles produced by Remington and Eddystone until Winchester corrected the problem in later production. Design changes were few; the stripper clip feed, internal box magazine, bolt face, chamber and rifling dimensions were altered to suit the.30-06 Springfield cartridge and the US pattern 5-round stripper clips, the stock was slightly redesigned, lightening it somewhat, and the volley fire sights on the left side of the weapon were deleted. The markings were changed to reflect the model and caliber change. A 16.5-inch blade bayonet, the was produced for use on the rifle; it was later used on several other small arms including the and and early.
The new rifle was used alongside the, and quickly surpassed the design in numbers produced and units issued. By November 11, 1918 about 75% of the in France were armed with M1917s. An M1917 Enfield rifle was used by Sergeant on October 8, 1918, during the event for which he was awarded the, as the U.S. (which York was a part of) official history states the division had been issued the M1917 (Eddystone), then replaced them with the whilst training with the British in the north of France, then were reissued M1917 rifles (Eddystone).
According to his diary, Sergeant York also used a on that day. (The film starring in the title role, had York using an and a German.) After the armistice, most M1917 rifles were placed in storage, although Chemical Mortar units continued to be issued them. During the 1920s and 1930s many M1917 rifles were released for civilian use through the NRA, or were sold as surplus. Many were ', sometimes including rechambering to more powerful magnum hunting cartridges, such as. It was so popular as a sporting weapon that Remington manufactured about 30,000 new rifles as the from 1921 to 1940.
World War II At the time of the American entry into, the U.S. Army was still issuing the M1917 to Chemical Mortarmen. Perhaps due to M1 Garand shortages at the start of the war, the M1917 was also issued to artillerymen early in the war and both mortarmen and artillerymen carried the M1917 in North Africa. Peterson (USAR, retired; 1920–2005), a in the 101st Airborne in the Normandy action, reported seeing some M1917 rifles issued to rear-echelon US troops in France during.
Other M1917 rifles were issued to the. After the fall of the Philippines, M1917 rifles were used by Japanese police forces as well as by U.S. And Filipino soldiers with the local guerrillas before the liberation of the Philippines. These rifles were also used by the. Before and during World War II, stored rifles were reconditioned for use as reserve, training and weapons; these rifles are identified by having refinished metal (sandblasted and ) and sometimes replacement wood (often ). Some of these rifles were reconditioned with new bolts manufactured by the United Shoe Machinery Company and stamped USMC leading to the mistaken impression these were rifles. Many were bought by the United Kingdom through the for use by the; 615,000 arrived in Britain in the summer of 1940, followed by a further 119,000 in 1941.
These were prominently marked with a red paint stripe around the stock to avoid confusion with the earlier P14 that used the British.303 round. Others were supplied to the, to indigenous forces in the China-Burma-India theatre, to Filipino soldiers under the Philippine Army and Constabulary units and the local guerrilla forces and to the Free French Army, which can occasionally be seen in wartime photographs. The M1917 was also issued to the of the during World War II, these were part-time soldiers akin to the British Home Guard.
In an ironic reversal of names, in Irish service the M1917 was often referred to as the 'Springfield'; presumably since an 'Enfield' rifle was assumed to be the standard Irish MkIII Short Magazine Lee–Enfield, while 'Springfield' was known to be an American military arsenal. The M1917 was supplied to both Denmark and Norway after WWII as an interim weapon prior to the arrival of the.
Korean War and after After, the M1917 went out of front-line duty with the US forces. Forces used M1917 rifles during the. This rifle was also used, unofficially, in small Middle-East and African conflicts as a military-assistance program supplied rifle.
Contemporary use The M1917 is used as a, as with the,. For battle purposes, the Danish still use the M1917 as their service weapon, due to the high reliability of these bolt-action rifles in the harsh conditions of high Arctic Greenland. Design details.