Which M1917 would you choose

[Alfonso]

If you had an opportunity to buy one of three minty 1917 rifles with very low serial numbers and all matching which manufacturer would it be: Remington, Winchester or Eddystone?

 

[WaffenMitUns]

All three, and then stack them together.

Awesomeness.

 

[shredder]

Any one of them I could get my hands on.

 

[can14]

Eddystone..because of the blue finish...

 

[fugawi]

All things considered equal - Winchester. No question.

 

[purple]

I've owned and shot them all. There is little to choose from among them. All of them originally had a blued finish, except for the late Eddystones which were black parkerized.

 

[browningautorifle]

Too scarce to choose. Take all three.

 

[Winchester-1897]

My Remington Shoots just fine.

 

[Claven2]

All things considered equal - Winchester. No question.

This.

Fact: Winchesters were selected for sniper conversion, the Remmys and eddys - not.

Fact: Winchester made fewer rifles than the other two, therefore rarer.

Fact: Winchesters are prized for their receivers by big game rifle builders - which also makes them rarer today.

Go Winnie!

 

[smellie]

I would likely mortgage the cat and grab all three although, to be honest, I would prefer it if they were P-'14s.

What do you mean by "low" numbers, BTW? I already have a fairly early Winchester, given that s/n W3xx (second pre-production batch) counts for something, so I might only have to buy two!

Don't have to mortgage the cat now, just the virgin granddaughters.

Bonus!
.

 

[Winchester-1897]

This.

Fact: Winchesters were selected for sniper conversion, the Remmys and eddys - not.

Fact: Winchester made fewer rifles than the other two, therefore rarer.

Fact: Winchesters are prized for their receivers by big game rifle builders - which also makes them rarer today.

Go Winnie!

If Winchester rifles were so good why did they make so few of them?

 

[Claven2]

If Winchester rifles were so good why did they make so few of them?

Good question... probably because they only made enough to complete their Contract

 

[smellie]

Winchester was the primary contractor on the P.-'14 and did the tooling for all 3 plants.

Likely they continued in this manner during the M-1917 program.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

They had their hands full, obviously.

Sure nice rifles, though.
.

 

[RRCo.]

American Expeditionary Force said "send no more Winchester M.17s" Incompatible parts. British kept 10,000 for sniper conversion. Why? Brand recognition probably, but then again, they had a habit of doing things for more substantial reasons. Maybe the Winnies actually tested out better for accuracy. Remingtons don't have the "swimming pool" under the rear sight, so more got sporterized (no hole to fill when grinding down the receiver to Model 30 specs.

If you have a chance at all three as you describe, what better investment can there be? Tell your banker you want a "gun loan"!

 

[Claven2]

American Expeditionary Force said "send no more Winchester M.17s" Incompatible parts. British kept 10,000 for sniper conversion. Why? Brand recognition probably, but then again, they had a habit of doing things for more substantial reasons. Maybe the Winnies actually tested out better for accuracy. Remingtons don't have the "swimming pool" under the rear sight, so more got sporterized (no hole to fill when grinding down the receiver to Model 30 specs.

If you have a chance at all three as you describe, what better investment can there be? Tell your banker you want a "gun loan"!

There were compatibility issues between all three brands - not sure how that happened in the era of interchangeable parts and series production?

 

[Lee Enfield]

American Expeditionary Force said "send no more Winchester M.17s" Incompatible parts. British kept 10,000 for sniper conversion. Why? Brand recognition probably, but then again, they had a habit of doing things for more substantial reasons. Maybe the Winnies actually tested out better for accuracy. Remingtons don't have the "swimming pool" under the rear sight, so more got sporterized (no hole to fill when grinding down the receiver to Model 30 specs.

If you have a chance at all three as you describe, what better investment can there be? Tell your banker you want a "gun loan"!

Winchester started building 30-06 rifles before rem and eddy got their acts in order. Unfortunately there were changes to the drawings after winchester had already started manufacturing rifles.

As to which are "better"? Winchesters don't crack due to improper heat treatment.

 

[fugawi]

There were compatibility issues between all three brands - not sure how that happened in the era of interchangeable parts and series production?

I took a look at my copy of Allied Rifle Contracts in America and it indicated that the compatibility problems arose from changes in specifications and that "not all modifications applied to all manufacturers". Seven were described as major alterations with as "as many as 20 other design alterations were incorporated into the rifles production".

ARCIA also states that the Winchesters were chosen as sniper rifles as they were considered more accurate and reliable that the Remmys and Edddys.

Production totals as per ARCIA:

Winchester: 235,000
Remington: 400,000
Eddystone: 500,000

As previously stated, if all in the same condition and all matching - I'd buy the Winnie if I had to choose only one.