I know the answerThe U.S. 1917 Enfield was in mass production by Remington, Winchester, and Eddystone.The guns are as physically identical as that time period allows in terms of quality control.The problem with Eddystone centered primarily on the lack of sophistication in heat treating with a lesser concern as to metallurgy.This does not mean the Eddystone is dangerous or of poor quality. It does mean the gun was not considered on the same level as either the Winchester or the Remington product.When I was young the 1917 Enfield was a prime source of actions for more powerful cartridges (beyond the.30-06 range).
The guns chosen for conversion were the Winchester and Remington actions. Hi LarryO1970I do not know of any special serial numbers for a 'good' Eddystone.Any of them would be good with the original barrel. They did meet War Dept.
The M1917 Enfield, 'P17 Enfield', 'American Enfield', formally named 'United States Rifle, cal.30, Model of 1917' was an American modification and production.
![Eddystone 1917 markings Eddystone 1917 markings](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125563305/427166526.jpg)
Acceptance and performed well in WW1.My best advice would be to get one if you want one.As I posted earlier, the Eddystones were just not chosen for higher power conversions during the 1960's. The lack of sophistication in heat treatingwas 'common knowledge' in the 60's although I do not have specifics as to the degree of hardening on an Eddystone versus a Remington or Winchester.If you have an Eddystone receiver and wish to spend some money there are good metallurgical firms that could re-heat treat to any specification.
![Us Rifle Model Of 1917 Us Rifle Model Of 1917](http://surplused.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/M1917-and-Carbine-comparison-2k.jpg)
Click to expand.You have a US Rifle Model of 1917. It was an adaptation of the British Pattern 14 (Pattern of 1914, or P14) in.303 British, which in turn came from the British P13, which was in a new rimless cartridge, the.276 Enfield. The British design was developed at the Royal Arsenal at Enfield, and was based on a Mauser type action. When the Brits feared they would not be able to manufacture enough SMLEs to arm their troops in WWI, they contracted with Winchester and Remington to manufacture the P14 in the USA as a supplemental arm.In the event, the Brits were able to manufacture sufficient SMLEs for their needs.
When the Brit contracts ran out, coincidentally the US had entered WWI and needed rifles. There was not time to tool up other plants for the US design, the Model of 1903, also based on the Mauser but a completely different rifle from the Brit Enfield-designed P13/P14. It turned out to be easy to convert the P14 back to a rimless cartridge, in this case, the.30-'06, and the result was the Model of 1917.
A third plant, in Eddystone, PA, was added to raise production further. The result was that more M1917s were fielded in France than M1903s!After the war, a combination of 'NIH' and the greater suitability of the M1903 as a target rifle sent the M1917s into storage.Regards,Walt.