I picked up a Winchester 1917 yesterday, sn 289026, W barrel, marked 5-18, W marked stock on forend tip, with faint boxed 3-GM-K on left side. W marked bolt, Remington mag box, Eddystone striker.
The barrel bore is a sewer pipe. Looks as if it was neglected after firing with black powder blanks or corrosive primed ammunition and not cleaned. Bore is very rough, and after several applications of fairly harsh cleaning solvents, the patches are still coming out black, and I notice severe pitting at the muzzle end. Hopes of finding a good Winchester barrel are, well, you know, though I did notice one W barrel with a 1919 date on E Pay. I DO have a good, two groove JA barrel on a sported Eddystone...
The stock has some fairly significant damage, looks like it was scraped against something, on the top left side of the stock from about halfway back on the receiver, to just short of the grip slope.
First thought is a repop stock and Criterion, just because I don't have a 1917 shooter, and not necessarily looking to buy another.
Mostly I picked this up as a fairly complete rifle, even with the significant damage, because of the Winchester connection, and to fill a hole in my Allied weapon collection.
Is my best bet to just surrender, conserve the thing, and use it on the wall, or put some significant effort into repairs, and make it serviceable? What would you do? TIA.IMG_0458.jpgIMG_0461.JPGIMG_0463.JPGIMG_0464.JPGIMG_0468.JPG