1917 Enfield

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I love US 1917s - my favorite milsurp rifles. Built like a tank. Unsporterized ones are getting very expensive. The sporterized ones are (rightly) much much cheaper, but still $200 ain't too bad with some ammo. The sporterized one I had shot very very well. Can you post a pic of yours - maybe it's the same one I sold at a gun show a few months ago that I know shoots very well. Good caliber too - with "reduced recoil" loads in .30-'06, as heavy as they are, they're real pussycats.

 

[henschman]

Its worth a lot more if it still has the factory rear sight "ears" and flipping ladder aperture -- which it probably doesn't if a scope has been mounted to it. That stuff usually got ground off on the "sporters." If it doesn't have the rear sight, it won't ever be worth much more than $250-$300, depending on how nice it is. So yeah, you got a pretty good deal for a fun plinker rifle with a history. If it still has the rear sight, its gonna be worth more.

BTW, I have a 1917 too, and I'm looking for another GI stock like yours. I have a sporter stock that is a cut-down factory stock. Its in good shape with no cracks or anything and a nice finish. I'll trade you my stock plus some cash for yours.

The GI stock doesn't add a lot of value to the rifle if its rear sight has been ground off and if its been drilled and tapped, if indeed that's what was done to your rifle, and if you're going to keep it just to shoot, you might not care what stock is on it.

I was going to look for a GI stock at the next gun show, but I'd rather trade with somebody local who could use this sporter stock... otherwise it would just be sitting unused in my garage or something. You interested? In lieu of cash, I could pay you with a few bandoliers of GI military ball .30'06! Its real nice boxer primed stuff in reloadable cases, and is what these rifles (as well as the 1903 and the M1) were designed to shoot.

 

[T.R.]

The OP doesn't actually own the rifle. He saw it at a gun show, but someone beat him to it. Also, the reason(s) these rifles were so popular for sporterizing were, (1) price....they could be purchased for a song in the '50s & '60s, and (2) the action is long enough to take the Weatherby magnum rounds with only minor modifications to make them feed properly. The drawback was the huge amount of work required to make them look like anything other than a sporterized 1917. The 1903 Springfield was much easier, but wasn't long enough for the Weatherby rounds.

 

[Lotahp1]

Well looks like I should have got this one.

 

[flatwins]

My dad sported one in the 60s and wished he wouldn't have. At any rate it is a beautiful rifle. Just worth one third what it would have been had it been left in the original state.

 

[shortgrass]

Model 1914 was .303, made for the British government before U.S. got involved in WW1. Model 1917, same rifle, but, converted to .30-06 for U.S. government. There weren't enough '03 Springfields on hand when the U.S. entered the war.