In the years after World War Two when the Austrian Army began looking for new sniper rifles, one of their experiments was to use available M1917 rifles and M73B1 scopes (from M1903A4 sniper rifles). The scopes fit onto the M1917 rifles very well, and offered a basically cost-free option for new sniper weapons, albeit one using .30-06 ammunition and relatively low-powered optic. Only a handful of these were made, and there was never a formal test performed or manual written.
Bolt Action Rifles
Steyr M30S Prototype: A Repurposed WW1 Improved Mauser
This rifle, as best I can tell, is a prototype model made by Steyr in Switzerland in the early 1930s for use in Hungarian military trials. The Hungarians were looking to replace their old 1895 […]
Conversion
Schwarzlose HMG Converted to 8x57mm by Romania
This transferrable Schwarzlose HMG is being sold at Morphys on October 30, 2018. The Schwarzlose 07/12 was made through the wolf of World War One as the standard heavy machine gun of the Austro-Hungarian armed […]
Conversion
RIA: Steyr-Hahn Pistol Variations
The Steyr-Hahn is one of the less glamorized pistols used in WWI, despite being made in quite large numbers (250,000-313,000, depending on who you read). The gun is an interesting mix of features, including bits […]
That’s a good looking rifle. A very well done and useful modification.
There have only been three guns that “got away” from me.
The one that I highly doubt I’ll ever see again was the very well done sporterizrd M1917 in .300 H&H.
Saw it at a gun shop/range outside of Ft. Benning when I was an E5. $500 was a very fair price but more than my disposable income at that moment. The next pay period when I went back it was gone.
The M1917 has got to hold some sort of record for long-term service after the military which adopted it (apparently, against their will…) deliberately and with malice aforethought abandoned it.
I mean, it soldiers on to this day as the primary individual weapon of the Sirius Patrol, and had extensive international use after the US decided it wasn’t quite good enough to make the primary issue weapon.
Which, when you think about it, is simultaneously very impressive as well as just plain weird.
On top of that, it’s a somewhat awkward and ill-loved rifle. Even the guy I know best for carrying one on all his elk hunts down the years was pretty disdainful of his, but it was the rifle that he took out, every year, while leaving all of his other lovelies in the safe…
In 2024, I was shooting a match at Talladega and the store had some M1917s for sale. The LOP on all of them was entirely too short for me. Now, either my arms have grown significantly since I was a sergeant; or the fella who did that gun put a new stock on it way back when.
But I was some what miffed at how poorly it shouldered as issued.
Obviously a well made gun but not set up to be a shooter for me.
If that was the CMP store, some of those might have been bring-backs from the Philippines. I was told that a bunch of those had cut-down stocks because the standard ones were too big for the Filipino troops…
Gun-show rumor, that. Provenance unknown, your mileage may vary, and all the rest. The guy I got that from had a bunch of them, and was selling the standard stock with them as a kit. Not quite clear where he got them from, because it wasn’t CMP.
“(…)LOP(…)”
What is this?
‘Length of pull.’
Distance from butt to trigger
A measurement of the length from the butt pad to the trigger.
A good way to test fit is to sit the butt pad in the crook of your shooting arm and see where your hand falls on the stock.
Why not just put the butt to your shoulder like you were going to fire the rifle? I am not being sarcastic. I just don’t see the advantage to the way you mention. I imagine some folks get nervous seeing a weapon shouldered and finger on trigger. But they are scarce in gun shops
Love to see Henry over at 9 Holes review test this rifle.
First rifle I ever owned was the M1917. Got it when I was 15. Still own it. Shoots very well, but had to learn how to shoot before finding that out.
One odd thing, it is zeroed for 300yds. Never messed around with trying to bring it down but, once you adjusted your dope, you were fine.
I have a similar rifle. Mine was a post war sporterization with a home made Mannlicher stock that caused accuracy problems because the nose cap restrained the muzzle as the barrel heated and caused bowing. The barrel was also shortened a few inches. I bought a cut down 1917 stock at a gun show for $15 and now it’s a fantastically accurate rifle. Yes the low power scope limits it but you still get a better aiming system than two iron sights. For what I have into it it’s a great rifle to shoot.