Hi all. My first post and it's all the way from New Zealand. I'll apologize in advance for the length but am trying to give you guys in the North as much info as I can. I got a M1917 Eddystone at an auction 3 months ago and discovered when I got it home it has been counterbored approx 48mm! Ouch, but not the end of the world I thought. It has CAI VT markings so I'm guessing it has been overseas, maybe directly here to NZ. Barrel is dull and frosty but has reasonable rifling still and has had a thorough cleaning with Butch's bore shine [x 3] and bronze brush.
First range test I did I fired a couple of Trail Boss loads thru it just to be safe and all looked good so fired 5 LC M2 Ball rounds at 100 yds and it was shooting 16" or so consistently to the left! Drifted front sight sight left maybe 2mm and no improvement. Went back to 50 yds and drifted sight left so far left it was ridiculous. Managed to just clip the target frame. Brass showed faint ring above the base.
Second range test I loaded up some NNY brass with 46gr of AR2208 [4064] and 165g Speer GS flat base. Recentred the sight and went back out to 100 yds and just got 5 rounds on the card but still 12" left. An improvement with larger projectiles but still not great. Elevation was good. Brass [NNY] had a visible bright ring but a stray Win case showed the same but also a noticeable swelling at the ring. Hmm, now I was starting to think head space issues.
Third range test I tried some 180gr Sierra Prohunters using NNY brass.Only fired one as it had same bright ring but primer had visibly flattened out although there was no sign of powder leak. Ditto at the neck. POI was same as previous test. Decided that was enough until I can nut this bad boy out.
I stripped the rifle today and stock looks in good shape for 96 years young with no soft oily patches or spilts etc. Also stripped the bolt of spring and extractor and loaded a Federal factory case and bolt closed. Added one layer of masking tape and bolt still closed. Added a second layer and closed halfway. The barrel index marks are spot on.
Barrel is E 11-18, E bolt, in fact mostly E except for R front sight and W stock.
Can rent a set of Forster HS gauges via mail order if necessary but would appreciate your thoughts or advice first. Cheers.