Eddystone Model 1917 bolt action rifle

The M1917 Enfield, or American Enfield, formally named the "American Rifle, cal .30 M1917", was an American modification of the British P14 rifle. In terms of numbers, it was the most common rifle used by American expeditionary forces in Europe during World War I. After the outbreak of the First World War, the British Army had a shortage of rifles, and due to the lack of capacity of British suppliers, the British administration approached American firms (Winchester, Remington and Eddystone) and asked them to produce a newly developed (and largely copied Mauser system) pattern designated the P14.

When the United States entered the war in 1917 there was a similar shortage of rifles to that experienced in the UK a few years earlier. The US Army was standardly armed with Model 1903 rifles. The only supplier was Springfield Armory, but its production capacity was insufficient. It proved easier to change the British calibre of this rifle to the American .30-06 than to rebuild the complete production at Winchester, Remington and Eddystone (at that time producing the P14). Eddystone's total production was 1,181,908, Remington produced 545,541 and Winchester 465,980 of the P17. The rifles were not entered into service until the 1950s and were still in service in the Korean War.