History of WWI Primer 028: U.S. Rifle Model of 1917 Documentary 

Aaw, I'm all a-flutter. I'd love to handle one of these; the p-14 is a strange one, and I really wish we'd have put more work into it. Or since we were looking to move from .303 to 2.76; at least got rid of the rim to get at least extra capacity into the rifle. Although further development of this over the SMLE may have led to us never developing the No.4 Enfield, which is my raifu~

Glad you're enjoying it!

Well said!!

@@DaddyPims I keep thinking about the number of .303 rimmed weapons around the Empire. Rifles are only one group. In the end they would probably have been trashed because of the amount of work each one would need to be changed and checked. Then there are the machine guns. Lewis seems to have been slightly tricky as it was, even though it was built for the cartridge it had. The firing tables for the Vickers would be reprinted. Don't forget the ammunition supply. A changeover during peace would be bad enough.

I have one in my collection from June 1918 easily one of my favorite rifles

Man that is neat. Thanks for the support!

That is a great tidbit of info there.

Rugged, reliable in the cold and strong enough for polar bears.

Interestingly enough, I read that York greatly disliked the rifle due to its size, weight, and newfangled sights, though he used it well.

Jesse Urban...I wonder if we’ll ever know, definitively, what Sgt. York used when he won the MOH? I have read, on multiple occasions, that there were often a mix of M1917 and M1903 rifles in any given company. And that York, having had a reputation as a marksman within his company, was given a choice of rifles and selected the “03”. Either way he was well armed!

LOL

lol

kekekekekek

seriously though they had full autos back then on the commercial market and shit and Noone gave a darn. People used to be much more acute to their freedoms

Thomas Jefferson Yep and why can't we be like that these days?

I love it to next to G98, and the lee enfield

Who built yours? Mine is an Eddystone.

Amen to that! My 1917 is my favorite bolt gun! I cannot wrap my mind around how accurate it is.

A *lamp?* - The rifle or your Uncle?

@@JAFO. I can hit a 2 inch target consistantly at 100 yards. Your uncle IMHO can't shoot.

@@Riqrob Could be that the bore was rotted out. Those old primers had no leeway when it came to cleaning.

I run mine to 500 yds no problem when she gets range time. I've seen guys run out to 800 yds consistently.

In all this time I'd never really considered this, but now I'll be doing that constantly too...

Re: Dont know who made the statement, but it was said that, "the Germans brought a hunting rifle to the war, the US brought a target rifle, and the Brits brought a battle rifle". It's pretty much a bullshit statement, whoever made it, probably a Lee-Enfield fan-boy. The most-versatile and capable rifle and cartridge combination to emerge from the Great War (WWI) was the Springfield M1903 and its 30-06 cartridge, which many firearm historians consider the most-important cartridge of the 20th century. While it is true that the .303 Lee-Enfield Mk SMLE was very fast in action, it paid for that speed by being limited as to its power ~ 90% of the later .308 Winchester. Why? Because the L-E action was not as strong in its lockup as the Mauser-type design (which includes the M1903). That's the reason almost no one makes modern hunting rifles using the Lee-Enfield as the basis for the receiver & action, but rather employs the time-tested Mauser action instead. The Lee-Enfield action simple isn't as suited to high-pressure modern hunting cartridges, let alone magnum chamberings. Even the British had second thoughts about their SMLEs, apparently, since they got as far as making some prototype M1917 rifles, which were based on the Mauser action, though they did not end up adopting it as a replacement for the SMLE or the later no. 1 Mk. IV. The M1917s are excellent rifles, and many later made their way back to Britain during WWII as Lend-Lease. The Home Guard made extensive use of them, amongst others.

There's no real difference with hunting vs target rifle other than the caliber and iron sights.

@@GeorgiaBoy1961 you know by saying that nobody uses Lee Enfields as a basis for hunting rifles supports the quote saying the Germans brought a hunting rifle, also being 90% of the .308 Winchester sounds like battle rifle range to me

@@alecratterree9576- Oh, good grief, not that tired trope again. You Lee-Enfield fan-boys never give up, do you? If you like your Lee-Enfield, congratulations! Get another one, or two, or three.... either way, I don't care. Is that clear-enough for you? For that matter, why are you wasting time worrying about what I think? It has not bearing on what you do, so why bother?

@@GeorgiaBoy1961 damn bro you’re taking this way to seriously i was just pointing out a flaw in your criticism of OP’s anecdote

Kawai!

I wonder what the recoil is like. With such a short barrel and less weight than the standard M1917 I bet it kicks like a mule.

The question is will it be in Battlefield 1?

Sorry to piss on your fireplace but I couldn't care less, it's a typical Battlefield fantasy game with some WW1 skins thrown on for good measure. The weapons I've seen so far are atrocious - you have Brit soldiers running around with Winchester M1907s and Beretta OVP M1918s and Germans wielding Mondragon and Mauser self-loaders, not to mention MP 18s used by the Entente. Add to that a variety of stupid looking scopes on everything. hip-fired LMGs like the M1909 Hotchkiss, A7Vs with RAF markings and British Zeppelins and you have a recipe for disaster. The game does look beautiful though, but that's to be expected with EAs budget.

Oh, and from what I've heard the French won't have a presence in the game, because obviously their input in WW1 wasn't considered important enough. Paid DLCs anyone? Hooray for EA!

Enfield M1917 plus 30-06 black tip AP.... adds up to potent polar bear medicine!

candrsenal.com/how-to-play-vidya-games-with-us/

I tought the same haha

MY father hunted a dear from 500 yard some forty years ago by BSA sports 3006 rifle with Czech cartridge.

which guys?

​@@Candrsenal YOU!

Lee style magazine ;)

I think the magazine wasn't added because of durability issues.

Roland Deschain, you are correct. I have an '03 Springfield parts gun assembled from a barreled action with a Lyman #43 rear aperature mounted on the receiver bridge ( in addition to the ladder sight mid barrel) and a mixture of milled and stamped small parts all cobbled on a "C" stock, with a 10 shot extended magazine having a small chain on the side. Have also seen a similiar magazine mounted on a Mauser 98 with straight bolt handle in a gun store last year. While fun to shoot I have been leary of the fragility of the extension body magazine on my rifle and "just in case" acquired the standard 5 round capacity magazine floorplate, spring, and follower to keep as spare parts. The serial # dates from 1919 and stamped parts from the 1940s so who knows who created this rifle .....

claus2427 Lee is the action not the mag. Just saying.

Stagger Lee, Lee-Enfield magazines are durable enough for the detachable role that they were intended for. The problem is that they were never used as such.

woop

The Model of 1903 Rifle is an outstanding rifle and the rear sight I will agree the rear sight takes more time to learn. Having said that I love the U.S.1917 Enfield. And it's rear sight. But I Love the M1903 Bolt , it's like glass in operation and to remove the bolt from the Model of 1903 action is the best in the world.

heretic! the Krag Jorgenson is best rifle.

My 1917 has become my favorite bolt gun. I am amazed by its accuracy. This was a fantastic episode!

an M1917 Winchester was my first rifle

An extremely valuable feature in an infantry rifle. "If you make it idiot proof then someone will invent a better idiot."

I have seen some canadian rcaf ones too in 06 with the red mark

I agree and thanks! Figured I should try out the pixie style at least once.

beautiful, malformed, judgmental, pedantic, diamonds

Glad you are enjoying it!

Thanks!

That's awesome to hear! I have a eddystone with a 1917 reciever and a 1918 barrel. It is wicked accurate and a good shooter. $30. for your rifle? That's awesome. I paid $800. A few months ago. It came with an original sling and bayonet.

I'm afraid all the money in the world wouldn't shave more than 4 days off the schedule. I'm burning 60 hours + as is.

I should throw everyone off and dye it purple.

+Mae Guns do it! lol

"Blued Steel"

I happen to dig her short hairdo in this vid

VOLHans aw thanks! It's gotten a little bit longer now, probs will keep it this way for a bit.

Love the 1917! Ultra accurate, and built like a tank.

You can find them for $800ish online.

got mine at a gun show for 650$ all orginal 1918 eddy

Is this still the case? I had a beautiful one offered to me as a trade. Original barrel and stock. Bluing is 95% wood is "collector grade"

Took mine to the range. Turned out to be a tack driver. I was impressed.

You have a jewell there.

Thanks!

I love the sight picture also. Awesome rifle!

Was just thinking the same.

My wife says the same thing.

I didn't even notice until you mentioned it, now I can't get it out of my head 🤣.

FUCK YEA

Ber ner ner ner ner ner!

+Mae Guns Tom Petty would be proud you American Girl!

Doin what I love.

30-06 is a "full 30", so you shoot em long enough without experience and your shoulder will tell you. That said, a good shooting 30-06 is undeniably nice and by now we know that Mae knows what she's doing.

She could take a kick real good :-)

The recoil must be something xD

He must have missed the K in the Kilo-gram

***** No shit xD

There is less gravity in Europe.

+C&Rsenal That point isnt helped by the fact i live in England xD

The improved Lee-Parkhurst was in the works, but unfortunately that rifle design kind of fizzled when the US Navy agreed to standardize on the Krag. With no active military contracts and Lee’s death in 1904, there was no real chance for that to happen :(

Except that there are plenty in the UK do have firearms and shoot them a lot. Join a club and get involved.

There's some love for a simple coin trick in these comments.

We borrowed it

werd

I'm going to call you Speak cause that's what you do!

Hopefully he likes it!

Glad to have you

NIce

Nice gifts

There was not a factory carbine variant. It is most likely your rifle was modified by a civilian some time after its time in service. Not an uncommon fate, unfortunately. There were a small number of rifles later cut into carbines during their service lives, but they are very rare today.

the "Hun's" had their own song's, doing the same thing.

Seems like a legit strategy to me.

Seems like a simple fix though...

Yes, it should have been. Just a lateral adjustment screw at the base of the M1917 rear sight would have done it. And it took way too long for Springfield to finally come up with a receiver mounted battle sight.

Thanks!

Who?

Nothing beats the Ross episode

The price seems right, but I still have a real favorite lurking.