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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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Old 10-20-2017, 09:58 AM
Racerx21 Racerx21 is offline
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Default 1917 DA .45 Nickel With Star After 30xxx ser#

On a quest ... for info I have been unable to find about this
Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector - 1917 DA .45 (all froze up)
5 screw, nickel, 5" barrel, "united states property" stamp (bottom of barrel), Patent stamp (Top of barrel), VERY faint S&W DA 45 ?? (Left side of barrel), S&W Trade Mark Engraved on Right side Cover, Ser #307xx(and a star??) Stamped on bottom butt stock, (numbers match on cylinder, but no star) ... Serial # dated it to manufacture date 1918 ... I am very curious about the history of this and would appreciate any info ... TY
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Old 10-20-2017, 11:34 AM
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Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! Your Model 1917 Military was made in March 1918. The star on the butt indicates it went back to the factory for service work. If you remove the stocks, there should be a date for the service work in MM.YY format stamped on the left side toe of the grip frame. There may also be other stamps that indicate if the finish was redone at that time. The nickel plate is not original as these guns were all finished in blue. What else do you want to know?
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Old 10-20-2017, 11:38 AM
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By "all froze up" do you mean you can't open it or cock it? Have you tried to screw in the ejector rod? It would be a right hand thread. Using a piece of leather to protect the jaws, put light to medium pressure on the knob of the ejector rod and try to screw in the rod. After it moves just a couple threads you can normally open it and then grab the rod and screw it all the way in.

If this isn't the case, does it appear to be rusted shut? If so, a soaking in Kroil or transmission fluid for a day or two may loosen it up enough.
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Old 10-20-2017, 12:26 PM
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TYVM !! Great info Guy !! Can I track down unit number, assignment info too with serial # also ?? I love history projects ... And Yes Mr Richard no cocking, movement at all, I have only found aerosol Kroil oil, locally so far, but that was my plan exactly. I was told it may be better if, "didn't touch anything" until I tracked down the particulars. Thank you
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Old 10-20-2017, 12:40 PM
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That looks like the S&W logo on the side plate. I thought that the GI 1917s did not have the logo on them.
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Old 10-20-2017, 01:18 PM
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Quote:
Can I track down unit number, assignment info too with serial # also ??
If there is a way to do that, I'm unaware of it.

Quote:
I thought that the GI 1917s did not have the logo on them.
That is my understanding as well. However, this gun has gone back to the factory for service. It could have acquired a new sideplate or stamp during the repair service work.
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Old 10-20-2017, 01:42 PM
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That's what I came to understand also, with no military stamping on the butt, and the star, I thought maybe it was an officers, may have been plated originally ??? But I was glad to see that cylinder matched, I am suspect of barrel tho ?? The stamping is worn to barely readable with eye loop & 100 lumen light and there is only 1/8" hole at the cylinder end of barrel ??
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Old 10-20-2017, 01:53 PM
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We need some more well-lighted and sharply focused pictures. I totally didn't understand your comment about a 1/8" hole.
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Old 10-20-2017, 01:54 PM
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OP;

A 1/8" hole at cylinder end of barrel? Do you mean the actual chamber of the barrel where the bullet will enter? If so....then that hole should be approaching 1/2" diameter...not 1/8".

Could be a former weapon that was "de-militarized" by plugging, or even a weapon that became a movie "prop" gun.

One of my daughters is a University Professor in Theatre Arts and some of the movies she has worked on during summer hiatus (meaning no pay for 3 months) and I have seen movie prop guns made from soap, wood, pot-metal, but the movies with decent budgets and going for better realism use real weapons rendered non-firing by several means and barrel plugging with a small hole for the blank charge to escape is one of them.

Just a thought.........not more and may have absolutely zero to do with your piece.
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Old 10-20-2017, 06:56 PM
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Welcome to the Forum.

Does the butt have the "U S ARMY" and "MODEL OF 1917", plus the serial number, stamped on it?
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Old 10-20-2017, 07:33 PM
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Thanks ... No Sir, it does not ... Just serial # with star on backside of lanyard ? My Camera doesn't take good pics, sorry. Every one I've seen has those stamps going from grip to grip(perpendicular of gun direction), and mine its serial # starts at back of butt (in direction the gun is pointing) and ends at lanyard ??
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Old 10-20-2017, 10:52 PM
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OK, you have a commercial 1917. When you get the cylinder open, check for a serial number on the underside of the barrel. There may also be some other markings.

More pictures and at least a partial serial number (1234xx will do). That will help narrowing down the the age range.
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Old 10-21-2017, 09:04 PM
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OK ... FINALLY borrowed a decent Camera ... Sorry for delay
1. serial # on butt
2. serial # on bottom of barrel
3. # on frame behind extractor
4. # on inside Extractor
5. Upper left under grip
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Old 10-21-2017, 09:14 PM
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Lower left under grip and underside of barrel
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Old 10-21-2017, 09:25 PM
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The serial number and format suggest this was originally a .455 Mark II British service revolver that was converted to .45 ACP (if that is actually what fully chambers). These were sometimes rollmarked "Smith & Wesson .455" on the left barrel.

The other possibility is it started out as a 1917 Army and went back to the factory for a rebuild, including restamping the butt with a commercial format serial number and possibly a nickel refinish. Some work occurred in October 1947.

The barrel really appears to be 5"; the original would have been 5.5" and someone took the 0.5" off.

The 3615 on the yoke and frame cutout shows the parts were original from the factory. The 1/8" comment still needs a reply .
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Old 10-21-2017, 11:10 PM
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It was a mistake, I was seeing the where the firing pin comes thru in the back part of frame ... sorry my eyes are going bad on me.
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Old 10-22-2017, 06:00 AM
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Well, I'm not any clearer on this one than before. The gun obviously went back to the factory 10/47 and had a barrel replacement (O on flat). And, why would the factory put a military barrel on a commercial gun? But the finish does not look factory for a commercial gun. The gun is very rough and the plating seems to have been done over a rough finish. The butt has been ground off and SN/star stamped over the ground-off area. This one screams frankengun.
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Old 10-22-2017, 06:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by murphydog View Post
The serial number and format suggest this was originally a .455 Mark II British service revolver that was converted to .45 ACP (if that is actually what fully chambers) . . .

The other possibility is it started out as a 1917 Army . . . Some work occurred in October 1947 . . . The barrel really appears to be 5"; the original would have been 5.5" and someone took the 0.5" off.
I'm also thinking it started out a .455 Mk II but went back to the factory in 10/47 for a 5.5" Model 1917 barrel. If the OP would measure the barrel from front face of cylinder to muzzle tip, it just may still be 5.5".

Based on the pictures and condition of the gun I can't tell much about the finish . . . but it does not appear to have been done by the factory.

Russ
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Old 10-22-2017, 09:08 AM
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I'm pretty sure that gun hasn't led a sheltered life....
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Old 10-22-2017, 12:50 PM
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I appreciate all the input, from all!!! It is really rough, but I wanted to make some sense of info, nothing was adding up? And really still arent?? Lol I was thinking frankengun myself Guy, but I am going to be offline until end of next week ... But wanted to make sure I could thank everyone for sharing knowledge !!! And appreciate all opinions and ideas on this ... But fact is, my father had it and passed in may. So it may be an inigma, but still special to me, 100yrs old is still pretty cool
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