My First 1917

[Allen Humphrey]

Well, I found some time for a few pics. My goal was to get a "shooter" 1917. A friend tipped me off to a Winchester at Cabelas for 399. I waited and waited and finally decided to pop on it. I knew it had some missing parts and was a complete mixmaster put-together. Perfect for a shooter. I asked the sales guy what his best price was and he came back at $299. Using all of my will power I managed to pause approx 2.5 seconds for effect before saying yes.

I'd appreciate anything you can share about it. The only W parts are the rear sights, butt plate, and stock. Everything else is R or E, with a few unmarked such as the mag box. The bolt has an R on top and a E on the underside??? not sure about that.

[Allen Humphrey]

Its a JA barrel by the way. Measures a .5 on my stone axe gauge.

[Allen Humphrey]

...a few more pics. Bad news is that it won't headspace. With a bare bolt body it wont close on a go gauge or on a factory round. Barrel looks brand new. It was dirty and oily, but absolutely no copper fouling came out.

[Allen Humphrey]

...last ones

[us019255]

...a few more pics. Bad news is that it won't headspace. With a bare bolt body it wont close on a go gauge or on a factory round. Barrel looks brand new. It was dirty and oily, but absolutely no copper fouling came out.

I'd call that good news. JA barrels, a WWII rebuild manufactured part, used to be available for a few dollars. They are short chambered. Any semi-competent smith can finish ream the chamber in a few minutes. I bet someone re-barreled and never finished the job. You probably have a new barrel.

I re-barreled and restocked a returned 1917 20 years ago and it is a good shooter! Both the stock and barrel were left over from the rebuild program. Unfortunately, this stuff was all used up years ago.

[chuckindenver]

looks good.
try a live factory round, should close easy.. w{no cocking assembly } if it doesnt close all the way. or you can feel it drag..then it needs to be finish reamed.

[Allen Humphrey]

Tried 3 different factory rounds. They all stopped short of closing (on a bare bolt body). I'm guessing it is a new barrel based on the mix of parts. Is my bolt an Eddy or Rem? R on top side, E (small) on bottom face. Thanks!

[TerryR]

R is on the Bolt body, Remington. The "E" is on the cocking piece???, can't tell for sure, thats an eddystone. There are 5 or 6 parts on a Bolt. And they can all be mixed parts.
The bolt is Remington. I just put on a Brand new JA Barrel on my eddystone. Cost me 165.00. Finished reamed it and boy does it shoot good! You 3/4 there. Chuckindenver does that. Or rent some reamers and do it your self.
Nice rifle, great buy!
TerryR

[Allen Humphrey]

Sorry I wasn't really clear about the bolt markings. I'm looking specifically at the bolt body. The R is stamped on the top side of the handle where it can be seen in the closed position. The E is on the opposite side of the bolt handle, where it can only be seen when the bolt is open. I've zoomed in on the areas:

[Embalmer]

Had a bolt that had E on one side, and a W on the other similiar to yours. no idea why double letters...

[chuckindenver]

double letter bolts are replacement force matched bolts...iv actually seen a couple Marked E on both sides,

[TerryR]

I've never seen that either! Eddystone kept making rifles after Remington stopped. Wonder if they just got extra bolts from Rem then finalized stamping w/"E" when the rifle was done.
Just a guess!
TerryR

[Eddystone3006]

I will never understand how any military bolt action rifle lover does not have the 1917 in their top 3 favorites. I have met collectors who totally disregard the 1917 altogether......mind boggling to me.

[us019255]

looks good.
try a live factory round, should close easy.. .

It never ceases to amaze me that people will advocate placing one's face inches from more than 40,000 PSI without using the proper tools to be sure that it meets specifications. So you save the price of a set of headspace gauges, how much is your face worth? I am very attached to mine.

[Doug Rammel]

us019255

Quote Originally Posted by chuckindenver View Post
looks good.
try a live factory round, should close easy.. .


It never ceases to amaze me that people will advocate placing one's face inches from more than 40,000 PSI without using the proper tools to be sure that it meets specifications. So you save the price of a set of headspace gauges, how much is your face worth? I am very attached to mine.




This is Chuck's complete post The op was asking about a new barrel. I would not worry about firing a 1917. Very strong action with a "generous " chamber.


looks good.
try a live factory round, should close easy.. w{no cocking assembly } if it doesnt close all the way. or you can feel it drag..then it needs to be finish reamed.

[Eddystone3006]

It never ceases to amaze me that people will advocate placing one's face inches from more than 40,000 PSI without using the proper tools to be sure that it meets specifications. So you save the price of a set of headspace gauges, how much is your face worth? I am very attached to mine.Chuck got more smithing time with the 1917 than anyone on the top 5 gun forums, his word is gold!

[Dan Wilson]

Nice rifle, outstanding considering the cost.
If it wont headspace at least it wont headspace in the right direction, its an easy thing to cut it into specs.

[Dan Wilson]

Eddystone, the makers mark for the bolts are on the lower side.

[chuckindenver]

It never ceases to amaze me that people will advocate placing one's face inches from more than 40,000 PSI without using the proper tools to be sure that it meets specifications. So you save the price of a set of headspace gauges, how much is your face worth? I am very attached to mine.

ok,,just how do you think that 50,000Cup pressure round is going off inches from anyones face, with no cocking assembly in the bolt?? a little quick to flame are we?