The '17 is probably the only exception I can think of to the rule of mixed parts rifles. Most other antique rifles would be considered devalued if assembled with mismatching parts. However, it's more acceptable in the case of '17s because mixing parts was such a common practice.
A '17 with original parts is more interesting to me. I began replacing several R and E parts on my W rifle out of necessity. They were either worn or were OK but didn't fit very well.
The magazine box was a R and would fall out of the rifle if the trigger guard was removed. The replacement magazine box that I found on eBay is unissued NOS W and must be a bit larger than the R because it fits tightly into the stock as it should. The W magazine box that I bought would probably be too large to fit in a R stock. This would qualify as a parts compatibility issue that kept the early Ws in the US.
The trigger and sear were both E and were worn and loose. I took the assembly apart and found the holes were enlarged and trigger pin had been "worked" by someone with a chisel in an attempt to tighten things up. Replacing those items was needed to restore proper function. This is a good example of the dangers of mixing parts when cleaning several rifles at once. Worn parts from a war-weary E that was possibly fired several thousand times wound up in my (star circle stamped) W that never left the US and was possibly fired a few hundred times.
I'll continue to replace all the non-W parts with originals when I can find them. Certain parts will work better since they were made for the rifle (although my minty E bolt that head spaces and works perfectly might be hard to give up). Besides, chasing all these parts on the Internet has given me something to do and has kept me off the streets.
Merc
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