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       #Post#: 98--------------------------------------------------
       Restore the M17 Enfield
   DIR By: allmanav
       Date: March 3, 2020, 8:24 pm
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       M1917s are 100 or more years old now. Nevertheless, they’re
       still sought after by collectors and people who like to shoot
       old guns.
       But M1917s sometimes need repair, and finding the right gunsmith
       to do the job can be difficult. Somewhat common problems with
       old guns are barrel wear and corrosion. Age and neglect,
       especially on a gun that was built when corrosive ammunition was
       all that was available, often result in a gun that has a pitted
       barrel and is not accurate.
       But sometimes, even if the barrel is not corroded or pitted, the
       gun has been shot so much that the headspace has increased to a
       point that repairs are needed for safety—or just to make the gun
       fire. That’s the case with the sample gun used for this review
       of the M1917.
       The gun’s barrel was made by High Standard Manufacturing
       sometime during World War II and replaced the original barrel
       installed by Remington in 1918. While the replacement barrel
       still had sharp rifling and a bright bore, the chamber
       dimensions had increased, probably from firing many rounds, to
       the point that not all ammunition would fire. A check with
       chamber gauges showed that the headspace was greater than
       specifications. The bolt wouldn’t close on a field gauge but
       would close on a go-/no-go gauge, indicating that the chamber
       was close to being oversized … although it might still be safe.
       The fix was to either install a new barrel or screw the existing
       barrel in toward the receiver one additional turn. Then, using a
       chamber reamer, cut the chamber to proper dimensions.
       M17 has a reputation for the barrel being extremely tight in the
       receiver and very hard to turn. Either the barrel won’t budge,
       even with a great amount of force applied, or the receiver
       cracks when enough force is applied to turn the barrel. And a
       cracked receiver is ruined.
       The challenge was finding a gunsmith willing to work on the
       barrel of an M1917—and who had the skill to do it correctly. I
       consulted a number of gunsmiths, and finally, one who had the
       experience and tools to do it successfully agreed to take on
       this project.
       This issue didn’t faze Bobby Tyler of Tyler Gun Works (Friona,
       Texas). When the problem was posed to him, his immediate
       response was for me to send him the gun. It seems Tyler really
       likes a challenge, and if another gunsmith can’t do the work,
       Tyler wants the job even more.
       He built a fixture to properly support the receiver and used a
       very long bar for the leverage to turn the barrel. The price and
       turnaround time were reasonable, and the gun now works
       perfectly, igniting every .30-06 cartridge tried.
       It was important to save the High Standard barrel, and it looks
       just as it did before Tyler worked on it.
       Tyler is also a specialist with metal finishes and is
       particularly good at color case-hardening.
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