Heat-treated M-1917 cylinders

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I can't find it at the moment, but someone asked here recently about whether S&W M-1917 cylinders were heat-treated for added strength. Yes, they were, from gun No. 1.

This is from Smith & Wesson Handguns, by McHenry & Roper, 1945, with reprints. The model listed just above this one is the Hand Ejector .455, Mk II. There is no mention of heat-treated cylinders on those.

I believe that this info is also in the Supica and Nahas book.

From this, I believe that the higher pressure of the .45 auto ctg. caused S&W or the Army to decide that the heat-treated cylinder was a wise idea.

One may wish to keep this in mind if converting a .455 to use .45 auto ammo in clips. This issue crops up here fairly often.

T-Star
 
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Thanks for posting this nugget of info. I'm new enough here on the forum to have missed the earlier discussion.

Dave
 
I just sorted out my decision tree on converting a .455
to .45acp.
For me the primary points are the higher pressure of
.45acp compared to .455.
Factory loadings of .45auto rim are down loaded to approx.
same pressure as .455.
Most important for me was John Travelers report that the Canadian shooters converted their .455 revolvers to .45acp when their supply of surplus .455 ran out and started to
experience cylinder failure shooting standard pressure acp.

I do wonder if converted Colts also have the same issue.

My choice is to maintain .455 and reload.
 
Colt's metallurgy was generally superior to S&W's, and they began heat-treating some years sooner. I think their New Service was a stronger gun than the S&W .455's.

Also, Colt's longer cylinder was probably made to the same specs that they used for their .45 Colt guns, and was likely pretty strong by the standards of the day. Many have converted Colt .455's to .45 Colt, and I've not heard of any trouble, unless hot handloads were involved. For dimensional reasons, including bore diameter, the New Service is best converted to .45 Colt, not ACP. However, any conversion of these old guns needs to be approached with caution and the advice of a competent gunsmith.

T-Star
 
.45ACP in converted .455 revolvers

If I can find it, I will post the picture of a converted Webley MkVI re-chambered to .45 ACP. It shows the ruptured cylinder still holding .45 ACP ball rounds. The picture is a couple three years old and may still be on the internet.
 
I found a couple of pictures at british militaria forums.

I googled images with -ruptured webley revolver- as search phrase.

I have zero link-fu.

;)
 
However, any conversion of these old guns needs to be approached with caution and the advice of a competent gunsmith.
Click to expand...
And a big dose of "Don't Do It!"

Anyone who wants a revolver in .45 Colt or .45 ACP should not have any trouble finding one these days. What a folly it is to go to the expense of converting one of the oldies to wind up with something you really shouldn't shoot while eliminating any collector value in the process!
 
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