;)
Found this oddity in a small shop near the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It's a Winchester Model 1917 that appears to be extremely well traveled. While likely being issued to US troops in WWI, it was subsequently refurbished at the Augusta Arsenal. From there, its path took a strange turn.
The gun exhibits much scrubbing of marks, and some new marks to take their place. First, nearly the entire receiver ring has been ground, leaving only the letters M and W, which identify it as a Winchester. An electropenciled serial number was then applied to the left side of the receiver - most likely from the importer.
Next, the barrel date and flaming bomb were scrubbed, and Century Arms placed their import and caliber stamps in the area.
Now, it gets interesting. While the right side buttstock brand is nearly completely obliterated with a rasp, the left side still exhibits the remains of a Chinese brand that was burned into the wood. And, overlaying the Chinese brand, there are the Arabic painted rack number (54) and an unknown (at this time) script. Cool. Hardly ever seen on a US issued firearm.
The bolt handle also received a number stamp, which is typical of the limited number of US rifles which did end up in China. And the floorplate also has a scrubbed section, which may have contained another serial number stamp and/or US or Chinese identification stamps.
It is unsure whether the US marks would have been scrubbed in China, or the Middle East. Neither region held much regard for America. And the rifle's exact journey would be tough to establish with certainty. But the US did supply the Nationalist Chinese forces with small arms in the 1940's. First, to aid against Japan, and later in the decade, to resist the PLA.
And then from China, it made its way to the Middle East. My best guess is Egypt, only because Century Arms imported a batch of Arabic marked guns in the early 1990's, presumably from Israeli captures of Egyptian arms from 1967 to 1973. This gun was purchased by the gunshop owner directly from the Century Arms warehouse in 1992, and was the only Model 1917 in the batch of imports.
All speculation, of course, but the theory of the rifle's history is following the logic of only a few limited possibilities. Other scenarios could be possible, for sure. As of today, and I've done a lot of searches for other specimens, this is the only Model 1917 that I can find with evidence of both Chinese and Arabic roots. A very, very unusual example. Thanks for looking.
thanks for sharing and a great writeup.You got some serious tracking skills 
Nice rifle Martin. With these old girls could tell stories.