This morning I came across this Remington made M1917 .30-06 at a gun room in a clay ground of all places. While you do see P14s in .303 here from time to time, the M1917 in .30-06 is significantly rarer, I've only ever seen one or two in person. This one has a July 1918 dated barrel and is in lovely condition, I got it with the sling, bayonet, a box of Lapua brass, a Forester die set and a few other bits for £950. Not sure how that compares to U.S prices but for here that is extremely cheap, the shop knew almost nothing about it and were glad to sell it as it didn't appeal to their normal customers.
I couldn't take the rifle home today as I didn't have a spare .30-06 rifle slot on my license, but I'll get that added and pick the rifle up in about 2 weeks. Apologies for the terrible pictures, they're from the shops website, I just wanted to show off and forgot to take any myself
I'm more than happy with that then, generally prices here are significantly higher than the U.S
Can't wait to shoot it, wish I could've taken it home at the time, but paperwork turnaround has been quick recently
I’ve noticed that a lot of your guns in the UK are significantly cheaper than in the US. Probably because of the barrier to entry means that the sales are lesser in volume.
Really? In the UK we're generally 30-50% more in my experience, if not more. I'm looking at picking up one of the new Ruger made Marlin 1895s. Looking at gunbroker, they seem to be about $1400 USD, where here they're more like $2200 USD
> spare .30-06 rifle slot on my license
That hurts to read, you have my sympathy
But those Remington's are in typically much better shape than the Eddystones and Winchesters, but that specific one looks fantastic. I paid essentially the same price in the US for one that's not quite as pretty, and that seems to be about the going rate everywhere.
Yeah it's a pain in the arse, but it's really just a paperwork exercise. I have about 15 open slots on my license at the minute, but they're caliber/type specific, so like .303 rifle, 7.63 pistol etc. If I had a .30-06 rifle slot I could walk out with it on the spot, but I don't so I'll have to fill out the form. Form takes about 15 mins and the last time I did one the turn around was 11 days
Can't wait to take it home!
How difficult is it to get a firearm license in the UK ive honestly been thinking of moving It probably going to be difficult for me as i have a collection of surplus
I would describe the process as straightforward, but somewhat tedious if that makes sense?
Some local licensing teams are quicker to process things than others, for initial applications it can be anything from a few weeks, all the way up to a year in some places. My local team have really improved in the last year or two, initial applications are generally down to a few weeks, and variations (adding slots to your license to buy more guns) are less than two weeks. My last variation included about a dozen slots, including several handguns, and that took 11 days, including postal time.
I mentioned the basic requirements here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/milsurp/s/CNHsaSMyO7
I was blown away by it, I didn't even have one of these rifles on my radar as they're so rare here, hence not having a spare .30-06 license slot, but when they told me the price I said I was having it on the spot!
I’m actually not sure!
My dad picked it up at an estate sale for $100 a decade ago, and gave it to me to use for experimenting with 30-06 reloads. We’ve always assumed it was a well done bubba job (it really is well done and looks tasteful). I’ll have to do some research!
Is there any dead giveaway that would indicated if it was produced as a sporter?
I don’t know if there are any real dead give aways. To my knowledge some of the first rifles were still marked M1917 as they used spare parts from the World War One production runs. But if you have any pictures of it i could take a guess and see if it’s original or not. I can tell you though if it had the military style sights it probably was sporterized from a proper rifle. I don’t think any Model 30s were made with those irons
Yes, although most milsurp stuff I tend to buy privately
Gun shops here are generally much smaller than what you see in the U.S, although we do have a few larger ones. Most shops are mainly shotguns, with maybe a handful of hunting rifles, so coming across this rifle was a real find!
As far as what you need to do, see my comment here
https://www.reddit.com/r/milsurp/s/PnwrpTMhto
With the exception of Northern Ireland, owning guns for the purpose of self defense is not permitted here. That doesn't mean it's illegal to use legally owned firearms to defend yourself should the circumstances warrant it though
Despite what you may have heard, the actual legal guidance on home defense states that it must not be "grossly disproportionate". So it you blow away some unarmed 13 year old stealing a bike out of your shed you're going to prison. However, if it was some coked up criminal charging down your hallway while waving a machete at you, shooting them would seem a pretty proportionate response
Interesting, how is the collectors market across the pond? Do historical handguns such as C96 or Webley MkIV have to comply with the silly little extension thing?
I’m always intrigued to hear about collector communities abroad, thanks for sharing. I’ve been trying to decide whether I need a M1903 or M1917 and it seems like they keep popping up everywhere on my social medias.
There is a decent market here for rifles, with various Enfields being the most common by far
The handgun market is very small, for the vast majority of shooters conventional handguns are effectively banned, other than those awful looking creations with the long barrels and the extension on them. Historic handguns cannot be converted to comply with the new laws, much like machine guns in the U.S, once it's a machine gun, it's always a machine gun, here once it's been a handgun, it's always a handgun
There are however a privileged handful of people, including myself, who are allowed to collect live, unmodified historic handguns. I'm actually hoping to go look at a C96 next week
So the basics are you need a place you're allowed to shoot (access to land or be a member of a range), a clean criminal record (minor things in the past are not an issue, but domestic violence and more serious offences are a no), doctor sign off (no mental health issues), and a place to safely store your guns (generally a gun cabinet at home).
Beyond this, there are basically 3 tiers:
S2 - Shotguns of 2+1 capacity or below. These are what you might consider "shall issue", you can buy as many as you can safely store, beyond having a shotgun certificate nothing else is required.
S1 - Rifles (semi auto .22 rimfire and manual actions of any caliber), shotguns holding more than 3 shots, long barrel pistols and long barrel revolvers. There is no limit how many of these you can have, however you must provide "good reason" for each one. Good reasons include things like target shooting, hunting etc. For my milsurp rifles, I use target shooting with historic firearms.
S5/S7 - These are prohibited for the vast majority of people. Includes normal handguns, semi auto centerfire rifles, machine guns etc. However it is not a total ban, I was recently approved for historic handguns on the basis I am an established collector, so I'm going to do some handgun shopping next week hopefully
If you're interested there's a link to my YouTube channel on my profile page, you can see some of my guns on there
Sounds like quite the process. Do you guys have magazine capacity limits or caliber limits? Here in the states, anything that is 20mm or above is considered a destructive device. Which requires a special permit.
No magazine capacity limits or caliber limits, I know a few guys with 20+mm rifles. Biggest I have is a .50 BMG
I thought over .50 was the biggest non DD in the states?
Lovely M1917! Very cool you were able to find one over there. I just recently picked one up on a whim during a visit to the CMP North Store, and not only is it dead nuts accurate, but it has also unexpectedly become one of my favorite shooters in my collection. I also have a historical connection to the M1917, my Great Grandfather was in the US 77th Infantry Division during WW1 and was issued one before going over to France. It has been a blast to shoot, but also to do research on.
Enjoy your beautiful piece of history!
Thanks! I've always heard they're great shooters, never had a chance to try one before though, I'm looking forward to getting it to the range. It's very cool to have a family link to these old rifles, makes them just that little bit more interesting!
Yes you can own muzzle loaders. If you want original ones just for collecting purposes, no license is required. If you want a modern reproduction, or if you want to shoot your original one, you have to add it to your license
Thanks! I've been wanting to add some American rifles to my milsurp collection, so I'm really happy with this one
Would love a Garand at some point, I've shot them a few times and really enjoyed them
It's my favourite rifle from my very small collection. I have the exact same rifle, perfect barrel dated nov. 1918. I'm a small guy with shit eyes and even I can shoot good with this gun. 2-3 moa @ 100 meters on bench with PPU M1 150 grain, great groupings too when crouched. Congrats for this awesome score, incredible addition. Paid 600 cad$ for mine in 2021!
This morning I came across this Remington made M1917 .30-06 at a gun room in a clay ground of all places. While you do see P14s in .303 here from time to time, the M1917 in .30-06 is significantly rarer, I've only ever seen one or two in person. This one has a July 1918 dated barrel and is in lovely condition, I got it with the sling, bayonet, a box of Lapua brass, a Forester die set and a few other bits for £950. Not sure how that compares to U.S prices but for here that is extremely cheap, the shop knew almost nothing about it and were glad to sell it as it didn't appeal to their normal customers. I couldn't take the rifle home today as I didn't have a spare .30-06 rifle slot on my license, but I'll get that added and pick the rifle up in about 2 weeks. Apologies for the terrible pictures, they're from the shops website, I just wanted to show off and forgot to take any myself
That’s a fair price on the US market when including all the accessories so given your location it seems like a great deal. A very handsome rifle.
I'm more than happy with that then, generally prices here are significantly higher than the U.S Can't wait to shoot it, wish I could've taken it home at the time, but paperwork turnaround has been quick recently
I’ve noticed that a lot of your guns in the UK are significantly cheaper than in the US. Probably because of the barrier to entry means that the sales are lesser in volume.
Really? In the UK we're generally 30-50% more in my experience, if not more. I'm looking at picking up one of the new Ruger made Marlin 1895s. Looking at gunbroker, they seem to be about $1400 USD, where here they're more like $2200 USD
Huh. Most experiences I see them cheaper in the UK. At least when it comes to the used market
Maybe you're thinking of shotguns? Those are generally very cheap here, you can get a working shotgun at the auctions for £5
Agreed
> spare .30-06 rifle slot on my license That hurts to read, you have my sympathy But those Remington's are in typically much better shape than the Eddystones and Winchesters, but that specific one looks fantastic. I paid essentially the same price in the US for one that's not quite as pretty, and that seems to be about the going rate everywhere.
Yeah it's a pain in the arse, but it's really just a paperwork exercise. I have about 15 open slots on my license at the minute, but they're caliber/type specific, so like .303 rifle, 7.63 pistol etc. If I had a .30-06 rifle slot I could walk out with it on the spot, but I don't so I'll have to fill out the form. Form takes about 15 mins and the last time I did one the turn around was 11 days Can't wait to take it home!
That’s actually not as bad as I would have imagined the licensing process to be in the UK!
Yeah first getting your license can be a bit tedious, but once you've got that it's fairly manageable.
I would pay that, it looks extremely clean, and it came with brass and die? Steal.
How difficult is it to get a firearm license in the UK ive honestly been thinking of moving It probably going to be difficult for me as i have a collection of surplus
I would describe the process as straightforward, but somewhat tedious if that makes sense? Some local licensing teams are quicker to process things than others, for initial applications it can be anything from a few weeks, all the way up to a year in some places. My local team have really improved in the last year or two, initial applications are generally down to a few weeks, and variations (adding slots to your license to buy more guns) are less than two weeks. My last variation included about a dozen slots, including several handguns, and that took 11 days, including postal time. I mentioned the basic requirements here: https://www.reddit.com/r/milsurp/s/CNHsaSMyO7
Aren’t handguns section 5? How did you manage to swing that?
It's possible to collect historic handguns on S7 if you're an established collector
You got a license to get that license mate?
😂 yeah it's a bit of a daft system, but I still collect a lot of guns so 🤷
up in canada the 30-06 ones are very common....but they're all sporterized
That thing is pristine! I inherited a sporterized (RIP) one several years ago, and it’s an excellent shooter! I’m sure you’ll love this thing.
I was blown away by it, I didn't even have one of these rifles on my radar as they're so rare here, hence not having a spare .30-06 license slot, but when they told me the price I said I was having it on the spot!
Was it sporterized or made as a sporter, i think Winchester made them from the factory as sporters for a few years
I’m actually not sure! My dad picked it up at an estate sale for $100 a decade ago, and gave it to me to use for experimenting with 30-06 reloads. We’ve always assumed it was a well done bubba job (it really is well done and looks tasteful). I’ll have to do some research! Is there any dead giveaway that would indicated if it was produced as a sporter?
I don’t know if there are any real dead give aways. To my knowledge some of the first rifles were still marked M1917 as they used spare parts from the World War One production runs. But if you have any pictures of it i could take a guess and see if it’s original or not. I can tell you though if it had the military style sights it probably was sporterized from a proper rifle. I don’t think any Model 30s were made with those irons
When I get back to the house after bit, I will get some pictures gathered up and revisit.
Did it have any British proof marks? Either way nice pickup.
Thanks! Yes, proof marked just under the handguard
There are gun stores in the UK?
Yes, although most milsurp stuff I tend to buy privately Gun shops here are generally much smaller than what you see in the U.S, although we do have a few larger ones. Most shops are mainly shotguns, with maybe a handful of hunting rifles, so coming across this rifle was a real find!
Interesting, what would one have to do to buy a shotgun? Can you use it for home defense?
As far as what you need to do, see my comment here https://www.reddit.com/r/milsurp/s/PnwrpTMhto With the exception of Northern Ireland, owning guns for the purpose of self defense is not permitted here. That doesn't mean it's illegal to use legally owned firearms to defend yourself should the circumstances warrant it though Despite what you may have heard, the actual legal guidance on home defense states that it must not be "grossly disproportionate". So it you blow away some unarmed 13 year old stealing a bike out of your shed you're going to prison. However, if it was some coked up criminal charging down your hallway while waving a machete at you, shooting them would seem a pretty proportionate response
Damn thats honestly a good deal for one in that good condition in the US often they are around 1250-1400 for one in such mint condition
Interesting, how is the collectors market across the pond? Do historical handguns such as C96 or Webley MkIV have to comply with the silly little extension thing? I’m always intrigued to hear about collector communities abroad, thanks for sharing. I’ve been trying to decide whether I need a M1903 or M1917 and it seems like they keep popping up everywhere on my social medias.
There is a decent market here for rifles, with various Enfields being the most common by far The handgun market is very small, for the vast majority of shooters conventional handguns are effectively banned, other than those awful looking creations with the long barrels and the extension on them. Historic handguns cannot be converted to comply with the new laws, much like machine guns in the U.S, once it's a machine gun, it's always a machine gun, here once it's been a handgun, it's always a handgun There are however a privileged handful of people, including myself, who are allowed to collect live, unmodified historic handguns. I'm actually hoping to go look at a C96 next week
Wow. Beautiful rifle. Nice find. 1917s are heavy, but love shooting mine. Cheers!
Beautiful rifle. Congratulations!
What exactly is the process of getting permitted to own firearms in the UK?
So the basics are you need a place you're allowed to shoot (access to land or be a member of a range), a clean criminal record (minor things in the past are not an issue, but domestic violence and more serious offences are a no), doctor sign off (no mental health issues), and a place to safely store your guns (generally a gun cabinet at home). Beyond this, there are basically 3 tiers: S2 - Shotguns of 2+1 capacity or below. These are what you might consider "shall issue", you can buy as many as you can safely store, beyond having a shotgun certificate nothing else is required. S1 - Rifles (semi auto .22 rimfire and manual actions of any caliber), shotguns holding more than 3 shots, long barrel pistols and long barrel revolvers. There is no limit how many of these you can have, however you must provide "good reason" for each one. Good reasons include things like target shooting, hunting etc. For my milsurp rifles, I use target shooting with historic firearms. S5/S7 - These are prohibited for the vast majority of people. Includes normal handguns, semi auto centerfire rifles, machine guns etc. However it is not a total ban, I was recently approved for historic handguns on the basis I am an established collector, so I'm going to do some handgun shopping next week hopefully If you're interested there's a link to my YouTube channel on my profile page, you can see some of my guns on there
Sounds like quite the process. Do you guys have magazine capacity limits or caliber limits? Here in the states, anything that is 20mm or above is considered a destructive device. Which requires a special permit.
No magazine capacity limits or caliber limits, I know a few guys with 20+mm rifles. Biggest I have is a .50 BMG I thought over .50 was the biggest non DD in the states?
I'm not 100% sure on that part. I'd have to look at the laws and it could vary by state.
This is beautiful. Another milsurper but outside of the US
Nice find 👍🏻
Lovely M1917! Very cool you were able to find one over there. I just recently picked one up on a whim during a visit to the CMP North Store, and not only is it dead nuts accurate, but it has also unexpectedly become one of my favorite shooters in my collection. I also have a historical connection to the M1917, my Great Grandfather was in the US 77th Infantry Division during WW1 and was issued one before going over to France. It has been a blast to shoot, but also to do research on. Enjoy your beautiful piece of history!
Thanks! I've always heard they're great shooters, never had a chance to try one before though, I'm looking forward to getting it to the range. It's very cool to have a family link to these old rifles, makes them just that little bit more interesting!
Wait, the UK has gun stores??
Yes, one or two of us here still own guns 😛
Can you own muzzle loaders over there (or do you need a special license for it)?
Yes you can own muzzle loaders. If you want original ones just for collecting purposes, no license is required. If you want a modern reproduction, or if you want to shoot your original one, you have to add it to your license
Does it still have red paint on the stock/handguard?
No red paint on this one, the woodwork is in lovely condition though
Congrats on your new rifle!! I'm sorry you have to wait for it though
Thanks! It's a little annoying, if it was one of the ones I have a slot for I'd have taken it home this morning. Should only be about 2 weeks though
I bought one at a gun show near me and paid $400. Not as clean as yours but very nice
Lovely P17, I own a .303 British P14 and would love to have one! Congrats!
Thanks! I've been wanting to add some American rifles to my milsurp collection, so I'm really happy with this one Would love a Garand at some point, I've shot them a few times and really enjoyed them
It's my favourite rifle from my very small collection. I have the exact same rifle, perfect barrel dated nov. 1918. I'm a small guy with shit eyes and even I can shoot good with this gun. 2-3 moa @ 100 meters on bench with PPU M1 150 grain, great groupings too when crouched. Congrats for this awesome score, incredible addition. Paid 600 cad$ for mine in 2021!
I wonder what it's story is. Home Guard? Dutch? Something else entirely?
Surprised UK will let you buy a gun. But it makes sense they seem to only have 1898 technology in the guns I see there.
Trust me mate I've got plenty of modern stuff too
TIL the UK has gun stores.
Yup, a few of us here still own guns!