Hunting Rifles for Greenland: M1917 Enfield

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Greenland is a remote and desolate land without a significant industrial base, but there is a demand for hunting rifles there. As the place has long been a Danish colony since 1814, its trade was restricted to Denmark - including rifles. The Danish military received a substantial number of M1917 Enfield rifles in .30-06 caliber, and they were used by the Danish Home Guard after World War Two until being eventually sold as surplus. Some of those surplus rifles were modified by the Greenland Trade conglomerate ("Kalaallit Niuerfiat") and sold as commercial hunting rifles.
The conversion pattern used was to mill off the rear aperture sight and replace it with a fixed open notch dovetailed into the chamber area of the barrel. A new front sight was installed to match the height of the rear notch, and the bayonet lug was ground off for some reason. This particular example was originally manufactured in 1917 and used by the Canadian military before being sent to Denmark and eventually sold as surplus.
The M1917 was the standard rifle for the Sirius Patrol, a Greenland military force established during World War Two to prevent establishment of German outposts on Greenland (and very effective in this work). The force still exists today, and still uses M1917 rifles, now paired with 10mm Glock 20 pistols. The commercial sporterized M1917s like the one in this video are not made from Sirius Patrol rifles, however.
Thanks to the Southern Iceland Shooting Association for helping me film this and other cool guns in Iceland!
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
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[@munkbok]

I'm sure the 5 people who live in Greenland greatly enjoyed this rifle

[@altblechasyl_cs2093]

This is official issued rifle of the Sirius Patrol.

[@XtreeM_FaiL]

@@altblechasyl_cs2093 When do they get them? Sirius is many light years away.

[@altblechasyl_cs2093]

@@XtreeM_FaiL Denmark got M1917s through US military assistance after WWII. The rifles for Sirius were mainly rebuilt in the 50s I guess.

[@jacobklunder8552]

All the Danish geology students going to Greenland like it too.

[@KaptajnKaffe]

A lot of them ended up in Denmark. I own one 😄

[@daionmaniacs6864]

Sorry Ian, but there is unfortunately some incorrect info in this one. First of all. The notch. That one didnt belong to Sirius patrol. Sirius only used standard 30.06 ammo. A lot of the rifles was sold from the Danish Homeguard to Norway around 1961. It was in Norway they did the notch. The reason is correct. It was for longer ammo. After a couple of years (63 and forward) the Royal Greenlandic trading company bought about 9000 of these rifles - incl those from Norway. Norway didnt want them anymore. It wasnt done all in 1 go. 3000 first. Those were milled quickly and not pretty :). The rest came over time, and improved in quality of the milling the later it got. The Norwegian ones were so worn out, that most of those from Norway were actually scrapped for parts only so they actually never counted as rifles sold there. Secondly. The front sight. In september-decenber 1960 83000 rifles was converted from a straight sight to a round pin sight here in Denmark. This was done prior to them being shipped to Norway. Testing done in late 59-early 60 showed that the round pin sight improved the average shooters accuracy with 10-20%. This is also where things become VERY interesting because only 40 rifles was NOT converted. Those 40 rifle have the straight front sight because they never had time to convert them. In fact, all 40 rifles was milled at Otterup within 2 week before being shipped in July 1960 where they were shipped directly to the Sirius Patrol. They had requested 50 but got 40. The reason why the Sirius Patrol wanted them, was because doing ww2 when the first Patrol was created, these rifles were by far the mot reliable for doing raids on Germans. There are stories about how the German machine guns had frozen up, because of water/moister in them. So the Sirius Patrol needed rifles they knew would work every single time. The milling to remove the rear sight... well thats rough to say the least. You can clearly see the milling marks - and those have not been cleaned afterwards. And the new rear sight is actually not a dovetail. Its welded on like you see on old vintage cars - with a touch kind of soldering metal together. How do I know all of this? I own one that came directly from a former member of the Sirius patrol who brought it back to Denmark after it was decommissioned. There are also loads of info on these online - if you can read Danish :). Let me know if you want more info :) Michael

[@Rehteal]

That's super interesting!

[@thejohnbeck]

Holy cow

[@AshleyPomeroy]

I visited Greenland back in May last year - I had a go at the "arctic circle trail". I remember seeing arctic hares, which were massive, plus a couple of musk oxen, all of whom ran away. And lots of spent shell casings in 6.5mm Swedish and 30.06. I remember wondering if I could take them home but decided against it. The supermarket in Kangerlussuaq had bolt-action rifles (and a PlayStation 5!). I had no idea what kind of paperwork you'd need to buy one.. It's a fascinating place otherwise. You leave the airport, turn left, walk forward for ten miles, and then you're in a huge open empty scrubland with no fences, no trees, no roads, nothing for miles around.

[@KudoRedfox]

In Greenland you essentially don't need paperwork, just legal gun handling age of 13 and that's about most of it

[@jameshealy4594]

Except for ten miles behind you, presumably. ;)

[@Glaaki13]

lol a lot of Danes talk about becoming a big crazy after some time in Greenland because its so alien (no real sound and huge amount of nothing but ice)

[@PalleRasmussen]

Ten miles? Try two miles. Or... One. You need a hunting license to buy one. To get that, you have to live in Greenland, and go to the local city administration and say; "Hey, I would like to go hunting". They will check of you live there, and give you one. You then go to the local shop and buy a rifle or shotgun. No handguns or automatic weapons. Purely hunting. I lived in Sisimiut for three years till last year, and I miss it.

[@WastelandArmorer]

@@PalleRasmussen I’d imagine crime is pretty low? I can’t imagine a huge need for defensive weapons up there. But I could be wrong.

[@robertcope9494]

I've hunted musk ox in Greenland via dog team. The guides had Sako .22 lr with suppressors and used them to shoot arctic hares and ptarmigan. The white ptarmigan looked like snowballs sitting in the snow. They told me the suppressors were to prevent the discharge of the rifle from scarring the dogs and having them run off. Not good to be afoot in -50 F.

[@BeastOrGod]

Dogs are also used for racing, so when a gun shot is heard by dogs, they start running. And fast. My uncle trained his dogs to run towards him, after shooting a seal.

[@johan8969]

In my experience they all just use a .22 even for larger game like seal.

[@user-dc1dr9kr8x]

I must know.....did you eat the musk ox? And how was it?

[@noturfather1106]

​@@johan8969 yup, saves money and still kills stuff just as dead

[@mpetersen6]

I remember a show on the History Channel about the original ice road guys. One comment was, "-40's not bad, -50 is cold, -60 is damn cold".

[@ujarneqsrensen8745]

I am born and raised in Greenland My grandpa has been hunting here since the late 60’s and has a bunch of the 1917’s and Swedish Carl Gustaf 6.5x55 that are still my primary hunting rifles. So neat to hear the stories about it. I need to ask him how he got ahold of them

[@Rehteal]

How good is the internet in Greenland?

[@ujarneqsrensen8745]

@@Rehteal the local internet provider offers up to 30/5 Mbit download/upload speeds. However in the more remote places where satellite connections are used, it’s quite a bit less than that.

[@infogunvault6920]

I've been doing some research about the sirius dog patrol and bear defense. I was hoping that you since, you're born & raised in Greenland, that you might be able to shed some light on this. Apparently, there was an incident where a polar bear failed to stop when shot with a 9mm handgun, and this caused the Sirius Patrol to switch to 10mm. Later they tested both .357 magnum and .44 magnum revolvers by shooting them into ballistics gel covered with bear hide. If you know or able to find anything else about the original 9mm incident or the resulting revolver ballistics gel testing, that would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

[@Farbautisonn]

The main reason the danish Sirius dog slead patroll uses these is practicality. It does not jam, does not break, does not foul up, even when the temperature drops below minus 40 celsius. It has the power to drop a polar bear, and it is more than ample to kill a seal. Its a workhorse, and thats what you need in an extreme environment.

[@Able-Man]

Thanks for posting this, Ian... It has "put me mindful of" my Grandpa's Enfield, carried home from France (reportedly)... It was "lost to burglars"; in the late 1960's or the extremely early 1970's...

[@maxstarnes4779]

My great grandfather brought his back after the war and one of his sons, (the great uncle who is not mentioned at family gatherings) lost it in the woods. I bought one for my grandfather who now has it hung up over the fireplace with a picture of his father. It's always a talking point at parties lol.

[@michaeldoolan7595]

My Grandfather brought home an MP40 and two live stick grenades, which he hung off the wall above our coal fired miners stove. Loads of German stuff came back. If someone could have stuffed a V2 In a duffle bag it would've come home😊

[@GetTheFO]

@@michaeldoolan7595 Hopefully it was all “destroyed” or “stolen” before the authorities came knocking for it.

[@randomname3109]

@@michaeldoolan7595 so.. grandpappy murdered a kid , who, was presumably surrendered given the shots to the back of the head?

[@ittapupu7406]

@@randomname3109 Proven steps to not be executed as a Nazi: Step 1 - Don't be a Nazi

[@rasmilling1885]

These rifles are highly sort after in Denmark because of their history. Specially in great shape. In Denmark they are called a “Grønlænder riffel”.

[@Tadicuslegion78]

Polar Bear: Bro! is that a mint condition 1917 Enfield? That's so awesome, and it's even got matching serial.

[@jic1]

Except it's been sporterized, silly polar bear.

[@diktatoralexander88]

@@jic1 It's been minorly sportized. Surprised they left hte stock full length, but still cut the bayonet lug off. Maybe they felt the wood added extra protection to the metal underneath, if so then yes that's a good idea to leave it

[@jic1]

@@diktatoralexander88 Far from "mint condition", though.

[@johndododoe1411]

​@@diktatoralexander88Try touching bare metal in a frozen tundra, and you'll instantly know why professional hunting rifles for Greenland has wood covering most surfaces that will be grabbed.

[@d.unterreiner161]

Oh man the Sirius Patrol sounds like a great setting for a Call of Cthulhu game.

[@BeastOrGod]

I live in a far north settlement, one moonlit night reminded of Cthulhu setting. And the sun never rises for like 4 months. Total darkness

[@314299]

As I understand it the Canadian connection to M1917 rifles is not from the "Great War" (WW1) but from World War 2 where they were issued for use training and guard duty in North America, thereby freeing up Lee Enfield 303 rifles for front line service.

[@itsapittie]

That's what I've read. I think the UK used a lot of them in the same way. The lend-lease rifles from the US had a red band painted around (IIRC) the wrist of the stock to make it easier to tell them from the P14 rifles also used by the Home Guard. The P14 and the M1917 look essentially identical at first glance.

[@ianumeric]

The most current information I know of has the M1917s going to Canada during WW2. Post-WW2 when Denmark is re-building their armed forces the US offers to lend them M1 Garands for the regular Danish Army as international aid, thus standardizing them on .30-'06. Denmark wants a bolt-action .30-'06 for their Home Guard and the US offers to sell Denmark M1903A3s, but Canada steps in and offers Denmark their M1917s essentially for free.

[@Twilit777]

The last Lee-Enfields were decommissioned in 2018 - up until then they were still in use by Canadian Rangers, a part-time sub-command of the Reserve. They were kept in use for the exact reasons listed here - they were fantastic for arctic patrols.

[@samrodian919]

@@itsapittie yes and many of the lend lease were in .30" calibre and not .303" that was the reason for the paint on the wrist I have read.

[@P_RO_]

@@samrodian919 Exactly. It was done so there would be no mix-up in cartridges. Red was 30-06, plain was 303.

[@Pyrusia]

Greenlandic person here. One of my dads friends who recently passed away has one of these that was passed down to him

[@BeastOrGod]

I remember my dad found one(I forgot who owned it) it was in terrible shape, but it was clearly one of these.

[@onmilo]

The P14/M1917 rifles are One of THE most underrated Military rifles ever produced and mainly because shooters simply considered the firearms to be aesthetically "Ugly".

[@The_SmorgMan]

I actually really like how it looks. Not a sleek design but I enjoy how overbuilt it is in function and appearance

[@gregbrown4009]

I had a terribly beat up 1917 (pretty much like all of them )that was one of the most pleaseant shooting and operating rifles I have used. Other rifles got the glory but the 17 did it's job well. Thanks for a great memory!

[@TyTwoFly]

Alongside with 1917 Enfield, the Sled Patrol also carries 10mm Glock 20s. They load their Enfields with M2 Armor piercing ammunition and hollow points as well.

[@KaptajnKaffe]

Bye bye polar bear 😅

[@michaeldoolan7595]

To be honest I'd have thought a soft slug would have been better on bears. I have never hunted bear, nor would I want to . Equally, I don't want to be eaten by the big furry bastards. If I were in Bear country, I'd be carrying a 10bore.

[@snargelfargen1]

@@michaeldoolan7595 At least according to Wikipedia, the hollow points are for musk oxen: "The patrolmen feel that the M2 armor-piercing military round is best against aggressive polar bears at long range, but that the hollow-point rounds are better against an enraged musk ox. Typically, the patrolmen arrange their magazine so every third round is a hollow-point."

[@herosstratos]

4:40 V-notch sights are easier to use in the dark than aperture sights.

[@jasonz7788]

Awesome thanks Ian great work Sir

[@pj_naylor]

I once spent a quiet evening in the community centre in Tiniteqilaaq looking through a greenlandic hunters manual. With seal shooting particularly you need to make sure you kill it straight off, otherwise it'll dive back under the ice and die where you can't get at it.

[@eloiseharbeson2483]

Considering that my grandfather carried one of those in France, I found out about the M1917 relatively late. Too late to have gotten a good one at a good price, but still painful to see the excellent sights on that gun permanently removed.

[@user-gr4sq3lo6n]

Agreed

[@danielbeck9191]

My Winchester Model of 1917 is a fantastic shooter. I have fire quite a few CMP Games matches with it. I really like the appearance of the rear sight guards. And THANK YOU for NOT calling it a "P17"!!!

[@The_SmorgMan]

The CMP is going to sell some of them on their website soon. I don’t know when. As far as compared to other USA milsurps the price isn’t bad. I recently bought 2 for 750 and 850 each

[@danieldalessandro96]

This video may have answered a question I've had for a while about my 1917. Its in full configuration but has the notch on the receiver, which I assume is for the bigger projectiles you mentioned! It too is a winchester. Thanks Ian!

[@fredboat]

Thanks, Enjoyed as always. Dug my 254,*** S# 1917 Eddystone out and it has the roll pin front sight also on a 1918 Remington barrel.

[@USAACbrat]

Wish I had my Ted Williams, signature Sportster. Sears special 1917. put it in layaway @$99.98. Springfield signature's were 119.98. All the custom bells and whistles; Enfield, flat belly. Receiver, Ground, blued, drilled and taped. My first scoped rifle. Thanks

[@johnjamieson6368]

There was some discussion about the notched receivers, on one of the gun boards. The outcome was that it wasn't for longer bullets. Too long an OAL and they won't fit into the magazine. If I remember right, it was for a different loading clip, for gloved hands.

[@StrikeEagle784]

Neat! I have an M1917 Eddystone rifle, so it's really fascinating to see the differences between this example and mine.

[@silverjohn6037]

"I am here today by gracious invitation of the Southern Iceland Shooting association." Ian certainly leads a more interesting life than the rest of us;).

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Ian . 🐺

[@davidcaylor4286]

Thanks for the video. Love the m1917 and history. Lots of folks aren't aware of these as military rifles. 12-17 barrel date makes sense since I think they started mfg. of these rifles in 9-17.

[@diktatoralexander88]

I'd say most of the young generation who *are* aware of these are aware of the miltiary provenance. But I could see some of the older generation, who's main interest in firearms was towards hunting, probably didn't imagine they started as literal war guns.

[@daviddavid5880]

Nice. I adore the 17. I've handled and used a lot of boltguns in my time and those old dogs are still my fave. Thanks for another great vid.

[@victuff9765]

In or around 1992 I bought a surplus M1917 rifle from York Guns here in the UK. It was an ex-Home Guard rifle (traces of a broad red painted band on the fore end). A lot of them had been gifted to Denmark/Greenland after WWII and a batch were surplused and returned to the UK. All of them were in nice original condition but with mismatched bolts, although they headspaced OK and passed UK proof!

[@daionmaniacs6864]

The red painted ones, never made it to Denmark. Those were all UK rifles.

[@victuff9765]

@@daionmaniacs6864 correct, they were painted in the UK to indicate the were NOT .303'' caliber but .30'' '06 caliber. After the war a quantity were donated to Greenland (perhaps via Denmark)

[@tagrangerful]

I had one of these, it was far and away the nicest shooting bolt action rifle I have ever fired.

[@Totaldane]

Pretty sure the Danish military just adopted the Enfield, because the Greenlanders had used them for a couple of decades at the time of the establishment of the Sirius Patrol - if it works for greenlanders, it will work for us. A couple of additional points - Enfields was produces with fairly big machining tolerances, which helps tremendously cycling a gun at minus 32 degrees with basically no lubrication. Aperture sigths are very hard to use in an all-white sunny environment, and if you use old-fashioned snow goggles (mask with small slits cut into them). The Enfield stripper clip is fairly easy to load with gloves on, compared to dropping rounds in, and does not carry the same risk of freezing solid as a magazine. Also the patrolmen would use a mix of FMJ' and soft-points, and could visually see how the clip was stacked. Sidenote - when the Danish military upgraded from their 9mm Neuhausers to 9 mm Sig Saurs, The Sirius Patrol opted for 10 MM Glocks - for better stopping power against polar bears.

[@PalleRasmussen]

Good point about the sun on snow. I lived in Greenland; the only place I ever routinely wore sunglasses.

[@CeylonMondegreen]

I'm here for the Sledge Patrol Sirius connection

[@jacobishii6121]

Not snow goggles so much as it was the first effective defense against snow blindness which is basically sunburned eye parts from the sun reflecting off the snow.....it's an early technique pre-dating advanced lense coatings

[@Totaldane]

@@jacobishii6121 uhmm...yes. they are still called snow goggles, made from bone, wood or ivory, despite their modern usage of the word.

[@GHOSTSTALKER90]

I've just seen a post war French production model of the Kar 98k for sale here in Australia . I wasn't aware they made them and why ? Should be interesting to hear about.

[@SLAPNTZ_MCCOY]

Oh dude, I JUST had this in my hand at my local gun store the other day. That’s so cool

[@Carburetors_and_calamaties]

I own one of these and I use it for hunting elk in Colorado all the time

[@jacknelson8601]

I have seen similar M-1917s with Canadian cartouches in the stock, a red band painted around the fore end (marked .30-06 in black) and their magazine followers ground down to allow the bolt to be closed on a empty magazine.

[@DavidCowie2022]

I'm waiting for the Danes (or their neighbours) to say that Denmark *does* have northern wastelands.

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

as a german, I'd say denmark is a northern wasteland. with many flags.

[@lavrentivs9891]

Fredrikshavn? =P

[@krissteel4074]

Was going to say Norway or Sweden, but that might require a bit of subjective definition of wasteland

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

@@krissteel4074 norway and sweden are real scandinavia, they have pretty nature. denmark just has flat land with the world's most boringly unappealing climate. and you could say that the titular waste is the pig shit.

[@langbo9999]

@@Ass_of_Amalek Denmark 🇩🇰 The Island Kingdom 👑 I am indeed Danish.

[@SRR-5657]

There is a special place in hell reserved for men who grind the sight wings off of m1917 rifles

[@AtomikGround]

I have one of these in this configuration (Eddystone), and I would just like to say "hats off" to any Inuit hunter/trapper who is proficient with that rifle and particularly those sights! Anything beyond 100 yards and I need barn-sized targets 😅

[@MadisonRootbeer69]

Greetings from Greenland!

[@stanislavczebinski994]

Back then, besides seals, walrusses were hunted in Greenland as well as Iceland. Fully-grown males are gigantic. They can weigh more than 1200kg. To take them down you need something as powerful as 30-06. Besides rear sights freezing - it would be hard to handle one in extreme cold with thick gloves on.

[@aronsigurjonsson7648]

I have one of those rifles. It has a red band on the forend from british home guard use. Purchased in greenland in the 80’s. It cost about the same as a case(24pcs) of cheap beer

[@austinhughes1924]

That’s pretty cool.Seeing an M1917 Enfield all the way from Greenland!

[@DescendantSaga]

I have an even earlier 5 digit S/N M1917 in 30-06 with original barrel. The previous owner chopped the barrel shorter, and removed the upper wood handguard. Can confirm the rear peep is a great sight. It is a shame it's elevation adjustments are meaningless now with the differing barrel length.

[@buddyb4343]

In Greenland, you do not hunt polar bears, polar bears hunt you! (A rifle just evens up the odds a bit.) :-D

[@yokoshemp]

Always interested in the '17 Enfield. Wonderful gun and more so if a new barrel is installed. Downside is they are a heavy beast. If you are in combat and need to use it as a club it will do that well. They rack on the shoulder which is my favorite feature. Sad to see them so butchered but they were used as tools not toys.

[@trikelife4960]

As a Canadian I didn't realize Canada ended up with M1917s in service. Cool to see a C broad arrow on one. I have one in the mail to me and the serial # is less than 300 rifles before that example there. Possibly made the same week or month at Winchester. I have an Eddystone P14 and absolutely love these rifles. Can't wait to get the M1917.

[@SafetyProMalta]

Somewhere in an attic in Denmark lies a box of milled off 1917 aperture sights still crying at their fate...😂

[@daionmaniacs6864]

I can tell you exactly were there are loads of them. My gunsmith has a whole box of them from when he was hired by the Greenlandic Trading company to mill them off.

[@ditzydoo4378]

Makes one ill to see the once excellent ladder/peep sight and wings milled off the rear of the receiver of this 5-digit Winchester M-1917 and be replaced with a very crude rudimentary fixed v-notch rear sight poking up through the slotted modified upper hand guard above the chamber, greatly shortening the original sight radius.

[@PeterKNoone]

Super interesting. Thanks for producing such information-rich high quality content!!!!

[@charlesstonebridge525]

I know he's saying Sirius Patrol, but I can't help but hear SERIOUS patrol every time

[@anthonpetersen4040]

We also have a lot of swedish m/96 in caliber 6.5x55. And the bajonet log is still on. But the military wheel on the stock is removed

[@edditrangeled5259]

In 1988 i spent som years in the Northern part of Upernavik distrikt. In the little shop we had, Enfields was available for around 50 dollars. It was used for Whale and Polar bear hunting. 222 rem Rifles was prefered for Seal hunting.

[@BeastOrGod]

Ooh, one of the settlements like Kullorsuaq or Tasiusaq?

[@RM-Hunting]

To my knowledge the aperture sigth was removed by legal reasons, and not because it was preferred by the greenlandic hunters. Denmark got these rifls as marshall aid from Canada after WWII. Later when the rifles were surplused KGH (the royal greenlandic trading company) bought a bunch of these rifles, but had to mill down the rear aperture sight and bayonet lock in order of it not to be a military rifle (a demand from the Canadians). They were then brought to greenland as cheap and reliable huntingrifles.

[@thomasborgsmidt9801]

I had one of those (not sporterised) when I lived in Greenland. Got hold of some stripper clips. Never fired it. It was in mint condition and had only been fired with test shots. When I returned to Denmark I donated it to somebody with an arms licence - gun laws are very strict in Denmark - he says he later sold it. After WW2 there were a lot of firearms in circulation among former members of the resistance - even back to WW1. But it was cheap, so I made no fuss about it. If I recall correctly it cost me about 40 USD.

[@LUR1FAX]

The Sirius ski patrol also use the Glock 20 in 10mm. If you're potentially gonna be using a semi-automatic handgun to defend against bears, 10mm Auto seems like one of the better choices in caliber. And a .30-06 rifle should be good against pretty much anything.

[@utidjian]

This was great Ian. I used to own a 1917 Enfield that I had 'sporterized'. I had it re-chambered to 300 Win-Mag, rear sight area was milled off very cleanly as if it was meant to be that way, new American walnut stock with reinforcing lug, and a Leupold 3-9X scope mounted. I polished it and parkerized it. I built it as a 'big North American game' rifle. Used to be really easy to find an inexpensive 1917 in very good condition to either collect or to sporterize for less than $100. OK so it was over 30 years ago... They are an excellent "chassis" to build a large magnum rifle on.

[@canadianfury3027]

Very cool, I just picked up a greenland ww2 sirius patrol 1917 last week

[@MilsurpMikeChannel]

How dare those Greenlandian Bubbas sporterize that rifle :D. Great rundown and it is always cool when you can know a more complete history of an individual rifle.

[@diktatoralexander88]

Greenlandian bubbas are based. It's the American bubbas who toss the original wood and put tampco on it.

[@ethanclark8784]

Ive really been enjoying the hunting rifle talks lately. Im fairly new to the channel so i dont know if you do it often but im diggin it

[@wreckanchor]

My Grandfather used a surplus Mosin Nagant to hunt Polar bears, Caribou, and seals while working at an airport in Manitoba in 1949. He bought the gun and a sardine can of FMJ ammo for $17.00.

[@rpblccmmndo389]

I have an M1917 imported from Norway with the notched receiver. No idea if it was actually used by the Sirius patrol, but that's a cool detail.

[@daionmaniacs6864]

It wasnt. Ian is wrong about this. Read my reply above. The notch was done in Norway - and Norway ONLY.

[@thumperpaul]

I remember a few years back Tradex Canada had the Sirius rifles for about $700. Wish I would have bought one

[@moemaster1966]

The p-14 and P-17 are hidden gems if you can find one un molested

[@andypettit5869]

I used this bolt style and married it to a shilen barrel chambered 300win mag, works great.

[@604116]

I had a Winchester 1917 that had followed a similar path. US to Canadian Cadet Corps to Denmark military, but then imported commercially back into the US by a surplus dealer rather than getting any kind of hunting conversion. IIRC Denmark put the roll pin front sights on these guns even without the sporterized rear sight--mine had one. Another slight modification was a milled slope on the follower so you could close the bolt on an empty mag.

[@thedevildick1]

So cool.

[@lebeau5451]

You should reintroduce the "adventures in surplus" title to this kind of Videos, Ian. 👍

[@ethanor]

As a Dane, it's kinda hard to get your hands on firearms if you don't have an interest in hunting, so I usually don't bother. However, the 1917 is one of the few I'd jump through the hoops for and I do plan on getting one eventually.

[@carlinglin7289]

Did not know the Canadians ever used the Model1917. Did they ever see frontline service or were they for training, rear echelon, homeguard? Great rifles, greatly under appreciated. Now I see my question was answered further down the comments. Thanks.

[@user-gr4sq3lo6n]

Not used for combat

[@Obyredyll]

Owner of one of them :) Imported from Danmark many years ago :)

[@thekraken1173]

Waiting for the antarctic rifle next.

[@jacobjones4766]

The us coast gaurd operating around greenland in ww2 also left 50 of these rifles to be used by mine gaurds and the sirius dog sled patrol was founded using them. Although only the ethnic danes carried rifles, inuit greenlanders also acted as sled drivers and scouts. They saw combat aginst nazi weather stations using these same weapons. Very cool part of greenlandic/danish military hisotry and really rhe only events of note in greenlands case

[@jasonwooden]

I inherited my M1917 from my Grandpa- a sporterized version with a Lyman Alaskan 2.5 power scope. He was a hunting guide, and it took dozens of western muleys and elk over the years. Learned you have to shoot factory ammo through it, the chamber is tight and reloads will jam (unless the brass has been trimmed/resized maybe). Cool to see how they are used elsewhere in the world.

[@flavio_spqr]

Ah yes! The Serious Patrol. The most committed and professional unit of the Danish Armed Forces.

[@kodiakkeith]

Speaking of arctic use, not so long ago in Alaska pawn shops you could find many Enfields re-chambered for .300 Norma Magnum. Same case length as 30.06, but is actually formed from necked down .338 Norma Magnum cases. 220 grain slug at 3000 fps. This was sort of a cottage industry in Alaska gun shops during the 60s. Enfields were cheap and plentiful and anyone could afford these conversions.

[@MrPh30]

.308 Norma Magnum off the .338 Win case, one of Nils Kvales exellent creations , sadly marketed in US by a Norma marketing official that tought the US market was boring.

[@TheRogueWolf]

Removing the bayonet lug was a greivous miscalculation. What if you find yourself needing to stab a reindeer?!

[@madderanger7838]

In the ole days, they hunted bear with spears. The hunters would get the bear to stand on it's hind legs and a brave hunter would roll under the bear and plant the spear in the ground. When the bear came down....Who knew that bayonets could be so useful.😁

[@thetoneknob4493]

ive got a remitting mod 1917 that's kinda low numbers 63xxx witch i think puts it around Feb 1918 i think? its a great rifle.

[@adamcichon6957]

Somehow i'm very disappointed by that... "unfinished" milling on the back of the receiver... But, as always, very interesting and informative video from Ian.

[@dartdukii]

Imagine our world if ppl followed the time honored tradition of just calling dibs

[@mazambane286]

I know of one here in South Africa which has been rechambered in 375H&H. It was gifted to a mate of mine by an American hunting client .

[@ironhead2008]

That (rechambering) happened to a lot of the surplused M1917s in the US. The action (originally the P13 Enfield) was originally specced out for a proto magnum behemoth of a service round: .276 Enfield. Because of that, both the P14 Enfield (the P13 rechambered to .303) and the M1917 (the P14 rechambered to .30-06) tends to handle crazy cartridges with ease. Kind of ironic that one wound up in South Africa: the impetus for the development of its predecessor and its throat burner of a cartridge was the Boers giving the Brits fits with another 7mm cartridge and a very similar Mauser type rifle...

[@mazambane286]

@@ironhead2008 The 7 mil Mauser is still a very popular round here.

[@ironhead2008]

@@mazambane286 Not surprising. It's an impressive cartridge and made at least 2 great powers seriously rethink what they were doing with their rifles. Very flat shooting , mildish recoil, and can basically handle all but the biggest and meanest game - unless you're William "Karamojo " Bell and you have impeccable shot placement!

[@mazambane286]

@@ironhead2008 Not anymore as the old eyes are starting to fail me.

[@ConeFlower-gx2qk]

I inherited my dads rifles and one of my favorites is a Remington 1917

[@williamromine5715]

I didn't realize there so many people on Ice Land that there is a Southern Ice Land Association. Is there a Northern Association, or is the country divided into 4 Associations.

[@jacobklunder8552]

As a Dane, it’s always nice to hear my country mentioned.

[@langbo9999]

True 🇩🇰🍺

[@MadisonRootbeer69]

Skuffende.

[@chrishesotian1654]

Ivar Ruud used a 9mm(x57mm??) Mauser(98??) for polar bear on Spitzbergen Island. "The Year Long Day" by Ruud if you havnt read it!

[@tsebuilder_wa3389]

The life of a firearm can be fascinating. If that rifle could talk...

[@PalleRasmussen]

You should have visited me while I lived there. I could have gotten you hunting with the locals. The shooting skills of the good ones rival Henry.

[@paleoph6168]

Nice, another YT video on the M1917 Enfield rifle! Greenland is the last vestige of this forgotten veteran. Thank you for making a video on this, Ian.

[@TheRenolius]

My father threw away my grandfathers M1917 Enfield in 2015 as our basement has been flooded and damage from rust was too extensive. But thankfully my cousin gave away his gun to me as he was moving away to Denmark. The rifle is still in perfect condition with a rear aperture still intact with a small modification on the buttstock.

[@jsmith3772]

I remember reading that the Sirius Patrol actually engaged German troops who had set up weather stations on Greenland, wonder what weapons they used then.

[@PalleRasmussen]

The Sirius patrol was not founded then. It was local trappers with their hunting rifles, organised in an impromptu sled patrol/home guard that engaged and defeated the Germans.

[@liammeech3702]

Probably Krags

[@daionmaniacs6864]

They used m1917 rifles. Krags froze up. This is the reason why the Sirius Patrol wanted m1917 rifles in 1960. They knew those worked

[@daionmaniacs6864]

@@PalleRasmussen Hehe I know what you mean. And you are right. The name Sirius Patrol didnt come until later, but those attacks on Germans are still a part of the Sirius Patrol history :)

[@daionmaniacs6864]

@@liammeech3702 Nope. Krags froze up. They used M1917 rifle

[@noname-cg6qk]

02:15 quite the rude description of sweden :D

[@gunnermurphy6632]

Can anyone give my ideas on how to fix a front barrel band on a vz 24? It is slipping when I shoot it, the locking slot, or whatever you'd call it, is fine. But the flatspring with the male side Notch, the notch itself is worn down. Numbers matching 1927 production vz 24 thanks

[@pongsakvittayarumpa9233]

Great !

[@massivepileup]

Is that a regular trigger guard? Given that you'd definitely be using gloves with this one that's a bit surprising.

[@caffeinecommissar5868]

"Not really any northern wastelands of Denmark", fair but most of us consider Christiansborg an intellectual wasteland.

[@Matt-md5yt]

That's a cool Looking Bolt action rifle

[@RonOhio]

I can't imagine a better surplus rifle for the purpose. Come to think of it, I can't think of too many modern rifles I would prefer for use in bitter cold, snow, ice and the possibility of encountering a polar bear.

[@mrfancypanzer549]

Would honestly expect Krag Jørgensen rifles.

[@diktatoralexander88]

Didn't have a strong enough bolt for a rimeless 30-06 pressures. 30-40 Krag is good, but the bolt system of that rifle isn't robust enough. Beleive it only has 1 locking lug, could be wrong. But it's also pretty thin.

[@mrfancypanzer549]

@@diktatoralexander88 6.5x55 is still taking bull moose nearly 130 years later.

[@DebatingWombat]

@@diktatoralexander88 The ‘89er was once a staple of Greenland hunting/fur trapping lore, so they were indeed used because they were available as cheap surplus. I think I’ve seen some photos of them still knocking around in the Greenland gun market. However, you’re almost certainly right that a more powerful cartridge was preferred once available and affordable. Even more so as I would expect 30-06 to be competitively priced today compared with Krag ammo, given the economy of scale an ease/difficulty of sourcing.

[@diktatoralexander88]

@@DebatingWombat Didn't know that but yea, the Krag-jorgensen was a Norwegian design. Perhaps once it was available and state of the art at it's time, it was used for a while.

[@DebatingWombat]

@@diktatoralexander88 As Denmark was the first country to adopt the Krag-Jørgensen for military service in 1889 before Norway even became independent, the later easily and cheaply available surplus Danish ‘89ers and ammo would’ve been an obvious choice for Greenland hunters. I’m also fairly sure that ‘89ers were purchased for larger scale commercial trapping as well, back when that was a big thing (with a major focus on seal pelts in particular). However, with surplus ammo from Danish military stock drying up and more powerful ammunition easily and cheaply available alongside newer, quite affordable military surplus rifles to fire it, I think it’s also quite clear why something like the Enfield became popular imports.

[@Calum_S]

There's a good book about the patrols in WW2 where they ran into a German landing party. I think it's called the sled patrol.

[@andriandrason1318]

Its called pow patrol.

[@ankereisenman4824]

I have a plain American M1917, they’re fantastic rifles. I had to clean it once I took it home from auction, so the literal dirt from French was wiped out of the action. I haven’t been able to find surplus .30-06 and I don’t want to run modern ammo through it

[@Rocketsong]

Modern ammo will not hurt an M1917. It's not higher pressure than WWI ammo. If anything, it's weaker.

[@randymagnum143]

Not only is the rear sight poorly thought out and misguided, it's cut into the most critical high, pressure area of the rifle.