Red paint on a Canadian p17

[albayo]

Lots of P17s were used around US Lend Lease bases and some Canadian Vetran Gards did some of the work. The US bases used 30-06 and so did the gards. Red band aroung the rifle red band around the ammo box.

 

[Garand]

Hi Guy's
The M1917 was not lend lease they were bought from the US. The reason for the red band was to show they were 30-06 not .303. In Canada home guard was called Veterans Guard of Canada and they used a lot of wpns most were .303. M1917 were used for training the Army and the RCAF we had very few Lee Enfields in1940.
Cheers

Please specify your sources! My source indicates that early in the war both Britain & Russia paid for M1917's as long as they had US greenbacks. The lend lease agreement for M1917's was signed 11 June 1940, after they ran out of US currency. Source: US Rifle Model of 1917 by CS Ferris, pages 157 & 158.