I have used a 1917 (made 1936) for competition and they sure works fine with major PF loads. They do not have the peening problem of the 625 cylinder, and that I like.
To be honest:
The trigger will never get as good as on a modern gun. Soft and smooth but never as light.
The sights have to be filed quite a lot, both front and rear. Tiny and not as fast as the options you find today.
Accurracy is OK but nothing to write home about.
Ligher than modern 625's it will also behave a bit more snappy when firing major PF.
That aside I really like mine and have plans to rebuild it for real rear sights and possibly swap to a new heavier barrel.