I'm half heartedly looking for a Mauser action and ran across a site with Mausers and some Enfield M1917 actions. The Enfields say they're "Drill Purpose" marked and they're selling them a usable actions to build a rifle around.

My understanding is that parts so marked by the armory were deemed unsafe for live fire and were used for training purposes only.

Am I wrong??

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Usually this is easy with SMLEs, No4s and PAttern 14s, but it's hard to say with the M1917. Do they have red paint on the stock near the muzzle? That was to remind UK Home Guard troops that the M1917 did not take .303 ammo. A gun might be marked DP in the UK simply to indicate that standard issue ammo won't work.

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Sometimes they were deliberately "deactivated" by doing such things as filing the chamber with weld, or drilling holes thru the chamber. Sometimes they were just so old they were deemed unsafe to shoot. I would be VERY reluctant to use one for customization purposes. It may very well have a very high round count or be in really deplorable condition.

DP marked Rifles were made up on action bodies that were no longer fit for actual combat service. Usually all parts were unserviceable and were only supposed to be used as training or used by cadets. Big letters DP were stamped on the receiver ring,Knox form on barrels. Stocks were usually painted in a color code with DP also on the wood. When the action was too worn for service (case hardening or induction hardening had worn out where the two lugs had worn through it). And some perfectly serviceable rifles were also turned into DP rifles. Some rifles had holes drilled in the chamber and a rod welded lengthwise across the chamber. Quiet a few P14's and some U'S. Model of 1917 just had the hole threw the handguard and into the chamber no rod. More than a few shooters discovered these holes and a few never saw them until the chambered round went off. I have a P14 with EY stamped on the Knox form of the barrel. Emergency Use Only. Can be fired with ball ammo. Lots of places sell the wood from DP rifles. Back end of the forestock cracks when the draws are shot. I use oak to make the repairs with. Clamped in place when the epoxy stets up and sometimes 1/8" bamboo squers drilled through the stock from 2 sides and coated with epoxy. Draws have to have all the old oil soaked wood removed. So as to allow good adhesion by the epoxy. And oak pieces also epoxied in place. I cheated on the draws on a No5MKI aka Jungle Carbine. Bedded the entire action, barrel and handguard ring. Few tense moments getting that apart. Frank

I appreciate the replies. These are action only and the seller does not show the actual marking.

I'm surprised any dealer would risk selling these without disabling them entirely, but apparently they're fully functioning units. Seems like the liability would be through the roof.

From their description:
It is ‘DP’ Marked (Drill Purpose) It was manufactured by the Eddystone Remington Arms Co, with serial number; 348407. The rear sight wings have been removed professionally with quality workmanship, allowing for scope mounting. The receiver is in great shape for its age. The metal is in good condition with no significant damage — no deep cuts, cracks, rust, dents, or other deformities. This receiver would surely make for a fun project to complete an Enfield M1917 Eddystone Rifle.

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I wouldn't use a 110 year old action for a custom rifle. IIRC Eddystone M1917 receivers often cracked when removing the barrel. Yes, the red band on Lend-Lease M1917s were to indicate they were not chambered in 303 British.

$400 for an action that I can't inspect for common cracks AND has the rear sight machined off?

Hard pass. Buy one of the half-million already sporterized 1917s for that price and clean it up if you're interested in a project.

This DP-marked receiver came from a Pattern 14 Eddystone drill rifle I bought to cannibalize for parts to complete another rifle. About the only thing that had been done was to hog out some wood from the stock and rear hand guard, then a hole was drilled through the chamber, a piece of steel rod pounded into the hole in the chamber and out the other side. (I can’t remember if the rod had been tack welded to the barrel or not). The receiver was no harder to unscrew from the barrel than any other Enfield I’ve worked on. The receiver was marked “DP” with an electric pencil but looks usable. About the only other DP marking was near the bottom of the butt stock in red paint. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are lots of other methods of converting rifles to Drill Rifles.

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Years ago I bought box fulls of No 1 MkIII Lithgow DP rifles from Gibbs. I think they were about $25.00 a piece at the time. All the stocks were marked "DP". The firing pins were cut and a small piece of rod was driven into the firing pin hole on the bolt head. Upon close inspection these appears to be new rifles that had been converted to drill purpose. All had new wood, pristine bores, fresh parkerized finish. All receivers had "FTR" stamps which indicated they had gone through arsenal refinishing. Of the 25 or so I bought they were all returned to firing condition with no problems. Still have a few lying about the shop

Sounds like they were marked DP because they had been made non-functional, not because they were broken in any way. I have a 1912 New Zealand marked SMLE showing DP, but it could be because it has the old sight bed, so it's not good for MkVII ammo.

I received a No4 from an auction that turned out to have the dreaded ZF mark on the buttstock. Couldn't understand why as the bore looked pristine. Then I checked the headspace...with a thick book. Looked like it missed the hardening process for the lug recesses.

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Eddystone mfgr 1917 US Enfields are considered the least desireable of the 3 mfg'rs of that rifle.
Before all the feedback on how well your particular Eddystone has served you and the Doughboys of WW1,,that is just a fact of comparing the 3.
Remington rates 1, Winchester 2 and Eddystone 3.

The Eddystone Arsenal was the old Eddystone Locomotive Mfr'g Works in Eddystone Pa.
Yes Remington provided machinery and mangment.

The rifles made at Remington Ilion are considered the best overall quality. It's just that way.

Many custom builders will not use an Eddystone action to make a rifle up. They will not 'waste their time' on one. High brow?, maybe. But it's their time and your money that's being spent and when you get deeply into these, you get to know the differences in them.

All that said,,
Are the 'Actions' being offered actually 'Actions',or are they just 'Receivers'
The former are complete with bolts and all the parts including bottom metal, trigger assemblys, etc.
The latter are just a frame, stripped of all small parts, no bolt assembly, trigger guard, magazine box, follower, bolt stop, etc.

Big difference.

Eddystone mfg actions are well noted for developing a crack in the front receiver ring when the orig bbl is dismounted.
This comes from the way the orig bbl was torqued into place.

Not every one devolpes the crack, not every one is a bear to dismount the orig bbl.
The safe way to remove them is to relieve the torque at the bbl/frame joint with either a hacksaw slot all the way around on the bbl. Or use a lathe to do the same. Not much is needed. Then the bbl unscrews rather easily.

When they do crack, the crack is generally on the underside of the front recv'r ring where it is thinest. Usually easy to see.
The Eddystone recv'rs can be brittle sometimes too. Not unlike the Low# '03's and break off a rather sizeable chuck from the ring if already cracked.

These big actions have been used to make up some great big bore custom rifles. All the way up to 505Gibbs.
But the choice is usually a Remington, Illion made action for their better quality.

Bbl's for the action are hard to find if looking for a exc condition replacement Milsurp or a pre threaded & chambered sporter.
Most any of the Bbl makers with make, thread and chamber & fit a bbl to the action for you. But that'll run you into the $500/600 range by the time you are through with shipping.

Building a sporter from parts is not cheap any more, especially on actions like the '14/17 Enfield and even the '03 Springfield.
The 98Mauser isn't too bad as there are still quite a few sporter bbls around both secondary market and new prehtreaded/chambered at decent prices.
Lots to choose from in pre-turned stocks as well.

Doing much of the work yourself helps to keep the price down and makes a nice hobby of it.

Searching the shops and shows for other peoples started but didn't finish projects can also be a good source of something to straighten out and finish up at little cost other than labor sometimes.
I've found a lot of gems that way!

Good luck in your project(s).

^^^^^^^^^what he said^^^^^^^^^^

Very educational post, thank you.

My search is actually for a large ring 98 Mauser action when I blundered into the Enfields along with some Mausers (both overpriced, I think).

My concern about the "DP" marked actions (complete actions, btw) was whether I'm correct in thinking they were taken out of service as a safety issue. Seems like that could go either way and no way to determine which. Kind of makes me question the judgement of the seller (but certainly not their honesty).

So, my low key project is to sniff out a large ring 98 action, a short chambered new barrel and a semi inletted stock and see what kind of hay I can make with it all. It'll cut into my drinking time but I have some to spare.

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