M1917 Eddystone

[TulaTom]

I've been wanting one of these for awhile now and this one popped up on a local gun message board. I liked the fact that the barrel and receiver match. The bore looks to be in excellent condition. I'll find out how it shoots tomorrow. I did have to replace the ejector/ejector spring. I can see why these break so easily and why some of the reproductions are made differently. I went with an original from Numrich, which ended up being a Winchester part. It was missing the stacking swivel as well, which I added to make the rifle complete. The seller told me this was an old CMP/DCM rifle. I believe him. The parts are mainly Eddystone, but the stock (2R), magazine spring, and firing pin are Remington. Four other smaller parts are Winchester. Sometime around September/October of 1918 Eddystone changed from a rust blue finish to a parkerized metal finishing process. That looks like what I have, but I'll leave it up to the experts. Stock is stamped 3GM-K in a rectangle box, which is believed to be a General Motors stamp. I'll shut up now and let the pictures do the talking.


December 1918 Serial Number.








12-18 Eddystone barrel



3GM-K






Once again my pictures pointed out a little surface rust I missed. It has been taken care of.








Thanks for looking.

[desdem12]

SWEEETT Rifle. Looks fantastic

[Rongo]

[polymerase2]

On the top of my short list. Very Nice.

[TulaTom]

Thanks guys. Sorry about the double photo.

[RazorBurn]

Very nice Eddystone! Congratulations!!!

[gurn]

Nice one! I love shooting mine.

[Cwcoolcow]

Very nice. :-) :-) :-)

I too have recently acquired an Eddystone M1917 and it is fast becoming my favorite 30-06. On the old guns.net serial number dates of manufacture page, your gun came up..."The year of manufacture for serial number 1333559 is 1919. January". I believe Eddystone ceased making the M1917 in March 1919 putting yours close to the end. Very cool. Let us know how it shoots :-)

[TulaTom]

Thanks, Cwcoolcow.

That website is known to be incorrect. Mine is actually a December 1918 build. I'll post a different link later when I can get on my home computer.

I got some great groups out of it yesterday. High though. The bolt wasn't the smoothest on feeding the round either. My extractor is tight and I seemed to have some issues when the round was picked up and snapped onto the bolt face.

[Cwcoolcow]

That website is known to be incorrect. Mine is actually a December 1918 build.

Oops, I just noticed you had already mentioned the December build date in your first post . Let me know of the better link so I can date mine more accurately too Thanks.

[Junk Yard Dog]

[TulaTom]

Yeah. You'll see reference to that website not being accurate on some of the collector boards.

Here's what I used for dating my M1917.
http://www.odcmp.org/503/rifle.pdf

Use this link when dating 1903's or 03A3's, etc.
http://www.vishooter.net/m1903.html

[Cwcoolcow]

Thanks, My date is the same on both.

[TulaTom]

cow,

What is your front sight blade height?

[Cwcoolcow]

Tom,
I have September 1918 serial number, also in the millions a 9-18 barrel and a .090 stamp on the sight.

Chris

[TulaTom]

You have the tallest front sight, I believe. Tough one to find. Mine is .045. How's yours shoot? POA? Or do you use a 6 o'clock hold?

[Cwcoolcow]

I very happy with the accuracy. The target on the left shows my first 18 shots using POA with the rear sight on the lowest setting using a front sandbag rest. This was at 50 yards. Haven't had a chance to try 100 yards yet. Perhaps the snow will stop long enough here in Ohio to give it a try. Not too shabby for me on my first attempt.

[TulaTom]

Not at all.

I started off just using some Greek HXP surplus and the groups were average. Switched to some handloads and things really tightened up. Shooting at 50 yards as well.

[Cwcoolcow]

It's Greek for me too. I was at the CMP North Store a few weeks ago and they told me I had reached my yearly limit of 10 ammo cans. :-( Last week I picked up an M1917 Remington sword bayonet and leather scabbard. Very cool.

[EJTHor]

Just a heads up. Your magazine follower has been modified so that the bolt will close on an empty magazine. Not a big deal, but it's definitely not original.