M1917 Enfield Rifle Project

[Furharvester]

 

[Furharvester]

These are pictures of the m1917 that I have

 

[DG870]

A little more info on the 1917 and one of its current uses.

Glocks & M1917s: The Redoubtable Arms of the Greenland Patrol :: Guns.com

In two-man patrols carried by dog sleds, the Danish Navy secures Greenland with the help of some vintage rifles and some more modern handguns.

www.guns.com

 

[PerH]

Asquare also built on many p17s for Hannibal series so they are to be found around for many different chamberings.

 

[Velo Dog]

Since your inherited rifle is unmolested, I am definitely in with those who say don’t modify it.
As those have already said, for a relatively low price, one can buy a Pattern 17 and / or a Pattern 14 beater that, some genius has ruined.
As long as the critical parts (forward ring for one) have not been compromised by drilling, grinding or unprofessional welding, those actions are perfect for professional conversion to fit huge, powerful cartridges.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bobby, you’re the resident Enfield expert. Tell me something. The stories about the Pattern 14 Enfield & M1917 Enfield actions built at the Eddystone factory being brittle… are they true ?

I always liked the Remington made actions myself. But never noticed anything brittle about the Eddystone ones.

@Hunter Habib
The Eddyatone version was made by a subsidiary of Remington. It got a bad wrap because some of the barrels were put in extremely tight .
When people tried to remove these barrels they used excessive force and cracked the receiver.
My gunsmith uses a hacksaw when removing the barrels of Enfields. He puts a cut in the barrel as close as possible to the receiver as possible. This relieves the pressure on the action and the barrels unscrew very easily as a rule. He rate the Eddystone as good as any of the Remington or Winchester made ones. My 25 is made on an Eddystone action and I load up to 52,000 cup with zero issues. I get good velocities and outstanding accuracy. I will not complain about 0.8 inch 200 yard groups out of my Eddystone M17 .
Bob

 

[Furharvester]

I think I'll leave the 1917 as is and build my big bore out of one of the other rifles. What are your thoughts on the BRNO VZ24 rifles?

 

[PerH]

.Vz 24 are great, i had a .404 on that. It went a few thousand through it , 3 owners . It was good quality on it ,and one of finest i until then encountered .

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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@Furharvester
Leave it as is. Just give it a clean up get the rifle checked for headspace and use it as is. To nice to burch

 

[Furharvester]

 

[Furharvester]

This is the VZ24 i'm considering using for the big bore build instead of the M1917.

 

[Furharvester]

More pictures of the same rifle.

 

[Furharvester]

My question is how big can I go using this action? Also due to the fact that this rifle is in its original state is it another rifle that should stay that way like the M1917? As always thank you guys in advance for sharing your knowledge.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I say leave it too. There are actions and rifles laying about that can be had fairly cheap. The original military Mausers are getting hard to find.

 

[CJW]

Stop building/buying rifles and save the money for a trip to Africa. You inherited that .404 from your grandpa right? Sell the others and take that thing on a vacation.

Stepping off soap box now.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

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More pictures of the same rifle.

Don't mess that one up! The vz.24 had unique forearm/handguard wood. Just replace the bolt if it won't clean up. Lots of bolts out there. I just finished my 404 build on an already messed up vz.24 action. It was not a cheap project. I have over $1700 in it not counting the action. I will resell the 30-06 barrel that came with action and recoop some of expense. Also, I did most of the intensive labor myself: fitting the new bottom metal to receiver, opening up the feeding ramp, modifying the feeding rails [very time consuming!], installing 3-position side safety, modifying FN commercial rail to fit military style receiver, mating Timney trigger to 3-position safety, fitting action and barrel to stock, bedding same, finishing semi-finished stock, making the zebrawood forearm tip from blank block of wood and fitting it to stock). I would say easily there would have been at least $1K more cost involved had I not been able to do most of the work myself (add even more for a new scope - I managed to recycle an old 3x Weaver from my Springfield's glory days). How handy are you? Can you think outside the box? What shop equipment is available to you? Far and away the most important tool is Dremel with a wide variety of attachments: disk sander, drum sander, several different carbide tip cutter/engraver bits, wood carving bits, grinding and polishing wheels, etc.

This is not a project for those who are faint of heart ... or faint of bank account.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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More pictures of the same rifle.

@Furharvester
She's a roughy but with some TLC, a good clean up and a reblue it would be an amazing military rifle.
My gunsmith has a beautiful 7mm military Mauser that he did up and it look like it has just come of the production line. It also shoots very small groups in military competition shoots.
Bob