Available from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Model-Rifle-Americas-Enfield/dp/1931464928
Available from the publisher, Mowbray:
https://gunandswordcollector.com/product/us-model-1917-rifle-canfield/
Bruce Canfield is one of the most prolific and prominent authors on American military small arms today, with a bunch of excellent works in print. He has now tackled the Model 1917 Enfield rifle, the most common American rifle of World War One and yet a weapon not well covered by previous books. In this new book, Canfield covers its development form the British Pattern 1914, production and use in the US during World War One, interwar storage and refurbishment, World War Two use by both the US and allies, and post-war disposal of the rifles. He also covers a variety of accessories including bayonets, grenade launchers, slings, sniper models, and more.
This is definitely the best single book available on the M1917, although admittedly that isn’t a high bar to clear. However, it is a book that definitely reinforces Canfield’s reputation as a go-to authority on American martial small arms.
Woohoo!
According to a retired USMC Gunnery Seargent ” The Rifle is The Pattern 1917 Enfield Caliber 30 Cartridge of 1906.”
At around 3:47 there are references to production during “world war two” which must certainly be a mis-speaking (they were issued later in ww2 but not produced, I think.)
I’m tempted
I was reading Brophy’s Krag book yesterday:p
I’m guessing that the whole behind the scenes politics behind the change over from British to American contracts could be very interesting
I gather that the British authorities were not entirely happy with the P14 contractors performance and quality standards.
nor were the British forces particularly happy with the long heavy awkward brute of a rifle (and I don’t think that the .303 ever fed particularly reliably from it), especially compared to the SMLE.
Did Remington ilion and Remington eddystone belonged to the Du Pont family at that point?
it looked like the British government (and JP Morgan as their finanacier and agent in America) were about to dump the contractors in the shit
I wonder what conversations were happening behind the scenes, and what court intrigues were taking place?
“too big to fail” etc.
At least we did get Colvin and Viall’s book as a detailed record of the manufacture of the M1903 at Springfield, before the idea of expanding manufacture of the ’03 was dropped in favour of taking over the “Enfield” contracts.
on the subject of where M1917 rifles and their bits showed up after WW1
The 1917 based Remington sporting rifles are actually supposed to be pretty good, which is a surprise.
Stuart Otteson reports that for a long period of time, Ruger was adapting 1917 extractors to use them on their sullivan designed M77 line of bolt action sporting rifles.
Arthur Alphin, of “A Square”, used Enfield actions as the basis of his sporting rifles, for the big African cartridges.
I am very sorry to learn that the author has decided for his M1917 book to leave out the detailed information, which makes his M1 Garand book such a real outstanding, most valuable work.