This isn't a direct answer to your question, but 1917 Enfield barrels CAN be a real bear to swap. It's my understanding that sometimes the threads in the receiver and the threads on the barrel were almost - but not quite! - matching. With the pressure to meet production quotas, the ever-so-slightly mismatched parts were MADE to fit, using as much as 325 ft-lbs of torque to screw them together.
Separating them again may well put small cracks in the receiver - not good. The preferred method is to cut off the barrel ahead of the receiver, then drill out most of the barrel metal; this supposedly relieves things enough so that microcracks aren't induced in the receiver.
So . . . be sure your gunsmith KNOWS what he's doing.
In any case, if the bore is dark, but still has good rifling, I'd consider it a candidate for fire lapping. Essentially, you coat the bearing surface of your bullets with a very fine abrasive, and then shoot a number of rounds. This isn't the sort of thing you'd do for high-grade target barrels, but I've heard about nothing but good results for rough bores. Places like MidwayUSA or Brownell's should carry fire lapping kits.
