The Snabb “conversion” rifle. A rare modification of the M1917 Enfield (aka Eddystone M1917) magazine rifle into a self-loading rifle. The rifle itself is an American modification of the British Pattern 1914 Enfield rifle, used by the Americans in Europe during the First World War. The conversion was proposed by a Swedish engineer in 1938. In theory, such a conversion could be done with any military rifle from Mauser, Springfield, Enfield or Mannlicher
The rear part of the rifle body was removed, and an extended new rear part with guides for the bolt was installed in its place. Along the longitudinal axis of the bolt, in place of the original striker, a special hollow screw was placed, which made the bolt rotate when unlocking and locking and moved the bolt in the longitudinal direction. Inside the screw was the striker, which was made in such a way that it could not reach the primer when the bolt was not completely closed
The screw itself was moved in the longitudinal direction by a certain part, set in motion by the powder gases. They were taken almost at the muzzle and sent to a movable gas chamber located under the barrel. There, in the tube under the barrel, was also located the return spring. The trigger mechanism differed little from the original, and allowed only single-shot firing. When the last cartridge was fired, the bolt remained open. The capacity of the box magazine was 10 cartridges
As stated in the English-language description, the experimental self-loading rifle was well balanced, the mechanism was simple, durable, well sealed from sand, dirt and moisture
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I always loved thumbhole stocks, they look really elegant.
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Swedish speaker here; just thought I’d add on that “Snabb” is the name of the company that attempted to market these… dreadful conversions (basicly, snake oil of the gun world, there’s a reason these never cought on anywhere), and the name means “fast” in Swedish.
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