Went to a local gun auction and feel like I did very well. Could have done better but just bought another safe yesterday. That and the rifle I had my eye on was near the end of the auction. I wanted to be sure I got it so I was saving my $$$. Wouldn't you know it went for way less than I expected. I passed on a very nice savage 99 takedown in .300 savage. Had I known the rifle I wanted would sell so cheaply I could have picked up the savage too. Anyway, can't complain.

I picked up a very nice K98 in .244 Rem with a nice Lyman 48 on it for the princely sum of $70. Got another K98 not sure what caliber but in a sporter stock and not drilled & tapped also for $70. My first US rifle, an Eddystone M17 unaltered but in a sporter stock yet again for $70. My magic number it seems.

Lastly, what I believe to be a nice little guild gun. No indication of caliber but handsomely engraved, svelte little schnable stock and best of all what I first thought was another lyman 48 turned out to be a lyman 35 sight. Walked away with it for $210! That' s like buying the sight and getting the rifle free! WooHoo!

I'll post some pics of the little Mauser in two weeks when they finish the silly background check.

What can you all tell me about the M17? Any quirks or things to watch out for. I'm basically just a Mauser guy.

The 1917 Enfield is a fine rifle in the .30-06 caliber. All these guns are heavy so they aren't a lot of fun to carry but they are usually accurate and make decent kick around guns.

They have a large magazine capacity and cock on closing but that's not a serious condemnation of the gun...it works fine!!! It can also be converted.

Rebarreling to other calibers can be done but most smiths are reluctant to go heavier than the .30-06 because the Eddystone actions are notorious for cracks and many crack the receiver rings upon removing the barrel. The enfields made by Remington and Winchester make magnificient DG guns in .375 H&H all the way to the infamous .505 Gibbs but I don't believe many use the Eddystone for this.

I'd caution you that if the barrel is removed to have the receiver ring magnifluxed for cracks prior to installing a new barrel. Most just shoot it as a .30-06 as it's a fine gun as is.

The receiver rings are case hardened and are glass hard....drilling and tapping the receiver rings for scope mounts can be a mess with many smiths using an acetylene torch to spot anneal the area prior to drilling. I prefer to spot face with a carbide endmill but many smiths don't have that equipment. Spot annealing isn't a problem unless one uses the wrong tip and turns the entire ring red in the process and this has been done.

For a gun made in 1917 it's hard to believe how good they really are..have a ball

zlr,
It is more like buying the lyman 35 for half price and getting the rest free. They are in the $400 range. The 35 was made in two models, one that had a knurled knob (the Deluxe) to raise and lower the sight and the standard model where you just pushed the sight up and down.

quote:

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Originally posted by z1r:
What can you all tell me about the M17? Any quirks or things to watch out for. I'm basically just a Mauser guy.

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Well, the good news is how much of an AWESOME deal you got in the mausers...

the bad news is the m17 is total junk, so send it to
jeffe osso
550 express lane
........

LMAO
jeffe

Thanks Chic. I'll have to take a closer look at that sight when I pick up the rifle on the 21st. I arrived late at the auction due to car trouble. barely had a chance to run around and note the decent mausers. I didn't even notice the Lyman 35 on it until I saw the guy pick it up to start it's auctiom. I noted the sight arm coming from the left hand side. I almost wet myself.

jeffe,

I sent that M17 to you this morning. Once you have converted it to a suitable caliber I'll of course have to inspect it to make sure it was done right!

The deluxe looks like the following, the knurled knob is on the left of the vertical sliding scale. Interesting thing is that these came out around the same time as the Winchester model 1890 rimfire rifle. The one with the octagon barrel and exposed hammer. The lyman 35 sold at that time for $12.50 ( I saw an original ad for it) and the Winchester 90 sold for $16 to put it in perspective. It has always been an expensive sight. The 1890 now in very good condition is worth a lot more than the sights are but the sights are a high dollar item.

Ok there Chic....you ain't getting away with posting a photo of the sight without letting us see the rest of the rifle.....fess up now.....who built the barrel...and is that REALLY an integral rib?.....
More photos please!!!

vapodog,

just go to the website that I built for Chic. Plenty more photos of that rifle there.

-Mike

http://webpages.charter.net/cworthing

Thanks Chic. Wow, that's a fantastic looking stock. I really like the way the area aound the sight was built specifically for the sight. Very nice!