Newer to the forum and I have a question about a M1917 I bought about 2 years ago.
Background: SN is 836XX. Numbers match on frame, cylinder, barrel, crane. She has the government proofs: eagle S1, flaming bomb so I take it the DOB is after the Army took over production. (I'll post pics as soon as I can.) I think she was reblued somewhere along the way, some of the proof marks are a little soft, mostly the flaming bomb on the left side of the frame. Plus, there the barrel has some pitting so she's seen some service somewhere.
Here's the question, groups are pretty large, 6 or so inches at 15 yards. ( I can hold 2-3 inches at 15 yards with my 686 or 10-8.) Often there is one flyer larger than that. In one of the handloading magazines there was a test to check throat size of a 45LC SAA (.452 or .454+)--take a .452 bullet only (no case) and drop it into each cylinder chamber from the rear. If the bullet sticks in the chamber, it is .452, if it passes through the throat it is larger.
The M1917 doesn't seem to have a throat in the chamber as it headspaces on the case mouth, but I thought the test might tell me if the chambers were at least of a similar diameter. So I took a Berry's 230 gr .452 plated bullet and dropped it in each chamber in the M1917's cylinder. Three chambers held the bullet and three allowed the bullet to pass through. Then I set the bullet in the forcing cone and about half the bullet would enter the cone.
Lock up seems ok, not new by any stretch of the imagination, but not worn out. A business card won't pass into the barrel/cylinder gap.
Could the accuracy problem be that the bullets are starting to go sideways before they contact the cone?
Any ideas on if that can be fixed?
Thanks