Eddystone 1917 ID Marks

[Slugz]

Team,

Looking for some help to tell the story about this gun. I used to have a book but cant find it now. I think the inspector marks are the K2 and K4. Also confused with the made in England stamp, E for Eddystone on the barrel end and Eddystone label. I though this whole hing was made in the US at the Baldwin Locomotive works in Pennsylvania. Any help or links to publications and or stories is appreciated. Just mainly wanting to ID each stamp and what it means. Thanks

 

[Musket Man]

What Caliber is it? Winchester, Remington and Eddystone all produced the 1917 Enfield. The ones produced for the US in WWI were 30-06 but they were also made in 303 British for the UK.

 

[Slugz]

What Caliber is it? Winchester, Remington and Eddystone all produced the 1917 Enfield. The ones produced for the US in WWI were 30-06 but they were also made in 303 British for the UK.

Great question. I assumed it was 30-06. Will find out

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Based on the serial #, it was made in 1918. It is probably .303 British, if it was 30-06 it should be stamped on the receiver ring .30 Cal., especially since it is stamped "Made in Britain".

 

[Slugz]

Based on the serial #, it was made in 1918. It is probably .303 British, if it was 30-06 it should be stamped on the receiver ring .30 Cal., especially since it is stamped "Made in Britain".

Yes sir. I got June 18 on the barrell also and a serial number check ( I think from my research) confirms that. I'm doing a lot of reading and it would appear it may have been re worked and re barreled at some point also based upon all the stamps......but still not close to figuring that answer......Im able to ID the stamps one by one with research on the internet.....however it gets really fuzzy one thee rifles were reworked......who knows.....something interesting to do while waiting on the turkey opener!

 

[libidilatimmy]

Interesting rifle for sure. So the receiver was made in the US most likely meaning it was originally a 30-06 if the entire rifle was produced in the US. I'm not positive, but I think that we were supplying some actions to the British to manufacture some of their rifles as well to keep their troops armed. No doubt that the barrel is of English production, making me lean towards it being chambered in 303. I'd just have a gunsmith take a look at it, he could probably tell you in a couple minutes what it actually is.

 

[libidilatimmy]

Something I just thought about how you could narrow it down a little, if you can jimmy a pair of calipers into the receiver, is that you could use the depth end of the caliper to get a rough measurement from the face of the chamber to where the shoulder cut starts. The 30-06 is the longer cartridge and this measurement would be in the ballpark of 1.9XX", while the 303 would have this measurement in the ballpark of 1.7XX".

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

During the early part of WWI, the British had a shortage of small arms and we had a surplus. The Enfields were sent to Britain and their standard smokeless round was the .303. This is why they rebarreled them. The US never used the .303 because we felt that the .30-06 was a better round. It is also not good to have mixed calibers in use by your troops.

This is a great collector military small arm.

 

[Slugz]

Well......this all started cause I was doing the annual bore cleaning of all guns this week.....I'm thinking now I may hold off on the investigation until next winter....and start it earlier in the winter So after tearing it down to parade rest and looking at each piece and stamp.....it would appear I may have a gun that was reworked maybe more than once. I have a barrel from England with a US Armory globe stamp on it, 3-4 different inspection stamps on it, 3 eagle stamps, pretty much an even split of parts with R, W and E stamps on them and a what appears to be a correct stock and butt plate minus the stamps though. Interesting to say the least. The gun was given to me by a fellow service member 15 some odd years ago when he had to take orders overseas. He said just to keep it cause he knew I would take care of it.

 

[Musket Man]

I have one made by Remington that is a 30-06 that is not marked anywhere. It has been sporterized and re barreled at some point. I would guess its a 303 by the marks and made in england in the barrel. A 30-06 will not fit in a 303 chamber and the 30-06 case head would be very loose in the bolt if it is a 303

 

[Manualman]

I would ask on the CMP site, somebody there must know

 

[Sawfish]

I would ask on the CMP site, somebody there must know

Or on the milsurp website. The Enfields barreled for .303 British are P-14 Enfields. The ones barreled for 30/06 are P-17 Enfields. The "P" refers to pattern i.e. Pattern 14. Both P-14 and P-17 Enfields are sometimes referred to as U.S. Enfields (made in the U.S.) to differentiate them from the British made Lee Enfields.

http://www.milsurps.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111&

http://www.jouster.com/forums/showthread.php?57168-P-14-Enfield&