My Winchester 1917 was arsenal refurbished and parkerized for WWII. It has an Eddystone thumb safety and Eddystone bolt release, other than that, all parts are stamped W. The barrel is dated 2-18. The serial number on the receiver is dates production to 12-17. So I guess it could be the original. Anyway its stamped W and is a bright, excellent bore.
It works perfect, shoots great and looks like after it was rebuilt it sat un-used, till now.
I know one thing, you have to be in shape to fight with one. Also being a good shot helped, because it certainly doesn't have much fire power. Of WWI type rifles, I would prefer the BAR. Its heavy, but you can lay down some fast, accurate fire with one of those.