Charles R. Stratton continues his very successful series on collectible British military rifles with the little understood, but widely available Pattern 1914 and U.S. Model of 1917 Rifles.
Often called the "American Enfield," the Pattern 1914 in .303 caliber was the only British military rifle ever built wholly in the United States even though it was designed by the engineers at Enfield Arsenal. The U.S. Model 1917 was the same rifle, but rechambered for the American .30-06 cartridge. Over 1.2 million Pattern 1914 rifles and 2.5 million Model 1917 rifles were built during World War I by three American companies, Winchester, Remington and Eddystone. More American soldiers, including Sergeant Alvin York, were armed with the Model 1917 Enfield than with the Model 1903 Springfield.
The Model 1917 Enfield has long been a favorite American collectible. Over the years, it has been sporterized for hunting and restored for collecting by thousands of shooters. Parts are commonly available and many P-14 parts are interchangeable with M1917 parts, making it quite easy to return a given rifle to original condition.
As in the previous two volumes, Mr. Stratton has provided a detailed description of each rifle on a part by part basis and noted whether or not the particular part is interchangeable between the two models. He provides a series of charts and explanations for the markings, codes and inspection stamps that appear on each part and tells how to determine which were originally manufactured for the P-14 or the M1917. He also provides a complete history of the rifle's development and use in both World War I and World War II. Also a complete description of the two sniper rifle variations of the P-14 that were fielded in both wars, the Pedersen device developed for the M1917, and the accessories that were issued with the rifle to soldiers of both countries, including ammunition belts, bayonets, tools and cleaning equipment. Separate appendixes provide an exploded view and nomenclature, production statistics, ammunition descriptions and sporting rifle derivations.
The demand for this book has been so great that the author and publisher decided to skip over Volume 3 in the series which will deal with the original "Long Lee" rifle for the time being. Volume 4, The Pattern 1914 and U.S. Model of 1917 Rifles is being published out of sequenc to meet this demand. ISBN 1-882391-29-2, 5.5 x 8.5 inches, perfect bound.
British Enfield Rifles,
