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View Full Version : restoring an oddball



jakebrake
07-25-2012, 06:03 PM
in a toolshed at my parents, ran across a rather solid p1917. anyone ever restore one of these? looks none the worse for wear ( let's be honest. it lived in a damp hell for 50 years or so.) stock is solid bore looked decent after the wasp nest came out. action works. figure, why not?

just trying to figure out how to test fire it when i'm done.

Helen Keller
07-25-2012, 06:20 PM
If it wasnt exposed to fire I wouldnt be too worried about test firing.

mrkalashnikov
07-25-2012, 07:21 PM
Whenever restoring any of these old warhorses from the Great War or WWII remember...less is more.

You have a valuable piece of US history there, in 30-06 no less. Just cleaning the barrel and receiver well with a good solvent...cleaning the wood stock with pure gum turpentine to remove the decades of gunk and hand oil...then going over all the metal parts with gun oil...should be enough restoration to that P1917 Enfield.

Many great war doughboys considered your rifle superior to the more well-known and storied '03 Springfield. :anim_beer-1:

jakebrake
07-25-2012, 08:53 PM
well, the bluing is non-existent at this point, to be honest.

Schuetzenman
08-14-2012, 09:51 PM
well, the bluing is non-existent at this point, to be honest.

Well if it has no blueing really there's not much harm you can do as long as you don't go pimptastic on it and have it nickle or gold plated. Try some Oxpho Blue Paste from Brownell's. They are a sponsor of Gunsnet. I've used it and it is quite a nice easy to do blue and it is durable.

Infidel
10-05-2013, 10:38 PM
You do have a nice piece, even if it doesn't have it's blueing. If you ever saw Sgt. York, they erroneously put a Springfield in his hands. In actuality it was an Enfield. I can kick myself for not picking one up years ago. I have a Garand (WW2), and two Krags (Spanish-American), but I'm missing the Great War veteran. And, the prices have certainly skyrocketed.
Enjoy shooting your find! They are a blast to shoot, literally. Just don't torment too many noobies with it, we need all the shooters we can muster.