Warhorse project part 2-M1917

[herrwalther]

I bought an Eddystone M1917 back in January as a project.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/new-to-me-warhorse.915138/#post-12527942

I Parkerized the receiver and barrel, left the other small parts alone. Stripped, cleaned, and refinished the stock. The rifle looks great, but I think I have a problem. I put in some 30-06 snap caps to test feeding and whatnot. The rounds do not extract and thus eject. They stay in the chamber unless I dump them out. Does the same with a live round. Am I missing something or is this how they are supposed to work and only extract when the round expands against the bolt?

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Definitely not normal!

It could be the lighting, but Im not seeing the extractor....are you sure its present and what does the claw look like?

M1917s are known for broken ejector springs, but of course, we have to have extraction first.

 

[herrwalther]

It could be the lighting, but Im not seeing the extractor....are you sure its present and what does the claw look like?

Extractor is there. Big and long along the bolt. I am not sure what the claw portion is supposed to look like.

 

[Bwana John]

I couldn’t see the extractor in the first pictures, but on the new pic of the bolt it appears to have no claw.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Are you sure its still chambered in .30-06? If its been rechambered, the '06 cartridges may not be headspacing correctly, preventing the extractor claw from snapping over the case rim.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Its there, but looks broken to me.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

You should be able to slide a cartridge into the extractor and have it hold it under tension to the bolt face, as the '17 is a controlled feed gun.

 

[Bwana John]

Do you know how much this rifle would be worth if some Bubba didn’t desecrate it? (I’m so ashamed)

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Supposed to look like this-

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Do you know how much this rifle would be worth if some Bubba didn’t desecrate it? (I’m so ashamed)

Clean as-issued Eddystones in my area are going for $900-1300. Winchesters command a considerable premium.

 

[herrwalther]

M1917s are known for broken ejector springs, but of course, we have to have extraction first.

I read up on that. Surprisingly, this rifle has the original ejector as far as I can tell. Leaf ejector spring, not coil.

Are you sure its still chambered in .30-06?

I hope it is. Barrel is still stamped 30-06 so I am trusting it for the moment.

This is a new picture of the bolt and what is left of the extractor against a snap cap. It most certainly is broken. I would not have caught this if I didn't try using snap caps first. As I don't know what the extractor is supposed to look like.

Do you know how much this rifle would be worth if some Bubba didn’t desecrate it? (I’m so ashamed)

I wish this rifle wasn't bubbad but I plan on keeping it as original as possible as a good hunting rifle. This rifle was a steal even if it is sporterized/bubbad. It came with a scope that I may or may not be replacing.

Thankfully Numrich has extractors in stock for about 40 bucks. Big thanks everyone.

 

[dieselchief]

any brass that measures less than .468 on the rim will not eject from one of my crf guns. a bunch of brass i had measured .462

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

FYI, the P14/M1917 is a Mauser-type controlled feed action, which means it's designed to catch the rim under the extractor claw as the cartridge is fed from the magazine. When you place a single round in the chamber and close the bolt, the extractor must flex to go around it.

Some Mauser bolts simply won't close when you try this, but even when they do the extractor claw can often have a shorter life if you make a habit of it.

 

[gotboostvr]

FYI, the P14/M1917 is a Mauser-type controlled feed action, which means it's designed to catch the rim under the extractor claw as the cartridge is fed from the magazine. When you place a single round in the chamber and close the bolt, the extractor must flex to go around it.

Some Mauser bolts simply won't close when you try this, but even when they do the extractor claw can often have a shorter life if you make a habit of it.

More likely than not that's what caused the death of this extractor.

They're pretty robust when used as designed. I know beveling the extractor to help it snap over the rim supposedly helps, but it's easier and still gentler for the firearm to just feed from the magazine as intended.

 

[Slamfire]

The claw!













All of these rifles were designed to feed from the magazine. About 50% of the Mauser 98 rifles are magazine feed only, that was to prevent double feeds. I think it resulted in enough broken extractors, that the extractor claw was rounded, such as in the Dumoulin Mauser, to allow the user to drop a round in the chamber.

A bud picked this up at the range, and we puzzled over what could cause this






Then the light bulb went off, and we decided this was a magazine only Mauser extractor that someone absolutely beat to hell trying to close the bolt on a round placed in the chamber. The claw is missing. We also think once the user found the claw broken off, ripped the extractor body off his bolt, and tossed it on the ground in disgust.

I am going to say, regardless of whether you have a controlled round feed action, or a push feed action, always feed from the magazine. If you have a controlled round feed claw extractor rifle, it is only a matter of time till the extractor breaks from having to snap over a cartridge rim.

Sometimes the owner is over a barrel. I have a very early Ruger tang safety M77. Ruger made a faux controlled round feed extractor. It looks like a Mauser, but it is not. It is, in fact, a push feed extractor.



This extractor has to stretch each and every time it snaps over a cartridge rim. And in time, they will all break. And I think Ruger stopped making these decades ago.

This is a later M77 extractor



While it is 100% better to only feed from the magazine with this Ruger M77 extractor, you can place a round in the chamber and close the bolt. But do that enough times, and the extractor will break.

This is an example of an early push feed extractor. The extractor has to snap over the cartridge rim.




A push feed extractor will wear out in time, some break, it is just the nature of the beast. Because they are designed to flex, they will generally last a long time. This is an AR15 push feed extractor. The extractor has to snap over the rim.



But Stoner designed it to pivot. That pin in the middle is a fulcrum, the extractor is spring loaded at the end. This extractor will teeter totter as it snaps over a cartridge rim, so what wears on one of these, is the claw. The claw eventually will wear due to mechanical abrasion and then cartridges won't extract.



That M1917, it is best fed from the magazine. I had a round jump in front of a M1903 bolt face, during rapid fire. While the M1903 was designed to allow a cartridge to be placed in the chamber, and the bolt closed, the claw broke. Bummer.

 

[herrwalther]

FYI, the P14/M1917 is a Mauser-type controlled feed action,

Whole reason I bought this rifle. But it is my first controlled feed rifle so wasn't sure if I was missing something different compared to push feed. Turns out I was missing something, the whole edge of the extractor. I would have much preferred a pre-64 Winchester 70. But those are quite more expensive. So I got a German rifle by way of England, made in America.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Whole reason I bought this rifle. But it is my first controlled feed rifle so wasn't sure if I was missing something different compared to push feed. Turns out I was missing something, the whole edge of the extractor. I would have much preferred a pre-64 Winchester 70. But those are quite more expensive. So I got a German rifle by way of England, made in America.

Well-built in America -- check out the first part of this video to see what wartime factory production used to look like: