Merc
03-21-2016, 06:53
I added my early (Ser. No. 65030) M'17 Winchester to my collection of military rifles in late January and really enjoyed firing it today for the first time at a 12 inch circular target at 50 yards (oops-edited down from 100 yards) using the lowest possible ladder sight setting and shooting from a rack. (1'll see how well I do at 100 yards next time.).
I fired 7 rounds without compensating for elevation or windage with the ladder sight bottomed out and all bullets hit the target where I was aiming. Not bad for the first time out with a 98 year old battle rifle and shooting the old boy at a target that I could barely see. Nice to see that no adjustments to the front end of the barrel/stock are needed.
So now, the only non-W parts that are still installed on the M'17 W are the E bolt, E bolt stop spring and R bolt stop spring rest.
A lot has been written about the parts interchangeability issues that kept the early M'17s from being sent to Europe. Only those made after 1/18 were permitted which probably accounts for the like-new condition of my M'17 that was made in November, 1917.
I therefore find it really interesting that nearly every major part in my M'17 W was stamped either E or R when I bought it. All these "foreign" parts fit and worked well.
The only non-interchangeable part I've found so far was the striker assembly from a W bolt that would not thread into an E bolt body for some reason.
Has anyone had similar parts issue encounters?
Merc
I fired 7 rounds without compensating for elevation or windage with the ladder sight bottomed out and all bullets hit the target where I was aiming. Not bad for the first time out with a 98 year old battle rifle and shooting the old boy at a target that I could barely see. Nice to see that no adjustments to the front end of the barrel/stock are needed.
So now, the only non-W parts that are still installed on the M'17 W are the E bolt, E bolt stop spring and R bolt stop spring rest.
A lot has been written about the parts interchangeability issues that kept the early M'17s from being sent to Europe. Only those made after 1/18 were permitted which probably accounts for the like-new condition of my M'17 that was made in November, 1917.
I therefore find it really interesting that nearly every major part in my M'17 W was stamped either E or R when I bought it. All these "foreign" parts fit and worked well.
The only non-interchangeable part I've found so far was the striker assembly from a W bolt that would not thread into an E bolt body for some reason.
Has anyone had similar parts issue encounters?
Merc