the history channel

[zenda2]

Gil, the M1903 was the standard issue rifle before, during and after WWI. There weren't enough of 'em as we entered the war, so the US ordered a re-tooled 1914 SMLE converted to 30-06, called this the M1917 rifle. There were hundreds of thousands of 'em made. They're not on your authoritative Rock Island armory list...Rock Island didn't make 'em. They were made by Winchester & Remington, on contract, using the tooling originally set up for their previous English Enfield contract but retooled for the US 30-06. They weren't the 'official issue' rifle, but the US army bought them as the factories churned out hundreds of thousands of 'em quickly. By the time we sent the doughboys over, more than 50% of the GI's 'over there' went with one. The M1917 was kind of ugly, rugged, accurate but didn't have good windage adjustment and at the end of the war they went into war-storage. A lot of them later went to the Nationalist Chinese cause, many went into the Reserves during WWII, and after the war they got 'sporterized' by the carload. (Anything that shot the .30-06 got sporterized, and the old 06 rifles are now pretty rare in original condition, except the Garand, not a lot of sporterizing with those).

You don't have to believe me. Stop in at Collectors Arms in Houston next time you're over there and ask 'em to drop one of these on your toe. If your toe doesn't hurt, then I'm just making all this up.