Questions about my "new" M1917 Enfield

FarmerLawyer · Apr 18, 2020

Noob at High Road, not a noob with firearms, but the gaps in my knowledge are huge.

Sooo ... picked up this sporterized M1917 at my local Cabela's, because I couldn't not. Between the peep sight and the obvious time and money which went into the stock, I figured that someone in its past thought it was a shooter, and I have a soft spot for bolt action battle rifles. I've only fired ten rounds through it to make sure that it wouldn't blow up, and POI at 100 yards was waaay higher than POA, which leads me to guess that it might have been zeroed at as far as 400 yards for competition purposes.My questions:

1. On Emerson sights, what does each hashmark represent in terms of MOA? I don't have a laser boresight, and I'd rather not burn a jillion rounds on the by-guess-or-by-golly method in the course of finding something close to zero at 100.

2. As you can see, it's been drilled and tapped for a scope, but there are only three holes. Any guesses as to what scope mount it was drilled for?

3. There are no bases for sling swivels, but there is a single post mounted well back on the forestock of a type I've never seen. What is it, and what's it for?

Thanks, folks.

mavracer · Apr 18, 2020

If POI is way low at 100 it'll never impact at POA. Not sure about hash marks but the detents for screw that raises/lowers sight are about 1 moa depends a little on sight radius.
My guess is It's probably drilled for Redfield one piece mount.

FarmerLawyer · Apr 18, 2020

mavracer said:
If POI is way low at 100 it'll never impact at POA. Not sure about hash marks but the detents for screw that raises/lowers sight are about 1 moa depends a little on sight radius.
My guess is It's probably drilled for Redfield one piece mount.

Oops ... transposed the two. My POA had to be off the paper, low, to get it on the paper.

FarmerLawyer · Apr 18, 2020

mavracer said:
If POI is way low at 100 it'll never impact at POA. Not sure about hash marks but the detents for screw that raises/lowers sight are about 1 moa depends a little on sight radius.
My guess is It's probably drilled for Redfield one piece mount.

Now corrected in the original post.

mavracer · Apr 18, 2020

FarmerLawyer said:
Oops ... transposed the two. My POA had to be off the paper, low, to get it on the paper.

Well that makes more sense, as it looks likes the sight is quite high.
I also apologize that not a fool proof that has micrometer adjustments it's the cheaper version. I'm afraid getting it zeroed is a bit of a PITA I have one on a lever, I will never cheap out again.

boom boom · Apr 18, 2020

A few things, congratulations on your find. Second, it came from an age where long zeros were prominent--450 yds worth with the original iron sights.

But, if you care, you can use different height front sight blades to alter the zero.

Here is an example. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Enfield-P1...tern-14-No3-Rifle-Model-of-1917-/302891641212
The 1917, P14, and No. 1, all use these slight blades, the later no. 4 and no. 5 require peening to use these blades.

Old thread about it,
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...rt-open-sights-100-yards-1917-enfield.432940/

NIGHTLORD40K · Apr 18, 2020

That stock is gorgeous!

Nice rifle, OP- and a Winchester '17 no less!

Jessesky · Apr 18, 2020

These are my guesses:

The single ‘swivel’ on the forend is for a target type hand stop or palm rest similar to on this match rifle.

The scope base is probably some variation of a Leupold or redfield JR

mustanger98 · Apr 19, 2020

FarmerLawyer said:
Noob at High Road, not a noob with firearms, but the gaps in my knowledge are huge.

Sooo ... picked up this sporterized M1917 at my local Cabela's, because I couldn't not. Between the peep sight and the obvious time and money which went into the stock, I figured that someone in its past thought it was a shooter, and I have a soft spot for bolt action battle rifles. I've only fired ten rounds through it to make sure that it wouldn't blow up, and POI at 100 yards was waaay higher than POA, which leads me to guess that it might have been zeroed at as far as 400 yards for competition purposes.My questions:

1. On Emerson sights, what does each hashmark represent in terms of MOA? I don't have a laser boresight, and I'd rather not burn a jillion rounds on the by-guess-or-by-golly method in the course of finding something close to zero at 100.

2. As you can see, it's been drilled and tapped for a scope, but there are only three holes. Any guesses as to what scope mount it was drilled for?

3. There are no bases for sling swivels, but there is a single post mounted well back on the forestock of a type I've never seen. What is it, and what's it for?
View attachment 909474
View attachment 909475
View attachment 909476 View attachment 909477
Thanks, folks.

Nice rifle.

For point #1- That's a Williams 5-D... good set-and-forget sight. You have a lot of room to lower the elevation. My advice is to bottom it out, then shoot at 25yds using a 1" dot as your aiming point. The 25yd near zero will generally put you dead on at about 250yds... about +5" at mid-range. Or, put a clay bird on the 100yd berm and walk your rounds in by the dirt splash. Either way, it won't take more than a few rounds, especially if you have someone spotting for you.

#2- From the looks of it, I agree with the comment about a Redfield JR or Leupold... it'll be a Leupold Std. They're pretty much the same base.

#3- Another comment I agree with is that appears to be a target match stock. It's pretty wood, but not my cuppa... I'd be looking for a nice walnut hunter type stock as it'd be more versatile and user friendly.

Dave DeLaurant · Apr 19, 2020

Given the high comb on this stock design, if t'were mine I'd crank down the receiver sight and mount a scope, preferably something of roughly the same vintage.

Frankly I am surprised the original sporterizer kept the military front sight -- that usually gets amputated for a commercial ramp on this kind of outfit.

jrmiddleton425 · Apr 19, 2020

It took me a minute looking at your photos, to figure out which way was "up" vs. "down" on the rear sight, but it appears to be graduated at 20 yards/meters per hashmark.

You have a LOT of room you can move it downwards. It appears to be set at the 280 yard mark.

FarmerLawyer · Apr 20, 2020

Thanks for all the thoughts, folks ... I'll never be able to know it, but drawing on your comments, I suspect what I have is a rifle that someone was setting up as a 300 meter match rifle. If that's true, the work must've been done quite a while ago, since the 300 meter discipline pretty much died out after it was dropped from the Olympics after 1972. Based on the budget sight, I suspect that s/he never made it very far up the ISSA/USA Shooting food chain, but it still makes me look forward to getting it dialed in and seeing what it'll do.

Offfhand · Apr 20, 2020

Look closely at attached pics and you will see the stock style and configuration is identical to the images posted by the OP, The only difference difference obviously being type of wood, finish and metal, It is a once popular varmint rifle design manufactured by the Reinhart Fajen co. in Mo. They were offered in a variety of woods and grades of wood, and offered finished or semi-finished. (The OP's stock appears to have been delivered simi-finished.) The high comb was intended for high-mounted varmint type scopes, like one in my pics. The semi-wide, racy-looking foreend was designed for nesting in sandbags, and is typical of the avant-guarde styling of Fajen's stocks. It was a popular style until Fajen sold out and closed. Which I recall was in the 1980 or '90's. I have more rifles with these stocks and wish I had more because the are comfortable to hold and shoot.

mustanger98 · Apr 20, 2020

FarmerLawyer said:
Thanks for all the thoughts, folks ... I'll never be able to know it, but drawing on your comments, I suspect what I have is a rifle that someone was setting up as a 300 meter match rifle. If that's true, the work must've been done quite a while ago, since the 300 meter discipline pretty much died out after it was dropped from the Olympics after 1972. Based on the budget sight, I suspect that s/he never made it very far up the ISSA/USA Shooting food chain, but it still makes me look forward to getting it dialed in and seeing what it'll do.

I'd say you're right about the previous owner's intent. There are some guys on this forum who can tell you more about 300 yd/m matches... IIRC, the National Matches still include the 300yd line.

The Williams 5-D is a good set-and-forget hunting sight to be zero'd within about 250yds. I'd put in a Twighlight aperture for that purpose. It won't give you the adjustability needed for competition, but Williams' FP-TK will. Also, the drill/tap is compatible with Lyman and Redfield.

For as little as I know about Fajen stocks, I do believe Offhand called it. I'm thinking a varmint stock should work as a match set-up. And if that forend will nest in a sandbag, it'll settle across your ruck in prone.

FarmerLawyer · Apr 24, 2020

You're a genius, Offfhand. After getting it close to zero at a hundred yards with ten rounds, during the thorough cleaning afterward, I noticed "Fajen" subtly molded into the buttplate (see below). Now, I'm thinking that this may have spent part of its life as a varmint rifle, with the iron sights added later; it seems to me that the single post just ahead of the trigger housing could be a mounting point for a tripod. But ... who knows? That's one of the problems of buying at Cabela's; this old beast (over ten pounds, btw) has a century of history that will always be lost to the sands of time.

Questions about my "new" M1917 Enfield

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