Eddystone questions.

[southpaw]

A friend of mine has one that he wants to sell and I was wondering what a fair price would be. Also is there anything I should know about them? How do they shoot? Any good for cast? I know, I know, I need another '06 like I need another hole in my head, but hey, I'm an addict.

Thanks!!

Jerry Jr.

[Dan Cash]

I had one back in the late 60s, a minty 2groove gun. It was a fine shooter though I did not cast for it yet in those days. Wish I still had it; stolen by an ungrateful lout.

[seaboltm]

As I recall certain serial numbers of Eddystone rifles were not heat treated properly and are deemed not safe to shoot.

[str8shot426]

I learned a few things from a wwII veteran gunshop owner some years back. I remember him talking about the eddystones cracking when removing the barrel. They are hard. I believe you are referring to the low number springfields which were not properly heat treated and are considered unsafe.

[Reg]

Take the receiver out of the wood and very carefully look at where the barrel screws into the receiver ( extension ), look very carefully, all around, and use a small glass if you need.
99.9 percent of Eddystones are just fine and will never give a problem but there are those few out there because of the primitive heat treatment of the time will show a crack. Yes they exist, can show you one.
If you think you might have one that might show a crack but are in doubt. Soak the receiver with barrel in a can of regular gasoline for a couple of hours, then quickly take it out and as fast as you can wipe off the gas. Keep an eye on what you think might be a crack and if it is, it will show a small wet line where the crack would be. No wet line, no crack.
If you get a good Eddystone, you have a darn good action but there are those few out there.

[ElDorado]

A buddy bought one out here in California about two years ago, and I think he paid about $500. It came with a bayonet and scabbard, so I thought it was a pretty good deal. I bought one with a cut stock about 10 or 12 years ago for $275, then I found an unaltered stock for $75. I'm like you, I have so many 30-06s that I rarely shoot the thing. I don't have a particular load for mine, but a 311299 or similar would be a good place to start.

[southpaw]

Thanks guys. I think I might show him the blue book on it and maybe that will knock some sense in him cuz the price he is asking is crazy. I mean come on, $150? I will have to check the fun money to see if I can offer him close to what it is worth. I would like to think that I would do this for everyone but I have know him for most of my life. We do alot of hunting and fishing together and he is one of the few people that I could call a true friend.

Thanks again and keep em coming!

Jerry Jr.

[ElDorado]

I made a mistake. I just checked my old emails and found the one where I told my buddy about the Eddystone.



On Apr 7, 2011, at 6:28 PM, <Deleted> wrote:
I just saw an Enfield M1917 made at Eddystone for $350. It includes the bayonet, which I didn't see. The cartouche is still visible on the stock and it has an old leather sling, probably from WWII. I think I paid $275 for mine and it had a butchered stock. I spent another $60 or $70 on a replacement and I still don't have a bayonet. Looks like a good deal to me.

It was $350, not $500. I hope I didn't screw up your deal.

Sorry,
Jeff

[dbosman]

I sold mine, a decade back, and was happy for the $50. It was sporterized and all the metal painted black.
Oh, well. Been there, done that, will probably do it again. Soon.

[lefty o]

As I recall certain serial numbers of Eddystone rifles were not heat treated properly and are deemed not safe to shoot.

this is not correct. its the early 1903's that were improperly heat treated. now some 1917's have cracked, but its while they are be rebarreled- nothing to do with shooting them.

[Shooter6br]

Springfields not M 1917 American Enfields had bad heat treatment

[Shooter6br]

Orginal barrels are 5 grove. .310 not 308 Rebarreled in WWII with .308 barrels

[Shooter6br]

Mine with a cast 314299 shoots very good

[Reg]

Springfields not M 1917 American Enfields had bad heat treatment

Sorry, Yes, low number Springfield's and early Rock Island's had some questionable heat treat but also some of the Eddystone 1917's also had this problem. NOT Remington or Winchester, have never seen a bad one, just Eddystones, have seen several and have one receiver in front of me right now. Generally these were not rebarreled rifles.
The torque specs on the factory fit of the initial barrels was quite high. Get a bit of brittleness on that front ring shell and the rifle could ( and most did ) go for many years before tide and time caught up with it and the metal would crack.
This is only on very -very few Eddystones. I am of the opinion that if it hasn't cracked by now, it most likely won't especially the way barrels are fitted now.
A visual and the "can of gas" check is all one needs to simply check . All that I have seen, the crack is very visual.

[ColColt]

The Eddystone Arsenal did turn out some weak ones from what I recall reading many rears ago but can't recall the numbers to be on the lookout for. I'm sure a google search would turn it up.

[Adk Mike]

I have one. My favorite rifle. I shoot a Lyman 314299 or the 311644 sized to .311. I use 13 grains of Unique. Out to 200 shoots great low recoil. Even the kids have fun with it..

[Blammer]

at a gunshow a fellow bought one for $600 and he was tickled to death with it.

I would say the going rate is around $400 to $550 or depending on condition and markings.

[southpaw]

Ok a little update. I have been informed that the stock has been cut down. Also there are two of us that are looking are considering it but, go figure neither wants to offend the other. He wants to put it together with an original stock and I really don't care. I just want to make sure that my buddy gets a fair deal selling it.

Thanks for all the help!

Jerry Jr.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I haven't seen an unmolested 1917 at a gunshow for less than $600 for a few years.
Now sporterized...that's a hole nuther thang.

[Blammer]

sporterized, pictured need to be involved for a more accurate reading.

[Huffmanite]

FWIW, about the Eddystone receivers cracking. Yea, heat treatment at Eddystone plant, more often than not, made a receiver on the hard brittle side. Chuckle, after I had D&T'd a number of mauser receivers for scopes, tried my hand at D&T of an Eddystone receiver. I couldn't even ping the darn hard receiver for the drill bit point, much less drill it. If I did drill a hole, threading the hole with a tap would have been a challenge too. Took the receiver to a couple of local longtime gunsmiths, explained my D&T problem and both declined trying to D&T it. Yes, they could have spot annealed the receiver to D&T it, just they'd both done enough of them in their earlier days of gunsmithing and didn't like working on them. Neither one wanted to mess with 1903 Springfields either, because of the hard receivers.

Also, the Eddystone plant had a hydraulic powered machine to screw in the barrels that torqued in the barrels too tight, which some thought contributed to cracking of the harder brittle receivers. If nothing else, these hydraulic installed barrels can be a bear to remove.

[Huffmanite]

Darn, forgot to mention my selling a 1917 Eddystone about 2 yrs ago. It was still in its original military condition, had a crack in the wrist of stock (I'd repaired) and in shoulder/neck area of chamber there was a minor problem, erosion/pitting, but bore was in good condition. Rifle shot well, when it came to accuracy and the minor bulging in shoulder/neck area of fired brass caused no extraction problems. Made the mistake of letting a fellow range member shoot the rifle one day at our 200 yd berm. His rounds fired hit darn close to the small spot on berm he was aiming. Gent liked the rifle so much he offered to buy it. After making sure he understood the chamber problem, showing him the fired brass and etc., he offered me $600 for the rifle which I accepted. He still owns the rifle and is quite happy with it.

[southpaw]

I ended up buying it. The other guy decided that he wanted to buy a machine gun instead. The bore looks like a sewer pipe. I am gonna try and clean it up and see what kind of groups I can get with it. Here are some pics.

9774497745

I guess since I don't know much about them what can ya tell me? Was it worth $150?

Thanks.

Jerry Jr.

[Blammer]

Yep, worth $150

clean it up see how it shoots, you may just like it. :)

[Hardcast416taylor]

"Was it worth $150"? In my humble opinion, YES!Robert

[barnetmill]

The ears of my sportarized 1917 are soft. The only problem I have ever noticed is that the headspace appears to be a little more generous on that gun. I was thinking of rebarrelling or rechambering for another caliber. Is there any chance that the receiver ring is harder than the ears of the gun.
I could take the gun to my smith that has the rockwell testing machine to be sure. P17 barrels have a reputation of being over torqued. Is it true that only the eddystone guns were over torqued. I watch two once that were removing the barrels of either p14 or P17's remove a little metal a lathe between the junction of the receiver and barrel prior to getting them off.

[old gunner]

some of the eddystones were made with a very hard action. the barrels were ok.
I knew a shooyer who had one rechambered to 308 norma magnum, when shooting at a deer the
gun came apart, taking his right eye out. in the spring he found a few action parts, the barrel was about fifty feet away in good shape. the deer was dead. the gunsmith, who I know quite well, warned the shooter not to do the conversion, as well as I, but to no avail. a gunsmith told me to test
the action with a small file on the bottom of the receiver ring, if it feels like glass, hang it on the wall.

Bill

[Four Fingers of Death]

I currently have four or five and a couple of target rifles on Eddystone actions. They do not suffer the heat treatment problems that was the early 1903s. They are fine rifles, but of the three brand Enfields they are the least popular amongst collectors and shooters, but are the most prolific.

They are actually Remingtons, made in the Remington plant at Eddystone. The Remington marked P14s and M17s were made at Ilion. The other brand you strike are Winchesters. These are well finished, but in reality, no better than the other two.

Where they sometimes split on barrel removal would be due to the barrels being fitted at the factory pneumatically and they are tight.

A gunsmith friend told me that if you plan to remove a barrel, a cut should be made into the barrel just in front of the receiver ring which will provide relief and allow it to be removed. We removed one once and wanted to re-use the barrel so I soaked it in oil for a few weeks then two of us tapped the receiver ring with small hammers whilst the barrel was carefully turned and it came out ok. The were hundreds and hundreds turned into target rifles in the 70s and 80s here and I never heard of the problem until I got on the internet years later, haha!

[Char-Gar]

The US Model 1917 is one of my favorite rifles. Years ago I had a couple that were both Eddystone's, but sold them both because I felt them to be overly heavy and clumsy. My notions have changed 40 years later and I like the extra weight, increased barrel length and extra stock length.

I have a good unmessed with Winchester I bought in 1996 in a pawn shop in Deming New Mexico for $150.00.

I also have a Remington I bought from a member on this board. It is a WWII rebuild at San Antonio Arsenal with a cherry 2 groove Johnson Automatic barrel. It is the only one whose portrait I have taken.

I like the 03A3 also having two of them and the 03 of which I only have one, but the 1917 is fully equal to them in all regards excepts svelte.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Enfields are like Chinese food, buy one and pretty soon after you will feel like buying another!

[lonewelder]

I just completed my 1917.when I got it it needed a few parts now it is back to its former self.its an eddystone with a 1918 win barrel.it has a tiger stripe stock that is to die for.I have some 311299 over 16 gr of 2400 to try ,just waiting on some good weather.I have not shot it but it seems it needs a high cheek weld.I'm sure it will shoot better than my eyes can.I'm gonna keep her anyway.anytime you can get history like that that has slipped by bubba will always go up in value

[southpaw]

Update time

I shot it today. It shoots about 5" or so to the right at 50 yards and about an inch high. The good news is I put 3 shots in about 3/4" at 50 yards. This was with 150 spt bullets loaded for my 760's. Despite the sewer pipe I think it might be alright. :grin:

I am gonna try and move the front sight and see what happens.

Thanks for all the replies.

Jerry Jr.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Sounds good, keep us posted!