1917 dilemma--thoughts?

[1sg]

So I have this SW M1917 which dates to 1918. It's US martially marked with flaming bomb and eagle s6. The serial numbers on the frame and cylindar match. However the barrel is a period replacement and as such has mismatched numbers. Sometime during its life it acquired a crappy reblue. Actually it resembles the black paint commonly found on Lee Enfields but it's NOT British proofed. Ordinarily I would not consider refinishing such an old piece but I'm sure the reblue, together with the replacement barrel, jeweled hammer and trigger and aftermarket grips has destroyed any collector value. Consequently I'm thinking about "restoring" this such that, cosmetically at least it looks a little more period correct. So my questions:

1. Leave it as is? If not:
a. Reblue or
b. Parkarize
2. If a or b, any recommendations where to have it done?
3. Source for replacement hammer/ trigger / grips?

I really appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!

 

[1sg]

A better pic:

 

[Hondo44]

Looks like a decent shooter at least.

If you're going to refinish it, I wouldn't emulate a refinish by Parkerizing. It won't have the proper Armory refurbish stamps, so that would make it even less authentic than it is now.

I'd go with a WW I factory style blue. the 1917 hammer and trigger are unique so very difficult to find, and expensive if you can find. Therefore just keep the originals and have refinished and case hardened.

Ford's is an excellent shop with reasonable prices and excellent reputation, that can replicate different S&W finishes such as the vintage factory 1917polish level and lighter shade of blue than the commercial finish of the time, and case harden the hammer and trigger.

I think they can even re-stamp the barrel # to match your frame if desired.

Horace Ford in Florida: Ford's Guns - Custom Refinished Guns and Desert Eagle Sights!

 

[bamabiker]

From those pictures it don't look too bad, might be worse in hand. I would do something about the hammer and trigger. Jeweled is just not my thing.
Collector value is gone so now the question is can you live with it and how much do you want to put into it to make it look right?

 

[Rick_A]

Nothing wrong with a shooter. Put some decent stocks on it and call it a day.

 

[g8rb8]

I agree with bamabiker. To get to your goals of looking more period correct I would leave the finish alone as it doesn't look bad to me. I would see what I could do with the trigger and hammer.

 

[Skeetr57]

I have seen posted before that the hammer and trigger of the 1917's are different, but I can't tell by looking at them. what exactly are the differences?

 

[murphydog]

To me, it depends how much you have in it right now, how much you want to spend and what is your eventual intention for it. The most glaring difference from stock are the hammer and trigger; those can be re-case hardened and if you want a shooting gun that looks good from 1-3 feet away you could stop there.

A full refinish, restamping, etc. could easily run you mid-three figures, and depending on what you paid for it you may be close to buying an original finish 1917 if you sold this one and put the refinish money into it. This would probably not look at nice as a restored gun but the collector value would be higher.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[DWalt]

About all I can tell is that the trigger is jeweled (not original) and the stocks are not even close to the original type. Otherwise, the finish looks pretty good, at least from the pictures you posted. Nothing you do to it will improve its value much and will not make it shoot any better. Little return to be gained from what would probably be a significant investment.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Are you in Bama, 1SG? There's a shop in Newville that can fix it for you...not the case hardening. I found hammers and triggers on eBay for mine. They're around if you look.

 

[JohnRippert]

I would just get the hammer and trigger case hardened again and call it a day.