Old school cool in 30-06

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Mark Mahler

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9B6471AD-7AF2-4B19-AF53-24A083877CD0.jpeg 6C6D38BD-FFA0-45FB-923C-ABF1BC04F751.jpeg 4FA9D45C-454A-4209-9188-FF4DD1FCD34F.jpeg This is my Model 1917 with the newly-mounted Lyman 4x scope. This rifle was sporterized long ago, and whoever did it knew what they were doing. The one oddity was the side mount dovetail - I couldn’t find a scope mount to attach to it, so I had my local gunsmith adapt a shotgun scope mount to do the job. I can still use the aperture sight (barely, but good enough). All in all a beautiful accurate piece of functional history.
 
Very cool old sporter. Wish it could talk. Those M17s are my favorite of the vintage rifles. They just feel SOLID. Do you have a picture of the original mount/base? I have a Redfield side mount that came off a M1917 sporter parts gun I tore down and salvaged some time ago (had been through a fire, so no candidate for any sort of firing use).
 
It is definitely a snapshot to a happy time, when milsurp M17's (and so many others) were plentiful and cheap. I like it, especially the old Lyman scope choice. Do you think it's been rebarreled, or just had a good polishing job on the original barrel's exterior?

You don't perchance have a photo of the original side mount dovetail before alteration/adaptation that you could post? Lately I've looked at a lot of different types when I was trying to find something compatible with my old Husquvarna side mount, and I (or someone here more knowledgeable) might recognize the original system. Just for grins.
 
FE5A9E4A-1DE9-4E1B-BE74-9946ED491303.jpeg
Very cool old sporter. Wish it could talk. Those M17s are my favorite of the vintage rifles. They just feel SOLID. Do you have a picture of the original mount/base? I have a Redfield side mount that came off a M1917 sporter parts gun I tore down and salvaged some time ago (had been through a fire, so no candidate for any sort of firing use).
Here’s the dovetail bracket. The gunsmith just drilled and tapped 2 holes in it to attach the new mount.
I’m pretty sure that the barrel has been replaced - no marks of any kind and the rifling is pretty crisp. I’m hitting 1 1/2” groups at 100 yds, so for an old dog she gets the job done.
 
View attachment 945081
Here’s the dovetail bracket.

Very cool -- quite a streamlined design. And I'm stumped.

On sidemounts, you usually see the dovetail rail positioned on the top instead of the side, since the 9 o'clock position can require more stock clearance. Reminds me a tiny bit of the ZF-41 side mount for the K98k rear sight in that respect.

I can say it's not any of the usual mounts by Husqvarna, Echo, G&H, Jaeger, Weaver, Noske, Niedner, Sedgley, William English or Akah.
 
Looks similar, but not identical to the Redfield marked side mount base that was on my parts rifle. Redfield was marked on the rifle side, and it appeared to have been altered from another model of rifle by file and grinder to fit the M1917. I'll do some digging in the garage tomorrow and see if I still have the ring mounts that went with it. The ring mounts were set up to clear the receiver bridge with the scope offset left and allow for stripper clip use.
 
View attachment 945081
Here’s the dovetail bracket. The gunsmith just drilled and tapped 2 holes in it to attach the new mount.
I’m pretty sure that the barrel has been replaced - no marks of any kind and the rifling is pretty crisp. I’m hitting 1 1/2” groups at 100 yds, so for an old dog she gets the job done.

From what I can see those look like Redfield target sight bases used to mount front sights such as this one:
50387564998_9ddef3201c_z.jpg
There is a thumb screw hidden by my thumb that clamps the sight to the base.

They also were used with the external micrometer rings as used on Unertl, Lyman and other target scopes. I've never seen a regular solid scope ring used in conjunction with these bases but they are similar in function to Weaver or picatinny rings, but a narrower dovetail.

Regards,
hps
 
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I bought a Winchester 1917 that had been sporterized from one of my former bosses who was liquidating all his stuff to pay a divorce attorney. (I missed out on the M1Carbine paratroop Model by ten minutes :() The person who customized yours did a much nicer job on that specimen than the one I had. Other than stock mods like a refinish, a recoil pad and cutting it short at the barrel band, and then drilling/tapping for scope mounts, it wasn’t altered much at all.

I put a nice Weaver 4X on it... never fired it... sold it for more than I had into it to pay for a car repair.

It was one of the few guns I had and never shot that I regret selling. Im glad to see you are out there using yours :thumbup:.

Stay safe.
 
Look close at the bolt handle. Rather than the normal dog-leg, it has been nicely trimmed to a rather more graceful shape.
WOW! I hadn't noticed the bolt handle - that's the sort of subtle tweaks that increase the functionality of the weapon. "Form follows function".
 
Can you reach the scope well enough with that low stock?

super cool rifle
I was concerned about that - I've been looking at copying the wooden cheek piece that they used on the Enfield sniper rifles, and I've picked up one of those reproduction leather cheek pieces for the M1D Garand. Today at the range zeroing the weapon, I realized that I don't need either. The scope is low enough that I don't think I'll need anything.
 
I look at it, and I see a gun that's too far gone to restore to its original military configuration. This makes me profoundly sad.
 
I look at it, and I see a gun that's too far gone to restore to its original military configuration. This makes me profoundly sad.
I get that - I love all the military rifles and wouldn’t dream of altering one myself.
Truth be told, I also love the military rifles that were sporterized back in the postwar era. It could be said that the first “sporterized “ American military rifle was the 1903 Springfield that President Roosevelt had the Springfield Armory make for him. He saw a solidly built, accurate rifle and also saw its potential as a civilian hunting rifle. So did a lot of GIs who loved these rifles and thanks to the government selling them as surplus they could afford them.
Should original vintage military rifles be chopped up in this day and age? Of course not. That being said, I’ll treasure this piece of history till my dying day.
 
I get that - I love all the military rifles and wouldn’t dream of altering one myself.
Truth be told, I also love the military rifles that were sporterized back in the postwar era. It could be said that the first “sporterized “ American military rifle was the 1903 Springfield that President Roosevelt had the Springfield Armory make for him. He saw a solidly built, accurate rifle and also saw its potential as a civilian hunting rifle. So did a lot of GIs who loved these rifles and thanks to the government selling them as surplus they could afford them.
Should original vintage military rifles be chopped up in this day and age? Of course not. That being said, I’ll treasure this piece of history till my dying day.
That in itself shows a sea-change in attitude -- which is a good thing. I came of age in the 1950's - 60's, when sporterizing surplus guns was all the rage. The American Rifleman even ran articles on sporterizing M1 Garands, of all things. Nobody would do that now.
 
I'm another one that grew up drooling over sporterized mil-surp guns. Although I'd never do that to one now I still can't stop drooling over guns like that one, that were done nicely and by someone that obviously knew their craft vs. some of the Bubba specials that are still around. Thanks for all the pictures. It's a beauty.
 
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