Model 1917 American Enfield 

this gun was in more american hands than the 03. the 1917 is our real world war one gun.

What the Brits were working on was the P-13 in .276 Enfield. It was a large cartridge, thus the bulge of the magazine. With the onset of WW1 it was deemed a bad idea to change calibers, so this rifle was reworked to accept the .303 cartridge and became the P-14. Later on it was reworked again to be a 30-06 & became the M1917.

When MacArthur got back to the Philippines in WW II, the 03's that the guerillas had were out of service due to bent front sights. the 1917's were still good to go.

First elk was taken with a Eddystone. I love that gun!

I saw it on the lost battalion. A tv movie based on the argonne battle. I loved the rifle . The m1903 was outstanding but this one was gorgeous and exotic.

I shot 2 white tail deer with my Eddystone November 1918 rifle. The second deer was at 100+ yards and the weight of the deer was about 50 pounds. (Yes I shot Bambi) Very accurate wonderfull rifle.

The model 1917 is (I believe) the only boltaction rifle still in service in a Western military unit (the Danish Sirius sledge patrol), and will continue to be in service for many years to come.

I shoot my 1917 more than my 1903A3. It shoots better with less felt recoil.

I love my Eddystone. My grandfather gave it to me in 1972. We had many great times shooting and reloading. I hope to pass it and those values to my grandson!

Here are some thoughts about the Model 1917 Enfield rifle. The U.S. should have just kept making these rifles cranking out a million rifles annually for many years during the 1920's and 1930's. It would have been very cheap to keep one or all of the production lines at Remington, Eddystone, and Winchester busy for a period of a decade after World War One or longer making the Model 1917 Enfield rifle. Perhaps a slightly shorter or revised version for easier mass production weighing slightly less could have been devised while still giving accurate fire out to 500 yards but optimized for 300 yards where most modern infantry combat occurs. The reason for this is a cheap national insurance policy. The United States Army having ten million or even 15 million plus of these rifles stored in cosmoline canisters in depots would have given us a big advantage for mobilization. These rifles could have lasted for 50 years or longer. If or when another future war came or several wars, these rifles could have immediately provided a weapon for all of our soldiers in the National Guard or Reserves, active duty Army, and several Allied countries too. These bolt action rifles would have been completely adequate for any future land wars, if augmented by adequate numbers of Browning Automatic rifles per squad/platoon. Every Army infantry company headquarters unit will always have several heavier water-cooled or air-cooled machine guns. These 1917 Enfield rifles could have allowed to us to mobilize, train, and fight a land war for a couple years on the cheap. We could have easily fought World War 2 successfully with lots of Model 1917 Enfield rifles assuming we had enough light automatic weapons per squad and several more automatic weapons per platoon in every rifle company. The Model 1917 Enfield rifle was tough, reliable, accurate, and can lay down a respectable rate of fire for suppression fire had a six round ammo clip been made for it. Most conscript soldiers could have easily shot 18 rounds per minute with such six round ammo clips. Rifle grenades are also easily fired from the Model 1917 Enfield rifle. So the lesson from history is to always keep making some of your proven old weapons for a period of time after a war is over in production while also refurbishing any and all older weapons that you have. We just never know when the next conflict will come around. At least you can train on the ample supplies of adequate proven older weapons during an emergency while more modern ones are being devised or manufactured for augmentation. A scale of economy for mass mobilization meant that the M1917 Enfield rifle could have been made by the tens of millions in the United States at a minimal unit cost per rifle.

Cool video. I have a Remington Model 30 Express, it is a commercial variant of the m1917. It is basically the same thing, except peep sights, a different stock, and a shorter barrel. It kicks like a mule due to the light weight.

I'm glad you enjoy them, thanks for watching.

This video alone should prove you're more than worthy to have your own weekly show on the History Channel. You're an excellent well spoken professional host with a deep knowledge of the history and mechanics of firearms. Thank you for this very engaging history lesson and demonstration of these legendary rifles.

I was 15 in 1965 when I bought mine. It won both my respect and affection. So much so that it is the only bolt action high powered rifle that I own.

I would actually rather have one of these over a m1903. Reason being is that this gun was actually issued in greater numbers during WWI than the m1903, then saw action during the first days of WWII, so it has real history as being a main US army combat rifle. It shoots my favorite rifle round the 30-06, and because people don't know about them, and that they were never officially adopted as the main US battle rifle, you can get one for less than half the price of a m1903.

I have an Eddystone model of 1917. It's 30-06 and has a steel butt-plate. Kicks like a pissed off mule.

S&K has one that mounts to the rear sight base. I do not believe that you have to make any permanent modifications (drilling, tapping, etc.) They make one either for proprietary rings or Weaver rings.

It's amazing how accurate these old bolt guns are. I just snagged an M1903A3 yesterday which is in beautiful condition. I know I need an M1917 to add to my U.S. military Rifle collection but they seem to be harder to find!

Just shot my M1917 with original barrel out to 1000 yards consistently. They're amazing rifles.

I'm hopefully picking one up here soon. Nice video as always.

My dad was issued one of these in WWII, but also at some point was issued a Springfield 1903. He felt the Model 1917 was quite a serviceable rifle but he liked the 1903 Springfield the best. Great video!

Excellent video as always. I had the british version of that rifle in .303 British (I think we called it a P14) and it was an amazing target gun dispite the lack of windage on the sight. Obviously the old kentucky windage was the only way to deal with it, but it led me to a few champs so very happy. Great design and quality piece. Thanks for the great job on the reseach

Thanks, brother. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

i became the proud owner of a remington M1917 from 1918. When a mauser fanboy says it is a "bastards" rifle, i dare to see how accurate his K98 is against my M1917:)

@TheSnow77 No, I don't own any airsoft rifles. I'm surprised someone hasn't setup manufacturing for the L85 here in the US. They've done it for the AUG and Tavor (working on it now). Another bullpup I would love to own is the French FAMAS F1 or F2.

Best evaluation out of the popular gun channels. thanks

Dear video uploader I congratulate you on your excellent gun maintance! I can see just by this video that you took care of that M1917!

@mlrllama I prefer the M1917 over the 1903. They are both based on the Mauser but the 1917 feels stockier and more robust. I like the sights on the 1917 better than the 1903, however the 1903A3 has improved sights that rival the 1917's. Functionally they're very similar given they're both based on the Mauser action. Sgt. York used a M1917 and a 1911 in his action. Hollywood (Gary Cooper) portrayed him using a 1903 and Luger. Leave it to Hollywood to screw things up that badly.

4:00 - Mike Venturino hit an 1100 yd+ buffalo silhouette at Raton (once he got the sights to the correct setting) five out of five with his 1917.

Picked one up today. Its an Eddystone with from from I can tell the original barrel (or at least original to the period). Marked 11-18 and has 5 groove LH twist. Shiny bore but needs a good cleaning. Everything is stamped with an 'E', to include the band that hold the stock together. The stock is marked with an 'R' and The bayonet is marked 'W'. I have about $500 into it so I figured that was a good deal.

@AKJeeper Yup, that's the problem... so many were chopped up and sporterized that it's hard to find a good quality military configuration rifle these days. A really nice example will cost you a pretty penny too.

Please make a video on the M1903 soon, great video BTW.

I had one of these in the 1980s. An Eddystone, unchopped. I really miss it.

Man just fell in love with this rifle..

The 2 groove barrels are surprisingly accurate , I once owned a 03 with a 2 groove that would print a 1" or less group at 100 meters. Unfortunately I ran into a financial difficulty and that rifle was sold

Actually the 'battle sight' for the M1917 is set for something like 400m. Not for closer 100m ranges. Perhaps they had that 'belt buckle' idea. Aim for the belt buckle with the sights set for 400m, and you'll get center mass at close range.

We didn't just rechamber the P14. Britain paid over $20 million for tooling and ended up not needing it. We bought it back for less than half price. C&Rsenal has a video explaining the details.

By far one of my favorite rifles of all time.

Appreciate the video on the 1917 and the history of it. I just got back from my local gun shop this afternoon after putting a 1917 Eddystone 30-06 in layaway. It is all original, except sling, and the only thing that I can tell is missing is the front barrel band split sling swivel. I believe this one has a 5 grove barrel, didn't have a my barrel light to see very well but the rifling look very good and clean. It is a original blue, some wore, and not the parkerized versions that I have heard about. The stock is in very good condition, yes it has some marks (scratches) and I did notice that the top handguard had a crack but someone did a good job of repairing it using pins. I count myself lucky cause I got the rifle for $400 tax and all. This will go good with my old war rifle collection. I have a Russian Mosin Nagant, 8x57 K98 Mauser, 7x57 Bruno VZ24 Mauser, 303 No. 4 MK1, a 7.7 Arisaka 99 (bring back) and a 7.35 Italian Carcano. I have all the bayonets for these rifles except for the VZ24 and the Carcano. Now I will have to find one for the 1917!! Again thanks for the video and keep up with all the good videos on your channel.

@macharleys72 Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the vid.

There was once a video they took down that showed this rifle's British counterpart in the Homeguard. The film taught the homeguard how to use that Enfield rifle. It showed how to use the sights and how to unload the gun as well. It was a shame they took it down.

A 1917 Enfield (Winchester mfd) was my first gun purchase. Bought in April 1961 for the then high price of $50.00 (I didn't know then that I could have purchased one by mail for less than 20 bucks in the cosmoline). Mine had already been sporterised with the addition of an L.4 Weaver scope, turned barrel, sight ears milled, stock cut and refinished, and a WW2 sniper pad installed. It shot like a dream, and still does after all these years. It's taken more deer and coyotes over the years than I can remember, and spends a lot of time on my truck gun rack when I check my cattle. It's my workhorse rifle and no more wear than it shows I know it will outlast me. I really don't think you can wear out or tear up a 1917 in 2 or 3 lifetimes if you just keep it oiled and do minimal maintenance.

A great rifle, unbelievably accurate. Greetings from Poland.God Bless USA.

Guys, don’t you remember that the Americans also used another kind of Enfield? The P-53 of course! This was the arm used to arm the Confederates during the American Civil War.

303 can be used to 1000 plus yards. My brother in law had a enfield smle graded out to 2000 yards. Don`t think you could see anybody at that range. In Afgahnistan American troops where pinned down by tribesmsn using enfields, not only did they take casualties but 5.56 they had couldn`t fire the distance that they where getting engaged from.

I just picked up one of these rifles and I'm glad I started my research on it here. Great video, great work.

Outstanding Video - I have an M1917 that was a Lend-Lease deal, complete with the Red Paint stripes the Brits used, Mine has an original 1918 Barrel and of all my Military Surplus rifles, Is the most accurate. Recently saw one in good shape at a LGS for $550.

Beautiful rifle. You really can't beat a good old wood stock bolt-action :-)

I love the model 1917, the action functions beautifully and the accuracy like proven above is extremely good. I can ring steel @ 400yds with this same rifle all day long with the Russian silver bear ammo. Good video and review!

@0501856849 It's true, and I mention that the Brits believed this to be true in the video. I've never really felt it increased the speed personally, but I've not timed myself either.

@Thegunnut1 I love old military rifles and handguns. I plan to do several more videos this year on older military weapons, both handguns and rifles.

Great video. I just bought a model 1917 enfield and love it.

@harpoclarx I have my eye out for a P14 (yes, that's the correct nomenclature). The Patten 14 rifle would be a great addition to the bolt gun family. It's getting harder and harder to find .303 Brit these days though. I remember when it was dirt cheap and everywhere (1990's). I wish I had stocked more of it.

I would love to see you do a video about the M1 Garand! Thanks for the great videos!

Wonderful looking rifle. Thanks for showing it.

also... did they used this rifle in the movie Lost Battalion? (sorry for all the questions! :P)

I've been dying to get one of these 1917's...but unfortunately I have yet to see one at a gun shop in my state that's still in its original configuration. The few I have seen have been chopped up and sporterized.

This was an enjoyable video! All of yours are but this one was quite interesting to me because I didn't even know about this rifle! I would love one just for those sights! I like the Enfield style sights a lot! I have wanted an Enfield but they are usually in .303 British and it would be great to get one like yours in the more available(I reload 30-06) .30-06 round!

@snowface27 yes i think i have seen it in the movie it is a nice rifle :) it is one of the rifles i would like to own one day

@pilgrimfarmer LOL, thanks brother.

@MrByronodmon Shop the online gun boards like Guns America and Gun Broker. You can find them occasionally. I prefer to shop gun shows so you can see the rifle and inspect it before buying. But you can get good deals online too. They're out there!

@swenner64 The P14 is clearly derived from the Mauser, and the M1917 is a rechambered P14. Google is your friend, do a little research. The SMLE and the P14 are nothing alike. If you would like, I can post detailed pictures of the SMLE bolt, Mauser bolt and the 1917 bolt on our discussion forum. I think you may be surprised, assuming you're not kidding.

i used to think York used this too. He actually managed to switch out for the 1903 springfield which he preferred.

@swenner64 Same place as you apparently as I said the same thing in the video.

my grandfather was the only one in his company issued a p14 and went on to shoot a 178 out of 200 with it. i would love to at least shoot one my gpa loved it! he had a 03 that i learned to shoot on .

2012 I was just a 3rd year highschool in the Philippines 🇵🇭 Time goes by fast wow

The p14 was based more off the earlier small ring Mausers than the Mauser 98.

@husky394xp I'm glad you found the channel. Be sure to spread the word!

I have a Yugo Mauser, a Mosin-Nagant, and an Enfield No. 4... Need to get one of these and a 1903 for the collection!

Excellent to see a nice vintage military bolt gun being featured. Love the Modern stuff and am VERY grateful you concentrate on it, but I'm more than happy to see an older firearm every so often. Thanks for the awesome vids!

Great video. Thanks for sharing

Are you going to make a video about the Lee-Enfield (the No.4.)? The mention of your K98 being WW2-era made me wonder...

@silvereagle1833 Hey Gunny, I think we can blame Hollywood for the notion Sgt. York used a 1903 Springfield vs. the M1917. They had Gary Cooper use the 1903 in their 1941 movie "Sergeant York" and forever since people assumed that's what he used. They also had him using a German Luger in the film vs. his 1911.

@TheSnow77 I would love to, but unfortunately there's no one making them for the US civilian market. I could do an airsoft review. :)

ENOUGH guys.

you said that rifle hated by the average size 5' 8" American troops because heavy and long but filipino guerrilla troops with height of 5'4" love this rifle back to back with model 1903 up to A3 my grand father fought WW2 used this rifle together with the USAFE in the gulf of Leyte Philippines. we were 3rd generation own this kind a rifle. problem is 30-06 rounds kind a expensive back there and its very rare to find these days.

That rifle also saw action in WWII during the Battle of Bataan and the 1941-42 Philippine Campaign.

@harpoclarx Wow, great story. The rifles were used in the Korean War too, however in very limited numbers.

I have a bayonet marked US 1917. Is that for the 1917? I wish I would've picked one up years ago when they were out there. Guess I thought they'd always be around like the 1903 Springfields and Enfields and so on... Nice rifle and thanks for the video

@will1174 A lot of people don't know about the M1917. Most people think the 1903 Springfield was our primary fighting rifle during WWI, when it wasn't. The M1917 was the most used rifle by US forces during the war. It's a great old rifle, one that I prefer over the 1903.

The Danish Military still uses this rifle today

Incorrect on two fronts sir. Firstly sergeant York hated the 1917 Enfield as he was a fan of more open sights so he traded his 1917 for a 1903 which he than used on. Secondly the British planned on replacing the Lee Enfield with the 1914 Lee Enfield but the war caused problems on the best way to go forward so they stuck to their old baby essentially giving us an extra standard service rifle. More 1917 Enfield'a were issued than the 1903 Springfield's during the first world war.

@sugarnads I have to get my hands on a MK I, but I would love to. I only have a Mk III.

Thanks for the review! I've been using my grandpa's M1917 for my main deer rifle for years now. The barrel is stamped 3-18 (manufactured March, 1918) and it is still a tack-driver. Being a history fanatic, I'm sorry to say it was sporterized back in the 1950's. However, for a practical and accurate firearm, it holds its own with any that I own or have had the pleasure to shoot. The longest kill on a deer with this rifle was made at around 340 yards with a VERY old Weaver 2X scope and WINDY!

just one thing i dont get is the cock on close isnt a "british only" thing, most early mausers were and the p14 wasnt based on the 98 it was based on the m95 mauser which is cock on close, the p14/m17 also features the third locking lug being the bolt handle and is missing the guide rib on the bolt like the m96 and 98. This is why i dont understand why they say its "lee adapted" cock on close mauser action when to me from a mech POV it just looks like a copy.

Love to own one and cherish it

damn good video Sturm

Fantastic video.

I just picked up a really nice all original Winchester make of June 1918... $800! But I felt that was a fair price, they are not going down in value only up. Pick one up while you still can! excellent rifles.

The Danish Sirius Sledge Patrol use this for defense against polar bears.

Great vid Mac! I've been following your channel since the beginning. Im a huge fan of historical US service rifles and I'm happy to see a good video on the 1917. Its a great compliment to your Garand.

Excellent Video

Ive found 3 of these in my area. 2 in shops on the same street.

Tim, this video is pretty old, but I need to ask: How did you manage to get your paws on such a beautiful K98?

What a beautiful rifle. Great collector item. Would love to have one.

@HypnologicQualm I agree, they inspire confidence. It's hard to describe how they feel and shoot, but they are amazing weapons. I wouldn't feel poorly armed with one in a SHTF situation.

thanks for posting Sturm :) very nice explanation of yours ;) $400.- isn't much to me! although a Mosin is cheaper but hey...quality :P Also...do you know why they used external extractors on the bolt action rifles? cause the M1 G. and the M14 have internal spring powered and internal ejectors. for space i guess. but wasn't it better to have everything internal to save space and lighten the action?

@Sturmgewehre It's my understanding that the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) might still have a handful of these at their North and South stores...but unfortunately you have to go to the stores in person in order to buy them. They are no longer taking orders for the 1917's online...bummer for me since I'm in Alaska - way too cost prohibitive for me to travel to the CMP stores... Thanks for posting your vid - that's a beautiful rifle you've got there!

The "P17" designation was used by the Brits in WWII to distinguish their lend-lease M1917 from their P14 rifles, which were both used by their home guard in large numbers. M1917s were often painted red to identify them since they used different ammo. The P17 designation continued to be used by post-war surplus distributors who imported them back in to the US.

Should do a video on the Remington/New England Westinghouse Mosin-Nagant