M1917 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 Pattern 1914 Enfield rifle, 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 in Greenland still use the M1917, which performs reliably in Arctic conditions, as their service weapon.
History
Before World War I, the British had the Short Magazine Lee–Enfield as their main rifle. Compared to the German Mausers or U.S. 1903 Springfield, the SMLE's.303 rimmed cartridge, originally a black powder cartridge, was ill-suited for feeding in magazine or belt-fed weapons and the SMLE was thought to be less accurate than its competition at longer ranges. The long-range accuracy of the German 7×57mm Mauser Model 1895 in the hands of Boer marksmen during the Boer War made an impression on the British Army, and a more powerful, modern rifle was desired. Thus, even though improved Lee–Enfield variants and.303 British Mark VII ammunition with pointed projectiles entered service after the Boer War in 1910, a committee was formed to develop an entirely new design of rifle and cartridge. The starting point was to copy many of the features of the Mauser system. The rifle was developed at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in the United Kingdom.This development named the Pattern 1913 Enfield or P13, included a front locking, dual lug bolt action with Mauser type claw extractor as well as a new, powerful rimless.276 Enfield cartridge. The design carried over a Lee–Enfield type safety at the rear of the action and a bolt that cocked on closing to ease unlocking of the bolt during rapid fire. An advanced design, for the era, of aperture rear sight and a long sight radius were incorporated to maximize accuracy potential. Ease of manufacture was also an important criterion. However, the onset of World War I came too quickly for the UK to put it into production before the new cartridge could be perfected, as it suffered from overheating in rapid fire and bore fouling.
As it entered World War I, the UK had an urgent need for rifles, and contracts for the new rifle were placed with arms companies in the United States. They decided to ask these companies to produce the new rifle design in the old.303 British chambering for convenience of ammunition logistics. The new rifle was termed the "Pattern 14". In the case of the P14 rifle, Winchester and Remington were selected. A third manufacturer, Eddystone Arsenal – a subsidiary of Remington – was tooled up at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Thus, three variations of the P14 and M1917 exist, labeled "Winchester," "Remington" or "Eddystone".
World War I
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 and Winchester combined.Although standardization with interchangeable parts was intended, early Winchester rifles used slightly differing parts, causing interchangeability issues with the rifles produced by Remington and Eddystone until Winchester corrected the problem in later production.
Design changes were few; the stripper clip feed, internal box magazine, bolt face, chamber and rifling dimensions were altered to suit the.30-06 Springfield cartridge and the US pattern 5-round stripper clips, the stock was slightly redesigned, lightening it somewhat, and the volley fire sights on the left side of the weapon were deleted. The markings were changed to reflect the model and caliber change. A 16.5-inch blade bayonet, the M1917 bayonet was produced for use on the rifle; it was later used on several other small arms including the M97 and M12 trench shotguns.
The new rifle was used alongside the M1903 Springfield, and quickly surpassed the Springfield design in numbers produced and units issued. By November 11, 1918, about 75% of the AEF in France were armed with M1917s.
An M1917 Enfield rifle was used by Sergeant Alvin C. York on October 8, 1918, during the event for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, as the U.S. 82nd Division's official history states the division had been issued the M1917, then replaced them with the No 1 Mk III Lee-Enfield while training with the British in the north of France, then were reissued M1917 rifles. According to his diary, Sergeant York also used a Colt M1911 semi-automatic pistol on that day.
After the armistice, most M1917 rifles were placed in storage, although Chemical Mortar units continued to be issued them. During the 1920s and 1930s, many M1917 rifles were released for civilian use through the NRA, or were sold as surplus. Many were "sporterized", sometimes including rechambering to more powerful magnum hunting cartridges, such as.300 H&H Magnum and.300 Winchester Magnum. It was so popular as a sporting weapon that Remington manufactured about 30,000 new rifles as the Model 30 from 1921 to 1940. In 1934, Honduras procured a version of the rifle chambered for 7×57mm known as Model 1934.
World War II
At the time of the American entry into World War II, the U.S. Army was still issuing the M1917 to chemical mortarmen. Perhaps due to M1 Garand shortages at the start of the war, the M1917 was also issued to artillerymen, and both mortarmen and artillerymen carried the M1917 in North Africa. Lieutenant Colonel Charles E. Peterson, a Major in the 101st Airborne in the Normandy action, reported seeing some M1917 rifles issued to rear-echelon U.S. troops in France during World War II. Other M1917 rifles were issued to the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Constabulary. After the fall of the Philippines, M1917 rifles were used by Japanese police forces as well as by U.S. and Filipino soldiers with the local guerrillas before the liberation of the Philippines. These rifles were also used by the Hukbalahap.Before and during World War II, stored rifles were reconditioned for use as reserve, training and Lend-Lease weapons; these rifles are identified by having refinished metal and sometimes replacement wood. Some of these rifles were reconditioned with new bolts manufactured by the United Shoe Machinery Company that were stamped “USMC,” leading to the mistaken impression these were United States Marine Corps rifles. Many were bought by the United Kingdom through the British Purchasing Commission for use by the Home Guard; 615,000 arrived in Britain in the summer of 1940, followed by a further 119,000 in 1941. These were prominently marked with a red paint stripe around the stock to avoid confusion with the earlier P14 that used the British.303 round. Others were supplied to the Nationalist Chinese forces, to indigenous forces in the China-Burma-India theater, to Filipino soldiers under the Philippine Army and Constabulary units and the local guerrilla forces and to the Free French Army, which can occasionally be seen in wartime photographs. The M1917 was also issued to the Local Defence Force of the Irish Army during World War II, these were part-time soldiers akin to the British Home Guard. In an ironic reversal of names, in Irish service the M1917 was often referred to as the "Springfield"; presumably since an "Enfield" rifle was assumed to be the standard Irish MkIII Short Magazine Lee–Enfield, while "Springfield" was known to be an American military arsenal. The M1917 was also utilized by multiple state defense forces as issued weapons to guard critical infrastructure against saboteurs and to maintain peacekeeping duties due to the absence of the National Guard. The Georgia State Defense Corps was one of the organizations that predominantly utilized the rifle.
As with all belligerents, Canada entered the Second World War short of small arms to equip its expanding military. 80,000 M1917s, designated “Rifle, Enfield.30/06,” were purchased in July 1940, along with 5,000,000 rounds of.30-06 ammunition. A further 20,000 were purchased in 1941. They were initially allotted to Canadian Army Basic and Advanced Training Centres, the Royal Military College of Canada and Canadian Army units. They would also be issued to the Veterans Guard of Canada, the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The M1917 would fill a critical role in Canada's war effort, freeing.303-calibre weapons for front-line use or to be supplied to the UK after Dunkirk, when Canada provided 75,000 Ross Mark III rifles beginning on 22 May 1940.
The M1917 was supplied to both Denmark and Norway after WWII as an interim weapon prior to the arrival of the M1 Garand.