Here is a link to FM 23-36 (Field Manual for both the Colt and S&W M1917 revolvers). It contains some pretty good information and diagrams.
FM 23-36 Revolver, Colt, Caliber .45, M1917 and Revolver, Smith and Wesson, Caliber .45, M1917 1941 : United States. War Department : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
You can read the manual on-line, but I would suggest downloading the PDF to your computer hard drive so you can read it at your leisure. Just click the link then when the proper website appears, scroll down a little to see the box on the right labeled "Download Options". I choose PDF, but if you prefer Kindle or whatever, suit yourself. It takes a while to download. Once you have it on your browser, you can save it to your hard drive.