inherited a 1917 with a pitted barrel from my dad

[jmoore]

That old Enfield rifling definitely can still do the job even when it looks pretty sad. Get some M2 ball or equivalent (150gr bullet at an advertised 2700 fps) and see how it does for starters. I've been shooting an M1917 with a rough bore since the 1970's and it still shoots 2-3 MOA if the nut behind the trigger does his job.

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[NRA]

That old Enfield rifling definitely can still do the job even when it looks pretty sad. Get some M2 ball or equivalent (150gr bullet at an advertised 2700 fps) and see how it does for starters. I've been shooting an M1917 with a rough bore since the 1970's and it still shoots 2-3 MOA if the nut behind the trigger does his job.

What he said, use flat base and it will be much more accurate. This was at least true for me.

[frankenstein]

any reason not to use boat tails? better seal of the charge?

[jmoore]

any reason not to use boat tails? better seal of the charge?

Possibly, but also possible increase in bearing length as well, which isn't all that long with 150gr bullets in .30 caliber.

[frankenstein]

shot it today, and at 25 yds it grouped about 6 inches. a portion of that is me being unfamiliar with this rifle, however, I was hitting the x in the bull with my Garand on the same range a week ago.

the trigger is pretty soft on it. I'm making a list of what I want to do with it. Barrel. Trigger. Maybe a parkerizing job. All I really need is a pile o' cash.