M1917 Enfield

Origins

The rifle began as a British design. Before 1914 the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield developed a new Mauser-type rifle, the Pattern 1913, in a small .276 caliber. When war came, Britain dropped the new cartridge and had the rifle made in .303 as the Pattern 1914. British factories were busy with the Lee-Enfield Rifle, so the contracts went to three plants in the United States: Winchester at New Haven, Remington at Ilion, and a large new Remington-run factory at Eddystone, Pennsylvania.

When the United States declared war in April 1917, it had only about 600,000 M1903 Springfield rifles, and the two government arsenals could not make enough for an army of millions. The British contracts were ending, and the three factories stood ready with tools and trained workers. The Ordnance Department decided to redesign the Pattern 1914 for the American .30-06 cartridge instead of tooling up the plants for the Springfield. The result was adopted as the Model of 1917.

Design & Construction

The M1917 used a strong bolt with two locking lugs at the front and a long claw extractor, in the manner of the Mauser. Unlike the Mauser and the Springfield, it cocked as the bolt was closed, a feature kept from British rifles. The bolt handle had a distinctive bent, "dog-leg" shape. Because the magazine had been designed for the fatter, rimmed .303 round, it held six .30-06 cartridges, although it was loaded with the standard five-round clip.

The rear sight was an aperture set on the receiver bridge, close to the eye, and protected by two heavy steel "ears". This gave a longer sight radius than the Springfield's barrel-mounted sight, and many soldiers found it easier to use. The sight had no adjustment for windage. The rifle was longer and heavier than the Springfield. It took a long sword bayonet, the M1917, which was closely based on the British Pattern 1913 bayonet. Early production suffered from parts that would not interchange between the three factories, a problem that was largely solved during 1917 and 1918.

Combat Use

Production ran from 1917 to 1919 and came to about 2.2 million rifles, with Eddystone making more than half. By the Armistice, roughly three-quarters of the American Expeditionary Forces in France carried the M1917. The pre-war Regular Army and Marine units mostly kept their Springfields, while the new National Army and many National Guard divisions were issued the Enfield. It was the main American rifle of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the autumn of 1918.

Corporal Alvin York of the 82nd Division, whose regiment was armed with the M1917, most likely used one in his action near Châtel-Chéhéry on 8 October 1918, together with an M1911 Pistol. Some accounts, including later family recollection, say he preferred the Springfield, and the point cannot be settled for certain.

Legacy

After the war the Army kept the Springfield as its standard rifle, partly because the arsenals were tooled for it, and put most M1917s into storage. They came out again after 1940. Large numbers were sent to Britain / United Kingdom for the Home Guard, where a red band was painted on them to warn that they did not take .303 ammunition. Others went to China and to the Philippine Army, and American artillery, mortar and training units carried the rifle early in the Second World War. Remington used the action for sporting rifles between the wars, and many surplus M1917s were later rebuilt as hunting rifles. The 1941 film Sergeant York shows its hero with a Springfield, which helped to obscure the fact that the M1917 was the rifle most Americans carried in the World War I trenches.