In 1914, as Britain anticipated a coming war in Europe, the country was very short of suitable firearms. An inquiry was placed with Smith & Wesson in the U.S. for a revolver that would chamber the .455 Mark II cartridge. S&W responded with a sample of their .44 Hand Ejector (first model) revolver re-barreled and re-chambered for the .455 round. At first, the revolver was judged by the British as being too heavy and easily jammed with dirt. However, when England entered into “The Great War” in August, 1914, the badly gun-strapped Brits sent an urgent message to S&W to start making .455 revolvers as soon as possible. The first models were shipped in September, 1914. These had the original S&W “triple lock” action which provided a middle lock for the cylinder in addition to the normal fore and aft devices. These also had a shroud for the ejector rod under the barrel. In January, 1915, after about 5,000 revolvers had been sent, the design was changed to eliminate the middle lock and dispense with the ejector shroud. The company was in full swing production of this lighter-weight second model by June, 1915. Production was completed in September, 1916, with 74,755 units having been shipped to England and Canada. This was all done through the Remington Union Metallic Cartridge Company in New York City, the purchasing agent for the Crown’s interests.
In 1915, Joseph Wesson, a son of one of S&W’s founders, had succeeded his brother Walter as president of the company. He directed that work be completed on developing .45 caliber revolvers in anticipation of possible U.S. entry into the war. Much of that development work was carried out in conjunction with the Springfield Armory, the nation’s prime research and development center as well as its largest producer of military small arms. As both S&W and Springfield were located in Springfield, Massachusetts, their coordination was easily expedited. The result of these efforts was a modification of the .455 Hand Ejector that could chamber and fire the U.S. standard .45 ACP cartridge. Because the American round was a rimless design, the ejector star on the revolver could not engage the fired shells for proper extraction. This problem was solved in an ingenious manner. A small sheet metal clip in a “half moon” configuration fastened three rounds together in a semicircle. This loaded clip could be inserted into the cylinder, thus loading three rounds at once. Two of these fully loaded the cylinder. Following discharge of the cartridges, opening the cylinder and depressing the ejector rod would allow ejection of the clips and spent shells. This innovative fast-loading process trumped speed loaders and the principle is still used today. Samples of this new revolver were submitted for testing.
On April 2, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany, and arms production was ramped up. Existing supplies of 1911 semiauto pistols were scant, and projected production figures showed the U.S. could not manufacture enough of these for the troops being trained for overseas duty. Accordingly, the .45 ACP Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector revolver (called the Government Model by S&W employees) was adopted as the Model 1917 revolver and manufacture started. The first one was completed on September 16, 1917. These revolvers had 5 ½-inch barrels, a blue finish, smooth walnut grips without the S&W medallion, and featured a lanyard ring in the butt. These had a two-step rounded front sight, and the rear sight was a stepped groove in the frame’s top strap. The chambers in the cylinders had a ridge which allowed proper headspacing of the rimless rounds. Thus individual rounds could be loaded and fired without the half-moon clips, but would have to be plucked or poked out of the chambers. “UNITED STATES PROPERTY” was stamped underneath the barrel, and the top of the barrel was marked “SMITH & WESSON SPRINGFIELD MASS.USA” over “PATENTED DEC.17, 1901, FEB. 6, 1906, SEP.14, 1909.” The butt was stamped with the serial number (the series began with ‘1’) and “U.S. ARMY MODEL 1917.” The left side of the barrel was stamped “S&W D.A. 45.” Inspection markings found at the left rear of the frame near the rear sight area will be GHS (Major Gilbert H. Stewart), a “flaming bomb,” or an eagle’s head with a number. Nearly 170,000 of these revolvers were manufactured through January, 1919, with 163,476 produced during the World War I period. The revolver pictured for this article left the factory in October, 1918. Interestingly, it has British proof marks on the cylinder between the chambers, so it may have become a lend-lease arm to Britain during the WWII period.
Smith & Wesson was in the throes of completing a new building at this time, and was hard pressed to keep up with production demand. The U.S. Government decided that to move things faster, it would take control of the company and manage it for the war effort. This it did on June 3, 1918. This was the first time that the company had been managed by someone other than a member of the Wesson family. Management was turned back over to civilian control after the war on February 6, 1919.
In 1917, a contract was also let with Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company to produce its own version of a large-frame double-action .45 ACP revolver. These Colt revolvers were also known as Model 1917s. The finish on these was not as fine as found on their S&W counterparts. Also, the early ones had bored-through chambers with no headspace ridges, and these absolutely required the half-moon clips to function properly. They are interesting arms with a story of their own.
Both Smith & Wesson and Colt Model 1917s gave good service during World War I, where many soldiers preferred them for their rugged reliability. Placed into inventory after that war, many were arsenal reconditioned and used in World War II. As substitute standard arms, these were principally for stateside guard duty, but many saw combat use overseas. Most of these had the dull gray Parkerizing finish applied as part of the reconditioning process. Following World War II, many Model 1917s were issued to the U.S. Border Patrol, and even some to the Postal Service. Large numbers were then released for civilian sale, and became economical shooters for the then-plentiful surplus .45 ACP ammunition.
Smith & Wesson continued to assemble and produce the Model 1917 as late as 1949. In 1937, the company filled an order from the Brazilian Government for 25,000 of these revolvers. These had the Brazilian seal on the side plate. The Brazilian revolvers were shipped between February and October of 1938. A large number of these were re-imported to the U.S. for civilian sale in the 1990s. Civilian manufacture of the Model 1917 resumed in May of 1946 and continued through July of 1947. Frames made during the 1930s were already serial numbered, and those on hand were also assembled and sold. The Model 1917 inspired the later 1950 and 1955 S&W target models, as well as the Model 25 and 625 .45 ACP revolvers.
Today the Smith & Wesson Model 1917 and its Colt counterpart have become collector items. Once very popular and inexpensive surplus arms, the supply has dried up on recent years. Extant examples found on tables at gun shows have become sought after and relatively expensive. These big large-caliber revolvers are effective self-defense arms, and many are still serving for civilians in this role. They are truly classic revolvers with an interesting history spanning most of the 20th Century.
Hope you found this historical summary of a great S&W relic to be of interest.
John
(c) 2012 JLM
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