M1917 Enfield

A friend of mine bought one of these:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1917_Enfield#

Packed in cosmoline in 1956 from his local hardware store. He said that it is in as good of condition as the one in the picture.

Does anyone have an idea what it would be worth?

Thanks,

Russ

Realistically, $450-$650.

Well it depends. Unaltered WWI bring the highest price with Winchester bringing a premium. Winchesters bring more than Remingtons and Remingtons more than Eddystones. Arsenal reworks between the wars bring less and WWII rebuilds even a little less. All of that also depends on how bad it is banged up.

With all the depends, I would say between $500.00 to $1,000.00.

Russ,

Only a wide range of value can be assessed without inspecting the arm in question. As an appraiser, I often have telephone inquiries about a gun's value. I tell them to arrange an inspection for a better estimate.

Hope this helps.

Adam

In my opinion I feel that a person that is qualified in arms appraisal should make the determination of what the rifle is worth in the condition it is in. I also get phone calls from strangers wanting me to appraise a weapon strictly by a phone conversation. I suggest an appointment to look the weapon over and the phone call ends right there.Robert

^^^^^ Have it appraised. I bought one in just the shape you describe, cost $35.00, but that was 1964, I really wanted one of those 1903 Springfields right next to it but they were crazy expensive 59.00! You got to be kidding me a new 94 Win was 99.

Agree that you need to see the rifles. As was mentioned, who made it makes a big difference in value and early ones that were blued not parkerized and are complete bring big money.

Be advised; what's it worth and value have little meaning in the real world. What counts is what someone else is willing to pay at any given moment in time...

I just sold one for $450... just sayin..

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Originally Posted by JRLesan

Be advised; what's it worth and value have little meaning in the real world. What counts is what someone else is willing to pay at any given moment in time...

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Truer words have never been spoken.

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Originally Posted by swheeler

^^^^^ Have it appraised. I bought one in just the shape you describe, cost $35.00, but that was 1964, I really wanted one of those 1903 Springfields right next to it but they were crazy expensive 59.00! You got to be kidding me a new 94 Win was 99.

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I hate posts like this. I graduated from college in 1964 and sold a Remington Rand government model 1911 for $50. That is about what I had in it but I couldn't afford to shoot it. No collector value because it had been reblued, at least it didn't have a parkerized finish.

On the plus side I didn't have any student debt. We didn't know what that was in 1964

Referring to Char-Gar's post, my 1917 cost me over $800. It is in excellent condition but is an Eddystone so maybe I paid too much. Bore is excellent and I bought it to be a shooter so I'm not grieving.

I’ve got a pair of them. One Eddystone and the other a Remington. Both have NZ on the stocks. Anyway both are great Shooter’s. I’ve thought if I sold one both the money and gun would be gone soon. So better keep them and shoot them. I have 2 grandsons one for each is the plan.

in this situation I don't think the greatest Enfield expert (which I'm not) can do better than "Quite a bit but not a fortune, for something better than a lot that come out of the factories nowadays."

I'd have no hesitation about going for an Eddystone over one of the others, if its condition was better. The various faults of Enfields are more likely to occur in Eddystones, but when they are good they are just as good.

I bought a minty (97% +) full wood 1917 Enfield about 2 years ago and at the time I paid $650 Canadian plus shipping. I thought the price was more than fair considering it's condition. I routinely see moderately rough ones listed for sale for $450 / $500 Canadian these days and minty ones like mine in the $800 / $850 range. (But that's up here in our neck of the woods of course ... and in Canadian dollars.)

they range from a few hundred to over a grand. condition, and originality are everything.

A good source for pricing and information for me, is http://oldguns.net/cat_fa_old_us_long.htm. They presently have one listed, and you may be able to compare features with yours. They also provide a fairly reasonably priced service where they'll swap parts to enable you to return your 1917 to be all of the same manufacturer. at http://oldguns.net/catacc.htm. I love my 1917: enjoy yours!
BEST!
geo

................I bought this one for $250 in 2001 and sold it in 2012 for $600 and I kept the bayonet and scabbard.

http://www.fototime.com/36BEAF825B756E0/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/4631090295B2C00/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/F3F318BC4AB0FC7/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/6442A0FFF9BB4B7/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/9C18128D3B68615/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/85297900625708E/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/35D6D974F4705F1/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/4B67A8461FC6459/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/20A4D892AA6120E/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/D81DFDDB593213E/standard.jpg

Looking at these photo's again I kinda wish that I'd kept it!

...............Buckshot

I think that, in general, most firearms are a good investment. Only gun I ever sold was in 1972, a Savage 340, traded it in for a down payment on a Remington 700 BDL in 308. Don't remember what I got for the 340, but I remember the 700 had a tag showing $125.00.
I have some Guns and Ammo magazines from my high school days where you could mail order mil-surp rifles mailed direct to you for ten bucks.
I bought a 1917 Enfield maybe three years ago, for $500. Very good finish and very good bore.