Posted on 10/26/2010 5:18:44 PM PDT by redbaiter
Early Winchester M1 carbines were going for 1300 or more at the Washington gun show last Sat.
A little bit of a correction... the M1917 is the .30-06 version of the P-14 Enfield in .303, both which were used in WWI along with the SMLE and ‘03. The P-14 and M1917 were Mauser based actions, not based on the Lee action.
In WWII, the standard British arms were the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE aka No1 Mk III) and the No.4 Mk I, which began seeing action in ‘41/’42.
Sorry to nitpick :-)
You trust the 1915 more than a Remington 700? Which by the way, is considered to be THE strongest and safest bolt action ever built. It also has the best safety record, the most accurate and is widely used in tournaments for all of the above reasons.
If you think the ‘03 is safest in any form, just ask my uncle who now has only one eye. He was firing his ‘03 at the range and the cocking piece came flying out of the back of the bolt. The gases and steel fragments blinded him. The cocking piece may have killed him if it had hit him.
He was shooting factory ammunition.(Federal) The ‘03 is considered a dangerous design and has accounted for countless incidents of this type. I don’t care what year it was made in. It is still a very dangerous and crude design.
I’m gonna make a bet here.
I’m betting your uncles gun WAS NOT one of the so-called “low numbered” weapons. (ie, SN greater than 800,000)
Those are a very fair market price for what appears to be a very nicely restored rifle.
That’s what I’m talking about!
Thanks. I knew as soon as I reviewed what the M1917 looked like that it WAS NOT like the SMLE. Still a darned decent rifle. I believe that it was the rifle Sgt. Alvin C. York used in WWI and was impressed at how accurate it was.
Yep, that’s the rifle he used, along with a G.I. 1911, although the movie shows him using a Luger (only because they couldn’t get the blanks to cycle right in the 1911). I have an M1917 myself, along with a couple of SMLEs, No.4 MkI, and a few K98s. Sadly, no ‘03 though......yet.
The greatest rifle match ever.
http://www.bobrohrer.com/sea_stories/end_of_an_era.pdf
Read this and you will understand the reverence for the 1903.
I’m not a bolt gun guy myself. I like the Garand.
Got two of those too. lol
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