M1917 restoration.

A

armednfree

New member
A friend of mine bought a spoterized M1917. He asked me if it could be restored. The metal is factory original in finish. The stock was cut down, handguards gone as are both barrel bands. The front sight has the ears cut off rather crudely. Hack saw and file cut. It never had a scope on it as there are no holes and the rear sight is intact. .

It's actually pretty accurate once I got him to abandon light bullets with it.

He's asking me how much to restore it. I told him ball park would be $400. He paid $165 for it at a pawn shop so total cost would be $575 to $600 or so.

Then he asked what it would be worth post restoration. I don't have a clue. I guess whatever someone would be willing to pay for it.
 
What do you mean by restore? I'm guessing your figure of $400 was a bit on the conservative side if you want to bring it back to full military dress.
 
The big issue for P17s is the stock. For a decent original stock you can spend more nowadays than you paid for the whole gun 10 years ago. Many stocks offered at "P17" are really P14 with the volley sight taken off. You can get reproductions by now for around $200, but they don't do much for collector value.
The front sight carrier is cheap, Numrich has it for $20.
 
An original M1917 stock runs $350 on up. That is your big expense.

Restored if its a nice one is $750 - $1000 (condition, E, R or W) original parts stamps with E, W, R or mix.
 
If a reproduction stock is available again that is new. Boyds made one some time back, oddly for them badly, took a lot of fitting.
 
I stand corrected. They are not reproduction stocks but actual Remington Model 34 stocks. Slightly different than the 1917 stock and requires a small amount of fitting.
 
The stocks are out there. They pop up on eBay from time to time. The key to doing it as cheaply as possible is to be patient and don't overbid. I might take months or even years, but it can be restored for less than you think.
 
Generally speaking, restoring any milsurp to as issued configuration has gotten prohibitively expensive. It's mostly in the wee metal bits like that front sight assembly. Runs $15 or $20, depending on condition, without a sight blade($4.55 each. And you need a spline, a key, and a pin. $3.15 and $2.60, that they don't have, respectively.), at Gunparts. A lower band, the stacking swivel and screw that holds it on runs $18.05 plus shipping, etc. Adds up quickly. And you have a rebuilt rifle that will never be worth what an original non-sported rifle is worth.
There's an Eddystone P-17, with no bids, on Gunbroker at $800.
"...on eBay..." And buying or selling there funds the people who want to take your firearms away from you.
 
T
he stocks are out there. They pop up on eBay from time to time. The key to doing it as cheaply as possible is to be patient and don't overbid. I might take months or even years, but it can be restored for less than you think.
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People that put the stocks up know what they are worth, even poor ones are going for $350.

The $275 is likely the best you will do for a non OEM shooter restoral.
 
Handguards can be found, matching them up with a new finish of course has some challenges.

Nothing easy about the process for this kind of re work.

Another way is to buy a beater with a stock. Usually you try to get the right stock for the mfg of the receiver/barrel.
 
And I laugh at how many firearms I have built and restored from parts purchased from eBay and paid for with PayPal. I know their politics, but it's the only place to find some things. Numrich and others are either out or don't even list it. Took years to find all the correct parts for a 1907 Lee Enfield I***.
 
I got a really nice Eddystone stock a couple months ago on ebay, really nice in it looked unissued. $187.50, which I didn't think was too bad.
 
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