I am new to the forum and hope I follow the rules. I have an unusual 1917 that I purchased from a friend that stated the pistol came from an estate of a local doctor whose father was
a Army Dr. during the 1st WW. That the pistol was taken from
the assembly line before The United States Property was put
on it. The Dr. had it until passed on to his son. I have had it
for 40 plus years. It had the regular grips, but it had another
Personal grips, with an unmarked gold "disk"on it with beautiful wood when I got it. There is no name or initial on
the disk. It is all military issue with all matching numbers
as my other 1917's, but lacks the U.S. Property on the bottom
of the barrel. S#butt 29,863 and barrel and the two numbers
on the crane match with silver"S" on both. I have pictures,but
don't know how to send them to the forum. It looks new!!
Google the web for "Photobucket", upload your images to that site. Name and save same. Then hover over the image, click on the bottom drop down on the list, come into the forum start a thread or reply, type your words, when you reach the spot you want the image click on "ctrl" and "v" at the same time. You can preview your post in the "go advanced" window. When it looks the way you like it, click on "post reply"
I forgot to ask the big question: What have I got? I must
believe the friend and I knew the doctor that it belonged to,
but never received the information about this particular pistol
from the owner before he died. junebug
I forgot to ask the big question: What have I got?
It's pretty hard to answer your question without pictures. There are distinct markings on the Model 1917s that distinguish the military issue from the later commercial revolvers (that do not have the United States Property under the barrel). Please include a picture of the butt of the grip frame.
If it's a military 1917 with original barrel and no United States Property marking on the underside of the barrel, then it's most certainly been removed. This was quite common with military pistols brought home by returning service men. Some were done crudely and others were very well done. I have seen several M1911's and some 1917's with the markings removed. Check the left side of the frame for government acceptance markings.