Fall 2005 ...
I found a Gunboards listing for a Remington Model of 1917. I forget a lot of the details, but the Seller was new to GB and the details/pics could have been the work of
either a slimeball
or a open, honest person (ever notice how both can raise the same Red Flags when you read them?).
As is my wont, I emailed the Seller and traded several emails with a delightful lady. Her husband had recently died and she was selling his small collection of firearms. She indicated that she doesn't know much about guns. She said that she was surprised that I was the only person to contact her. I explained to her that many folks will shy away from people with no track record.
I was the only bidder on the rifle; $475.
As I was performing a detail-strip/inspection of the rifle it dawned upon me that that is a very good chance that this Remington has been unchanged and, apparently, handled
very little since it left the factory. No rebuild mark. The condition is close to 100%. All of the markings & finishes are "correct", ancient cosmoline in the barrel channels, the bore/throat gauge such they may be new, the bore is pristine, the bolt shows minimal markings from opening & closing but very little of firing. It even had a period-correct cleaning kit in the buttstock.
I contacted the lady again to thank her for the fine rifle and ask if she, by chance, knew anything of its history. No. <shrug>
Since there is no provenance, it is just an EXC-condition M1917. Worst case, it is just an M1917 that was "improved", somewhat, by her husband or a prior owner ... but it pleases me to think that it may be more than that.