Lend Lease 1917?

[Jay Johnson]

I found what I believe to be a Lend Lease 1917 in a local gun shop. An Eddystone and has British proofs on the left side of the receiver, the stock has a brass medallion with some numbers on it embedded in the stock apx. 3" from the butt plate on the right side. It also has a brass grenade site mount with graduations (in degrees?) on the left side of the forend embedded in the stock. The stock itself has no marks that I could see and is very dark with no cracks, the metal finish is mostly gone, the barrel is frosty, but no rust that I could see; overall the rifle is sound and shootable by visual inspection (would need to headspace it before I fired it). Last thing, it's marked ".303 British". They want $399 for it and I could probably offer $350 and take it, is it worth it? How rare are they?

All advise will be greatly appreciated, TIA.

[Tuna]

It's not an M1917 that your looking at. It's a P14 made here for Great Britian and not a lend lease rifle. That's why it's in .303 and not 30-06. It was designed by Britian and built by the same folks who later made the same rifle as the M1917 for the US government. If in decent shape it's worth more then the asking price of $399.

[Jay Johnson]

Thanks, Tuna. Now that I think about it, it did not say Eddystone on the top of the forward receiver, I can't remember what it said actually... When was the P14 produced?

[Dan Shapiro]

When was the P14 produced?

Approx 1915-17

[Doug Rammel]

When was the P14 produced?

1916 and 17. If it's an Eddy it will be marked E by the serial number. RE is Remington and w is Winchester. The serial number will also be on the barrel under the back hand guard.

[Johnny P]

I found what I believe to be a Lend Lease 1917 in a local gun shop. An Eddystone and has British proofs on the left side of the receiver,
All advise will be greatly appreciated, TIA.

Another case of where British commercial proofs don't automatically indicate Lend-Lease. The British proofs only indicate it was sold commercially in England. The date of sale could be determined from the proofs.

[mannparks]

jay, why do you think it is a eddystone and where did you see 303 british?--charles

[Nate]

I have owned a M1917 with the red band and Canadian markings. Doubtful if Lend Lease had anything to do with it. Wish I still had it.

[skinsfan]

pattern 14's are great rifles...sounds like a good price in general....great shhoters for the most part-scott

[kcw]

That's not a grenade sight, but rather the forward part of the "Volley sight" system. The rear portion (the aperture) is back by the bolt release. You snap the rear aperture sight up (rotates 90 degrees) andthen set pointed end of the dial indicator on the forward portion to yardage ordered by an officer. You use the knob opposite the pointed end of the indicator as a front sight. Volley fire tended to be a "mass fire" thing, maybe at a distant target like a church steeple that was suspected fo being used by an artillery spotter, sniper ect.. Many P-14's had the system arsenal remove between the wars, the so called "Weedon Repair". The rear ap post as cut off and the forward dial setup remove and the wood plugged. P-14's retaining the complete volley sight system command a premium price over those without. Frosted barrel can be good shooters, provided there's good strong rifling. They can be SOB's to clean however, especially if you fire old cordite GI ammo, which I compare to the next worse thing to black powered for cleaning. As to headspacing, that's always a good idea, but GI 303 chamber specs were pretty lose to begin with, but P-14 parts were built on pretty closed tolerances. If it were mine I'd just tie it to a tire and run 50' of rope back if I had concern (done that more times than I can remember). If the fired brass looks Ok (no abnormal bulges, ect.) I'd consider good to go. You might want to see if the dealer will give you a written "safe to shoot" warranty so you can get your money back, or at least credit in the rare event that it splits the brass, ect.