Gentlemen,

I'm new. Need info.
I have a 1917. The barrel is not origonal. The mystery is that it says "Smith & Wesson" on the left side and"S. & W. D. A." on the right side...no other markings. I have never seen a picture of one reversed like this. Does anyone know where this barrel came from? All other markings and numbers match origonal.

Pittsburgh Newby

on the under side of the barrel there is a flat spot, look
to see if there is a number. the DA stands for double action.....

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George Jamison

George,
There are no markings on the smooth underside spot. It looks like a factory finish...no numbers removed

Pictures would probably be helpful in assessing what's the story with your gun.

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SWCA #590
"Colligo ergo sum"

Gentlemen,

Thanks for replying. I need to learn to get photos into the Forum. I have questions about several things.
I'll get a friend in this evening.

Welcome to the forum. Tell us about the markings on the left side of the grip frame under the stock.
Attachments and Images

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"I also cook."

Ah...something I never noticed.
A small number 37 stamped close to the stock pin on the left side of the grip frame.

Thanks also for the "how to" attachment link.

Another thing...
I found a small "F" stamped on the right side of the grip frame

slow learner

Don't have it in front of me for comparison, but it sounds like a 1917 frame I have that has a NOS non-military replacement barrel.

First of all welcome to the forum. Second, the markings under the stocks are inspector or fitter marks and are of little importance. If there is a date on the left frame then that indicates rework done at the factory. Typically, the date will be written as 4 56 or 4.56 indicating that the gun went back for something in April of 1956.

Absent of that, the barrel if not original, was likely changed by someone else other than the factory. I am not familar with 1917 barrels marked with both the S&W 45 DA marking in addition to the full Smith & Wesson marking. I would guess that perhaps the gun was being reissued to the civilian market and hence the full Smith & Wesson marking being added. Unfortunately, this still does not explain why the S&W 45 DA marking is on the wrong side???

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James Redfield
LM #497

It sounds like it is a replacement barrel. Probably a commercial model barrel bought from the factory.
Not a big deal that the markings are reversed. Because of corrosive ammo, I bet they sold a lot of 1917 barrels over the years. It is possible that they reversed the markings on barrels they sold as parts so they could always tell whether a barrel had been sold as parts.
Or, the barrel marker could have had a hangover that day.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I checked mine this AM and it's the same as you described yours.
Mine was an old issued frame that had the barrel replaced with a new factory commercial model.

Jack- It's good to know that there is another out there.

Lee- I too thought it might have been a rough morning for the barrel maker but he managed to put together a fine shooter!

James- No date stamp but a guy at the shop today told me that the "S" stamped on the cylinder face and also on the frame crane rest might mean a factory repair??

I'll get some pics up of this and some other family S&W revolvers.
Thanks for the response gentlemen. My pleasure be here.

Is it a US 1917?
Serial number range?
On some, mainly early US guns, a fairly large S is simply the Springfield inspector's mark.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Lee-

The butt is marked US Army Model 1917 No 11553. This number is stamped on the cylinder and star and penciled on the inside of the right stock.
It has the GHS.
Do we have dates?

Delivered to the Government during the week of January 12, 1918, according to data in Pate's book.

Buck

With a serial number that low, this gun should have shipped with a radially-grooved hammer, dished tops to the stocks, and should have a GHS cartouche stamped on the left side of the frame in front of the hammer.

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David Wilson

You can't really use the dates in the Pate book to nail down a specific serial number shipping date. S&W did not ship out 1917's in serial number sequence and this holds true for most of their other models as well.

If you refer to page 64 in the Pate book, there is a listing of the guns that both Colt and S&W shipped to the various ammunition manufacturers for testing. The Colts are listed using service numbers and the S&W's are listed using serial numbers. You can see that the Peters Company, for example, received serial numbers 3,4, 2880 and 3165 whereas the Maxim Company received 2418, 2528, 2759 and 2858.

S&W for whatever reason, did not like to ship in serial number sequence. Some say that it was done on purpose to confuse the competition so that they would never know exactly how many guns the company was producing, while others feel that it was simply a matter of the way that the factory stored completed guns. They were housed in a storage area on shelves with no concern for serial number order. When a shipment was needed, the stock person merely went into the cage and retrieved as many guns as the shipment required with no concern to serial numbers. The numbers were recorded when the guns left the plant and that was good enough for S&W as far as inventory control was concerned.

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James Redfield
LM #497

1917 revolvers went through government overhaul between the wars, just like other small arms. It's quite possible that the gun was re-barrelled during overhaul, but it could have been done after leaving government service as well. Does the finish on the barrel match the rest of the revolver?

The SCSW says that 1917s were marked S&W DA 45 on the right side however mine and all that I've observed have that stamped on the LEFT SIDE and nothing on the right.

And all I've seen always include 45. I haven't seen an S&W DA w/o the 45. Is the barrel the correct 5 1/2" length?

Commercial models nearly all have Smith & Wesson on the left with caliber on the right side so I have to agree with others that say you have some form of a commercial barrel replacement.

Is it stamped Smith & Wesson with address and patent dates on the top of the barrel? If not, possibly a post war commercial barrel.
OR:
The rare 45 Mod of 1950 chambered in 45 Colt is reported to have been marked either S&W DA 45 or 45 CAL MODEL 1950 on the RIGHT side and since they were commercial models, probably had Smith & Wesson on the left side. Possibly one of these barrels???

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Gentlemen,

Thanks for sharing your expertise. I can't get pics up yet but to answer a couple of things,
-It has the GHS cartouche
-the hammer is radially-grooved
-the finish on the barrel looks consistent with the rest of the revolver. It's not beaten up but looks to have been holster carried for a long time.
-It is stamped with the Smith and Wesson info on top of the barrel.
-The barrel is 5 1/2"
-I checked the chamber, it's consistent with 45ACP
After all your input I feel that it's a postwar replacement from Smith and Wesson.
Thanks to all for the solid info.
It's great to be with the Forum

You're welcome.
If it has the S&W info on the top of the barrel it's a pre war commercial barrel, but could have been installed post war. The missing 45 after the S&W DA on the right side as you indicated in your original post is curious but could be a variation of factory stamping or have been a light stamp that got polished out when the barrel was polished and blued or re-blued.

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Jim
S&WCA #819