1917 Smith and Wesson Refinished Value

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X4692

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Hello everyone. I was at my LGS and they had a 1917 Smith and Wesson for sale. This is a bucket list gun for me so I was very interested. What stood out is the gun was obviously parkerized. The finish seemed a little...for lack of a better word sparkly in some spots. I took several photos if that would be helpful. I know that after WWI several armories refinished these for use with various organizations. My question is how can I be sure that it was parkerized by an armory not by a previous owner? Where would I look to find the proof marks? What would the value be like if the work was done by an armory? Thanks so much in advance.

Edit: First of all I want to sincerely thank everyone who replied. I appreciate your time and knowledge immensely. After reading everyone's thoughts and thinking about it I have decided to pass. I badly want one of these but when it comes down to it, I'd really rather have a blued one. Hopefully I'll come across one someday. Thank you all again!
 

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The folks here that are 1917 knowledgeable will likely want good close up well lit photos. They can tell you what is wrong with the gun fairly quickly with those photos. Telling you what is right may be trickier. The guns have served in many places at many different times and have often been owned by more than a few folks since the wars.

You might find arsenal rebuild stamps; SAA(San Antonio Arsenal,AA (Augusta) and RIA (Rock Island). Or maybe no stamps at all and a variety of finishes. Hard to tell much of anything without pictures and possibly even with them. Good luck.

Jeff
SWCa #1457
 
I can tell you that it has been parkerized and S&W delivered them in a blued finish. The U.S. Army did parkerize a good number of both Colt and S&W M1917 revolvers for issue during World War II. As to who and when the refinish on this one occurred, your guess is as good as mine. There are a lot of people who can apply a correct looking phosphate finish on a firearm.
 
I don't know that you can be 100 percent sure, so it might come down to the price and your gut feeling.
 
I have a WWI model 1911 Colt that was shipped in blue and was later parkerized. There was a very small arsenal mark on the upper part of the grip frame. You might look the 1917 over closely for an arsenal mark. Without digging my 1911 out of the same I don't remember exactly what the mark was but it was a know arsenal. Good luck.

Edit: The arsenal refinish/rebuild mar was the "AA" mentioned below. The fact that it came directly from DCM indicated that no work had been done in the civilian realm.
 
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Most but not all of the S&W 1917's have an Eagle head stamp, looking on the left side by the upper right corner of the cylinder window. I have seen several rebuilds marked AA by the original mark.

Ivan
 
As mentioned above, detailed and more photos would help.

Depending on the asking price and mechanical condition, it may be a good one to add to your collection - but it will be close to impossible to determine if it was an arsenal WW II era refinish. If you are looking for a blued original 1917 they have gone up in price moderately over the years but will be relatively easy to find. Good luck in your decision.
 
If you're looking for a pure shooter, the gun is mechanically sound and the price is right, buy it. What the value of a refinished gun might be, depends on the quality, but if the refinish is from an arsenal, that's a plus. I have all original models from Colt and S&W, that have apparently shot up in value over the past few years, and I probably wouldn't have bought them at current market prices. They are really fun shooters, and it's really cool to shoot a piece of history.
 
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If the seller will allow remove the stocks and see if the s/n matches the frame. If it does lean towards a commercial refinish. If not it could possibly be an arsenal rebuild. Arsenal refinished revolvers rarely retain the original stocks.
 
This has absolutely nothing to do with 1917's, arsenals, or any of that good stuff---only with conventional wisdom vis-a-vis values of refinished guns----thus:

Refinished by the factory: 85% of original finish (value)

Refinished by some other entity other than Bubba: 50% of original finish (value)

Refinished by Bubba: Keep on walking.

In the for what's worth department, there's a recent thread treating with a complete "restoration" of a 357 Magnum by a real honest to God restoration facility. I have no idea of the value of that gun, but the tab for the restoration was $6,000!!!!---give or take a bit here and there. It seems unlikely there's anybody anywhere whose likely to factor that into the current value.

Bottom Line of all this is, "If it feels good, do it!"

Ralph Tremaine

Edited to add: I'm of the impression pretty much any parkerized 1917 that has ever lived has been refinished (at least once or twice). That being the case, the resultant value becomes a nonissue.
 
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What do the bore and the chamber throats look like? All of these would have seen corrosive primer ammo and a good number will have frosted or pitted bores and throats.
 
Regarding the arsenal finish, would the serial numbers still match if that had happened? I can't read the SN on the cylinder very well but it looks to be same as the frame. In an arsenal rebuild wouldn't the parts be thrown in a bin and the gun become a mishmash of parts like the 1911's that went through the arsenals and parkerized. I have one of those and nothing matches. The ones I've seen that weren't parkerized, had their original finish and the parts matched. The CMP calls those Field grade pistols. Or maybe this is apples and oranges because of the time period. One before WW2 and one after WW2.

It looks like a commercial finish to me but I've never seen an arsenal finish except on my 1911, so I'm no help. :(

I would pay $750 for it if I could hold it in my hand and it passed a few tests. I've never owned a 1917 and wanted one for the longest time. Just not up to speed on what to look for.
 
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Revolvers are a little different when it comes to parts and arsenal servicing. The M1911/M1911-A1 was designed with tolerances that would allow all the parts to be swapped between pistols. Revolvers are different and cylinders and their ratchets are fitted to the frame and hand, so they are not easily swapped. I would be more worried if the serial number on the cylinder and that of the frame were different.
 
Model19man said:
Being refinished it may make a good shooter. Value is maybe $500 - $600 around here.
Click to expand...

Agree^^^ I bought my refinished Commercial 1917 (est. 1929-30 Manufacture) at a local auction 7 years ago. All 5 numbers match as well as the stocks. Had not intended on purchasing it and didn't know anything about these, but when bidding was so low I jumped in. Got it for $345 OTD. Great fun shooter. Here are a few pictures and one with side plate off.
 

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stansdds said:
Revolvers are a little different when it comes to parts and arsenal servicing. The M1911/M1911-A1 was designed with tolerances that would allow all the parts to be swapped between pistols. Revolvers are different and cylinders and their ratchets are fitted to the frame and hand, so they are not easily swapped. I would be more worried if the serial number on the cylinder and that of the frame were different.
Click to expand...

I have had 2 Brazilians that came with non matching cylinders, both functioned fine. Who know who or where, probably some arsenal in Brazil. I already transitioned one into something else and the other probably will too as I have a decent commercial 1917
 
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