Weapons Maintenance and Cleaning: US Rifle Caliber .30 M-1917 "Enfield"

The M1917 Enfield, the "American Enfield", formally named "United States Rifle, cal .30, Model of 1917" is an American modification and production of the .303-inch (7.7 mm) Pattern 1914 Enfield (P14) rifle (listed in British Service as Rifle No. 3), which was developed and manufactured during the period 1917-1918. Numerically, it was the main rifle used by the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I. The Danish Sirius Dog Sled Patrol on Greenland still use the M1917, which performs reliably in Arctic conditions, as their service weapon.
When the U.S. entered the war, it had a similar need for rifles. The Springfield Armory had delivered approximately 843,000 M1903 Springfield rifles, but due to the difficulties in production, rather than re-tool the Pattern 14 factories to produce the standard U.S. rifle, the M1903 Springfield, it was realized that it would be much quicker to adapt the British design. Although it might have been faster to retain chambering for the .303 British military cartridge, the design was modified for the U.S. .30-06 Springfield cartridge to simplify ammunition logistics. The Enfield design was well-suited to the .30-06 Springfield; it was a big, strong action and was originally intended to employ a long, powerful, rimless bottlenecked cartridge. Accordingly, Remington Arms Co. altered the design for caliber .30-06 Springfield, under the close supervision of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department, which was formally adopted as the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1917. In addition to Remington's production at Ilion, New York and Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Winchester produced the rifle at their New Haven, Connecticut plant, a combined total more than twice the 1903's production, and was the unofficial service rifle. Eddystone made 1,181,908 rifles - more than the production of Remington (545,541 rifles) and Winchester (465,980 rifles) combined.[

[@joecallahan3379]

Picked up one a couple years ago from CMP, well built excellent rifle, got the 03,and Garand and the A3 also very nice group of weapons

[@pb68slab18]

I have one from each maker. All in very good condition. While not my favorite US rifle, it's just not comfortable to me, it is a very accurate and rugged rifle. I overheard one blowhard at a gun show saying they were inaccurate because they still used barrels bored and rifled for the .303 British and it's .311 bullet!

[@TimHarperW5TAH]

What are you calling astringent that you used to remove the coating on the wood stock? Acetone? Or something else? I need to do the same thing to my stock. Thank you!

[@mohawkdriver4155]

Did all your serial numbers match?

[@krandom354]

Great video. Can’t wait for the 03 Springfield one. I have one and I can’t get the trigger assembly to come outve the stock or separated from the receiver.

[@jarredstaloc4213]

Someone may have tried to glass bed it, and didn't use a release agent. Remove the bolt. Undo the two screws. Pry gently down on the trigger guard. It may require a lot of prying if it's truly seized on. Inspect in-between the stock and the barrel. Try light heat if needed.