Another update, before this thread falls into the abyss...
No returned 317 yet. I called them 9 days after I sent the money, and they had no record of having received it. The service rep said he would look into it and call me back.
True to his word, he called about 4 hours later and said they have the money and also confirmed the return address. I was told that they are out of stock as far as the steel cylinder, and that they will begin work as soon as it is available.
That was two weeks ago. I called last week, got a different rep, same status.
Called today, different rep, same status. At least this one did not ask me "Did I pay?" as question #2, right after "What's the serial number?".
So it looks unlikely the gun will be back before the end of the year. After having researched around, it may take them 2 months to machine this cylinder for me.
ClemY has already pretty much stolen all the thunder with his pic, but I will still post a pic once this is returned. Just in case somebody cares; because I borderline don't now so I'm sure nobody else really does.