US model of 1917 extraction problems: honing the chamber

My Model 1917 and I are still having trouble getting along, as I mentioned in several other posts. At Perry I ended up with some saved rounds in rapid prone due to ejection problems which did not make me happy.

While cleaning it i discovered that the chamber looks a little rough, probably a bit of rust. After unsuccessfully trying to clean it up with a chamber bush I ordered a 800 grain 30-06 “flex-hone” and the corresponding oil from midway.

I stripped the stock off and clamped the barrel between two wooden blocks in my big vice oiled the flex-hone lightly per instructions and ran it in and out for a very short time… Less than a minute.

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I won’t know how effective it was for a few weeks, the chamber is nice and shiny now and it still passes headspace so I have managed to break anything.

If you decide to try this be careful not to over polish and take the stock off so you don’t break it in the vice. I’m sure there are better ways to clamp it down, but I just used a couple boards and my big vice tightening it just enough to hold it firm at a “straight” part of the barrel.

UPDATE: this worked!!! While my initial “less than a minute” wasn’t enough I honed it again for longer maybe 3 minutes in and out. After I was done the shoulders were “white” so there was probably a lot of build up from years of shooting blanks.

HXP ejected like butter some of my reloads still needed some extra force but that could be related to me poorly sizing the brass. I may touch it up just a bit more but I am excited that I finally found a solution!