Telescopic Sight for M1917

[Kshatriya]

I need a scope which can be easily mounted by a local gunsmith, and which could help me accurately utilise it's long range capabilities.

Here are two side views of the Bolt Action rifle I have.



The United States Rifle, caliber .30, M1917 (Remington)



A little note about the sights already provided in the rifle :

Rear Sight is a leaf style gradient type, ranging from 200 to 1600 yards. Graduations are in increments of 100 yards from 200 to 900 yards, and in increments of 50 yards from 900 to 1600 yards.The leaf is raised for elevation adjustment.On the right of the sight is a sight catch that when depressed allows the sight aperture to be moved up and down the sight's gradient depending upon the desired range.When the rear sight is laying down, the m1917 sight is a battle sight. The range of the battle sight is set at 400 yards.

I have very limited knowlege of available options & their technical capabilities.
If there is an Indian made alternative, I'd like to evaluate it's capabilities before going in for a foreign-make.
I also want to know if importing of telescopic sites prohibited by The Arms Act.
Thanks & I know the knowledgeable members of this community will have some solutions to help me out.

[Sakobav]

here is a link for scopes http://www.gunaccessories.com/MilitaryS ... /index.asp

http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/03/03con ... read=43775

Other option is to have these machined from a drawing.
But hows the grouping with open sites?

Either way its a great gun some believe it was better than German Mauser 98. All the best

NG

[eljefe]

Shoudnt be a problem getting a 'scope down.
Whats the grouping with open sights?
Best
Axx

[Kshatriya]

Frankly I have not shot it much.
I had zeroed it some time back with the help of an IAF armourer & it has shot consistently tight groups since.I had tested it at targets from 100-200 yards, with the standard 30 06 ammo from POF, using the peep sight.
But a 303 I was firing that time was giving much better groups & solo shots, beyond 250 yards, though the culprit could have been my marksmanship or my having shot 303 much more the M1917.The recoil though, is very less when compared to 7.62 or 303.
Firing such a long range rifle is not possible here, at the makeshift ranges we have here at Lucknow.

@ngrewal
I saw this scope mount that is specific to M1917

I just hope that it does not affect the movement of the safety.
I do not wish to subject the rifle to much mutilation in the process of installing the mounts as it is in mint condition till now with all original parts.

[Sakobav]

K

I was thinking the same unless one can find a master armour I wouldnt experiement on such a gun. Was this gun from Indian army surplus? I have seen conversions pictures in a magazine more on lines of European Mannlicher style Mauser 98 sporter and I did notice that mountings were quite raised. Its interesting trivia that first bullet tested for 1903 Spring was .30-03. Early 03's were equipped with flimsy integral rod bayonet (such guns are very valuable today). President Theordore Roosevelt had a fit when he saw it and had it redesigned for conventional removable knife style (would our babus or netas know such a thing?) . Other major development was spitzer bullet with pointed nose and its ballistic advantage. Thus came about legendary .3006. As the 06 round was shorter than the 03 those rifle chambered for the original load were modified by turning back 2 threads and 03 rifles are again very rare and valuable. Partial or most of the credit of this guns goes to 3006 round. All the us army guns were chambered for this round Model 1917/19 Browning machine gun, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), M1 Garand, and then this perfect round was upscaled into the best heavy machine gun cartridge .50 BMG.

Have fun its great the way it is ..

[mehulkamdar]

B Square has been making no gunsmithing sights for many military rifle models for almost 50 years now. Do a web search and you should find several companies that stock their products. Midway or some other large wholesaler should be the best bet for the mounts. Just make sure that you specify the type of scope that you plan on using or you may end up with mounts that are either too high or two low and it is not going to be easy shipping them back to the USA for a replacement.