I also bought a 1917 revolver in very good shape but for the ramped front sight. Unfortunately the sight profile on mine was too low and the gun shot very high with ball ammo. My neighborhood gunsmith (Terry Tussey) fixed the front sight by expertly adding a penny, & blackening it. It now shoots perfectly.
Also, I have many S&W 1917s and they are all much more accurate with ball ammo than with either factory lead auto-rim ammo or lead ACP loads. Don't really know why.