You say its missing the magazine? This modle did not have a detachable mag(the Enfield SMLE did, similar but not the same gun). Pretty cool rifle.The rifle was made at the Eddystone plant(Remington IIRC) They were a copy of an English design and often refered to as an Enfield Pattern rifle. This means that you have a rifle that was made for use in WWI, refurbished for use in WWII, and then re-purposed for ceremonies involving the veterans of those wars. It seems to be pretty much an ignored part of arms history.įWIW, the marking on your stock (3GM-K) is believed to be a WWII rebuild mark, although no one seems to be sure what it means exactly. I haven't ever read anything about the process of creating ceremonial rifles, so I have no idea if the unusual barrel markings are related to that or not. I don't really have an explanation for the oddity, but sometimes workers just had off days. I presume that yours is dated October, 1918 and for some reason the other markings are gone although it doesn't really look in the photo like they were ground off or anything. Above that is the ordnance bomb and initials of the maker, which would be E, R, or W for the original manufacturers, or JA or HS if it has a replacement barrel. Normally, the date is there in the form of a number for the month, a dash, and then the last two digits of the year (either 17 or 18). I don't really know what to tell you about those markings. There were none made "post war".After the War manufacture of the 1903 Springfield was ramped up and US Model of 1917's either went into storage or would sold as surplus, given to National Guard units, etc.Īt the beginning of WW 2 many US model of 1917's were refurbished and issued to secondary line troops and folks serving guard duty stateside and overseas. It was not a favorite of the troops and Alvin York in his diary complained of being issued one of the "Enfields" instead of the 1903 he had trained with.It was a cock on closing rifle and some guys did not care for that or the peep sight. 303.) When we were getting geared up for WW I Springfield was unable to keep up demand for the US Model of 1903 Springfield so they had the manufacturers of the British P 14 (Britain had went back to the Enfield MK I) manufacture what became known as the US Model of 1917 in 30 '06. Some US manufacturers made the British Enfield P14 (which is the exact same rifle as the US Model of 1917 but in. Post pics.It sounds like it may be a parade gun (or honor guard rifle, thank you wolfhound.) It's not a "Lee Enfield". Any information would be helpful! I can provide pics for anyone that is interested. I also have a bayonet for the rifle, that is dated to 1913, but it is clearly older than the rifle itself. Maybe even the worth of the gun, although I do not intend to sell. I would like to know the guns purpose, and the years that this particular model was made. Is this a gun that was only used for ceremonies? Is this a functioning shooting rifle? Or was this used primarily as a parade gun? This has to be a post war model, but what years could this have been produced? (Winchester, Eddystone and Remington) and these rifles were re-purposed from shooting the. There were a few companies that produced this rifle in the U.S. military used the Model of 1917 rifle during WWI instead of issuing all Springfield 1903's. I have never attempted to shoot the rifle, but it has a firing pin and everything is in perfect working order. I received this rifle in 2011 when my grandfather passed away, and it was inherited to me. It is in flawless condition, and is clearly a post war model. The gun has all chrome colored metal parts with Eddystone Arsenal markings, and the wood furniture is a darker finish than the issued military versions. I own a Lee Enfield model of 1917 rifle, which was actually produced by Eddystone. I have been unable to find anything concrete. I am looking for some information on a rifle that I own.