.303 enfield question

leslea_kate

leslea_kate

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I have a 1917 model, Lee Enfield .303. I found out it's made by EddyStone Remington Arms & it has the 26" barrel, internal box mag & flip up pinch rear sights. It's the first large calibre rifle I ever got myself & this year I decided that since my sister got her PAL this year, I'm passing it along as a christmas gift.

I can't remember the forum I saw it on, or even if it was on gunnutz... I'm just wondering if there's some sort of archive site where I can enter the serial number & see who had it during ww1 & maybe ww2. I think it'd be interesting at the least, to include some of the history of the rifle, in with it if I could.

So if anyone has a link, I'd sure appreciate it.

Thanks folks!

Leslea
 
You DO NOT have a Lee enfield, you have a Pattern 14 Enfield and they were all made in the U.S.

the first rifles were delivered in 1916 and production ended in 1917. Eddystone produced 604,941

I hope it doesn't say M1917 on the reciever, because you will then have a 30-06, not a .303

If you are trying to use the serial number to find out who had it, forget it, there ain't no way that's going to happen.

If there is a marked brass stock disc on the right side of the butt, you can find out who had it last. However they were often removed. Does it have a volley sight plate on the left side of the forend (just aft of the mid barrrel band.) If you are lucky the pointer will still be there, but many were removed at the Weedon repair centre during overhaul prior to WW2.
An inexpensive paperback book on the subject is
The Pattern 1914
and
U.S. Model 1917 Rifles
by Charles R. Stratton
It should still be available.
 
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a p14 is .303 british
a p17 is 30.06 springfield.
the p17 should have red paint on the stock to make sure noone confused the two.
 
M17s would only have the red band painted on the forestock if they were in British or Canadian possession. The Americans didn't have P14s laying around to confuse them with :D.
 
It doesn't say either one & that's what it was sold to me as... Back in '88.

It's definitely a .303, as the calibre is stamped on it by a bunch of other stamps. It's all I've fired out of it too, and it's amazingly accurate.

It has a 17 in where all the stamps are, not a 1917. There's no brass stock disk. There are no barrel bands & no volley plate.

There is a little crown stamp with BNP right below it, near the front of all the stamps. Along the bottom of the stamps near the wood, there's what looks like an arrow, a stamp that looks like a spiky crown, laid on it's side (pointing toward the business end) with G.R below it which is also on it's side., then a little X with F on the left of the X, a spade (like the playing card) at the bottom of the X and a B on the right of the X. Below the X is the 17.

Just to the left of the magazine it's marked with the crown & BNP, and behind it, toward the butt, is the spiky crown & GR on it's side. continuing along, there's what look like crossed flags, pointing toward the business end again, with a P below the X that the crossed flags meet.

If that can help provide a bit more info, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for the info so far, it's been pretty informative!

L
 
"17" would be the year manufactured. Here is a pic of the marks on my ERA P'14 for comparision.
era5-1.jpg
 
leslea_kate said:
It doesn't say either one & that's what it was sold to me as... Back in '88.

It's definitely a .303, as the calibre is stamped on it by a bunch of other stamps. It's all I've fired out of it too, and it's amazingly accurate.
Click to expand...

Congrats on a great rifle!

Keep it as it is, and stick with the Iron sights, and she will give you many happy times at the range, and put Deer in the freezer for you if you do your part. :)

BTW inside the box mag there is a liner, and it will have grooves for the rimmed .303 cartridge.

Which you already know it is anyway, but just one more neat tidbit.
 
The "arrow" is the Broad arrow, a british property mark that goes back to the days of flintlock muskets.
BNP is Birmingham Nitro Proof. anything sold on the British civillian market requires proof, even ex military rifles.
GR would be George V who was the King at that time.
No barrel bands"? has it been "sportyized"?
 
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Thanks Hitzy, I don't have a decent camera to take as detailed a pic... But mine has many of those same marks.

Calum, it's been good to me over the years, hence one of the reasons I want to pass it to my sister. She deserves something solid & of such quality for her first rifle. It's put a few deer into the freezer & it's definitely sticking with the iron sights.

John, thanks for the info, you're one seriously informative fellow! As for barrel bands, yes... It was sporterized before I got it. Mind you, when I got it, the price was only $100... The outside looked like hell & was banged up pretty nasty on the stock. The thing that convinced me was the length (it stood out like a sore thumb, having such a long barrel next to the short .303s) and when I checked the rifling, it looked pristine... The other rifles in the rack were pitted to hell & back. Since it was sporterized, I figured a little TLC wouldn't detract. So a few days of sanding & a few hours digging dried out crud & grease off the metal & it looked like a new rifle. It's no showboat, but it looks really nice & shoots amazingly well.

Best $100 I spent that year.

L
 
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