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Posted: 9/23/2002 9:07:25 PM EDT
| Will the bayonet and sling for a Garand fit this rifle? If not where can one find these for a friend in need? I need to know a lot more than I do about this gun. |
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No, the M1 takes the M1905 bayonet and the M1917 takes the, well, M1917 bayonet. Bayonets are available at most gun shows, but be prepared to pay around $125-$200 depending on age and condition. I've seen them as high as $250. Aim Surplus cleared out their inventory of WWI dated M1917 bayonets in very good to excellent shape for $49.95! I picked one up from them but I'm pretty sure they're all gone. Too bad. Mine's in excellent condition and so is the scabbard. You can see them on Ebay or other auction sites regularly. Prices on the rifles and bayonets went up considerably after The Lost Battalion aired on A&E. No M1917 is truly complete without a bayonet! That 16" blade looks REALLY, REALLY intimidating fixed on a rifle. For a little background on the M1917 try here: www2.fwi.com/~fwalter/1917.htm For more detailed information it's hard to beat the M1917 forum on Dick Culver's site: www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/1917enfield/1917.pl? In case you're wondering who Eddystone was, it was a temporary colaboration between Remington Arms and the Baldwin Locomotive Works of all things. |
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Repro scabbards are available from Sarco' about $30. Cheap. As the body of the original was (is) leather, they are often fragile. Get a repro if use outside a display case is at all considered. Please don't mess up an antique! BTW, keep an eye out on this board. I'll be making an M1917 Enfield range/sighting-in session report in the next few days. |
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International Military Antigues also have/had 1917 bayonets. These also show up on Ebay fairly often. More about the 1917 rifle. In the early 1900's England started considering a replacement for the Lee Enfield. They developed the P13 rifle, chambered for an odd 276 caliber, and based on the '98 Mauser. The 276 rifles had problems with over heating and bore errosion. When WWI started the 276 idea was abandoned, and the rifle was redesigned to take the standard .303 round. Since Britain didn't have enough production capacity, they contracted with the American firms of Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone to produce the rifle now named the P14. Because of confusion of supply problems the Brits decided not to make the P14 general issue, but did use it as a sniper rifle. When America entered the war, we also didn't have enough production capacity for the 1903 rifle, so we took over the product of the P14. The rifle was redesigned to handle the 30/06 round and was renamed as the Model of 1917 rifle. Remington meanwhile, had taken over the Eddystone factory but rifles continued to be marked as Eddystone. The average WWI doughboy, including Sgt.York, was armed with the 1917, not the 1903. Most people considered the 1917 superior to the '03, as a battle rifle, and the 1917 just might be the most accurate military rifle ever issued. During the 1920's and '30's Remington made civilian models of the '17 as the Remington Model 30. Political considerations kept the '03 rifle as US standard instead of the '17, as many had recommended. During WWII the '17 was issued as training and home guard guns. Huge numbers of 1917's were sold through the DCM both before and after WWII. |
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