A moment of silence, Tales of Bubba and M1917's

[OldIronFan]

14 hours ago, gregintenn said:

I know I am in the minority, but there is a soft spot in my heart for sporterized milsurp rifles. They represent a time in America where folks did what they had to to feed the family. I love ingenuity born out of necessity. 

Oh I do like a sporterized misurp myself, I just wish the work done on this one was better. It was pretty butchered, the stock is an absolute mess. 
I have heard all the tales of barrels full of $5 milsurps at the local hardware store, all rifles some of us would pay $1000 for now if we could actually find them readily available. 
I myself bought $79 SKS and $99 Mosin Nagant offerings back in the day. I sure wish I had kept those.

No surprise really that people cut off or modified stocks, drilled for scope mounts, and tossed barrel bands and bayonet lugs in the scrap pile. It sure would have been nice if Bubba had a little skill and pride in his work though. 

[Quavodus]

Could be a later modification then. Bannerman did there's kind of early on.  If you do cerrosafe, let us know what you find out. Does the bolt face seem like a "standard" .473?

[No_0ne]

21 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

My first deer rifle was a sporterized Enfield that my Papaw gave me. Dad had a scope mounted on it. 

I bought a rechambered Remington Mosin Nagant  a while back. Still gotta get time to cerrosafe the chamber. Does not seem to be 30.06, but we will see. The barrel was cut back so that nothing but Remington shows on the top rear. 

 

19 hours ago, Quavodus said:

That older M91 Mosin sounds like a Bannerman. They cut the chambers off and rechambered to .30-06. Soldered in a ring in boltface and changed extractor. did magazine modifications, etc. Look up Bannerman, interesting info.  Might not be a .30-06 but, sounds like it.

Although Bannerman is probably the most well-known "modifier" of older American made Mosin Nagants, many others performed similar work when these were being liquidated by the predecessor of the CMP for $3 each.  Some are well done and safe to shoot, others are absolute butcher jobs that should be relegated to parts guns now.  In addition, the Austrians rechambered Mosins for their 8mm ammo during WWI, and other countries used these old actions to build other variants, including Poland, China and Japan.  My bet is on a 30-06 conversion for the OP's gun, but there are other possibilities as well ...

[Sunfish]

I've seen a few of these over the years that were converted to 303 Savage and I have no idea why anyone would want to except the bore matches up  

[Mowgli Terry]

The collectors value has been totally spoiled. On the other hand this rifle may have been an unfinished project gun. The ears have been removed and the trigger guard straightened. The dog leg bolt handle is gone. Timney adjustable trigger has been added.  Those scope mounts look like vintage Redfield's. The receiver may have been contoured to match the Remington Model 30. That was done in the day.

On the upside you have a 1917 barreled action with a bunch of gunsmithing work done. The last Bubba "sportsterizsd and redid" 1917 I saw was butchered beyond salvation for anything.  From the photo's the metal on this gun looks looks descent but unfinished, 

I'm not sure some of that work is still done. The people who did that kind of work are gone. That work may have been done over fifty years ago.  No doubt the desecration is offensive to the military collector.  I'd bet from the from the photo's and information the rifle will shoot but only after check of the headspace etc. That would be also after finding out if it is still a 30-06. Unmodified, a P14 bolt fits the magnum head size. You run into these guns that are now 308 Norma Magnums.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Mowgli Terry

[Quavodus]

On 9/19/2021 at 2:55 AM, Mowgli Terry said:

The collectors value has been totally spoiled. On the other hand this rifle may have been an unfinished project gun. The ears have been removed and the trigger guard straightened. The dog leg bolt handle is gone. Timney adjustable trigger has been added.  Those scope mounts look like vintage Redfield's. The receiver may have been contoured to match the Remington Model 30. That was done in the day.

On the upside you have a 1917 barreled action with a bunch of gunsmithing work done. The last Bubba "sportsterizsd and redid" 1917 I saw was butchered beyond salvation for anything.  From the photo's the metal on this gun looks looks descent but unfinished, 

I'm not sure some of that work is still done. The people who did that kind of work are gone. That work may have been done over fifty years ago.  No doubt the desecration is offensive to the military collector.  I'd bet from the from the photo's and information the rifle will shoot but only after check of the headspace etc. That would be also after finding out if it is still a 30-06. Unmodified, a P14 bolt fits the magnum head size. You run into these guns that are now 308 Norma Magnums.

Yeah, collector value is gone but, a lot were done when they were cheap and plentiful. I remember seeing P14's rebarreled to 7mm Magnum 20 or so years ago. 

[Quavodus]

I've got a 1903/03a3, it's a hybrid I guess. Somebody built it years, ago probably from spare parts. It's a Remington 1903 action made in 1942, with a 1903a3 stock set and barrel. It's been put together really good. Headspace is fine, stock looks new, and barrel is really nice shape inside and out. It's got a Williams reciever sight and original front sight. 

[Mowgli Terry]

Back in the day Springfield parts were not uncommon. New 2 groove barrels were $2.00 . A friend was buying O3-A4 bolts to build up these rifle for his own use. Their was no plans to deceive. I still have have an O3-A3 build from a drill rifle. The stock is a $15.00 full pistol grip stock. That's then this is now.  I had gotten a used 1922 stock in good condition mail order.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Mowgli Terry
Too early in the AM to be typing a post

[faraim45]

There were a lot of 1917 Enfields sporterized back in the day when they were surplused for $17 or so. Yours actually looks nicer than many I've seen. The case hardening on the receiver was incredibly hard so it was common to spot anneal them so the non carbide bits of the day could penetrate the metal. I suspect the roughness around the forward scope base hole is a result of that. The Remington actions were the most sought after because they don't have the "bath tub" milled out on the receiver bridge between the ears. The barrels were torqued down with tremendous force and if you ever attempt to unscrew the barrel without making a relief cut where the barrel shoulder meets the receiver, you might end up cracking the receiver. Enjoy that piece of history. I'm just a little jealous!

[Quavodus]

Have you done any more work to it?

[OldIronFan]

6 minutes ago, Quavodus said:

Have you done any more work to it?

I blasted and parkerized a couple of the small parts stripped from the stock and action but nothing further. I still have not started working on the stock or the barreled action yet. 
Some house projects and two or three other firearm projects were in front of this one so I have been slow. I would like to have it done before rifle season opens though. I will need to cut and recrown at a minimum before putting it back together. The muzzle was a mess. 

I managed injure my calf bad enough that I am in an orthopedic boot for a few more weeks as well. Apparently torn calf muscles make it hard to walk, who would have guessed. 

[Quavodus]

Hope you get to feeling better soon.