I think I'm in love!

[yugolovr]

I was cleaning up my dads gun room today when I needed to get in the gun safe to put some things away. When I got done putting away his rifles I decided I would look to see if there was any S&W revolvers I might find neat I pull out this one revolver and I hear this little voice in the back of my head. "MY PRECIOUS!" A US Army Model 1917! I took one look at my dad and said MINE!!
So now on to the questions.The number on the butt of the gun is 36626. If that is the serial # what would be the born on date? Also do these have a hammer block? Can you shoot any .45 acp through this with the acception of say the +p variety? Any other info you can give on this gun would be great. Thanks for all your help.

 

[cgt4570]

I'm at work, so I can't give you a year, but if I remember, that should be late 1917 to early 1918. They are awesome shooters.

Yes, any non +P ammo will work, but I would limit the amount of jacketed bullets. Pre-WW1 steels were softer and too many copper jackets will wear the rifling. Shoot all the lead you want.
The only hammer block on that one is the hump on top of the trigger rebound slide. This was determined to be insufficient during WW2 when a .38 was dropped on a ship deck, hit hammer first, and discharged, killing a poor sailor. That caused the addition of the 'S' in front of the serial number and the late-war hammer block mod.

Just don't drop it hammer-first and there will never be a problem. I don't worry one bit about carrying and shooting my many pre-WW2 Smiths. As far as I know, this was a one-time incident and could have been compounded by many other factors such as dirt and grime inside the action, plus less than normal quality control on parts tolerances during wartime production.
I think that ANY gun, given the right circumstances could suffer a discharge if abused in just the right way. I've heard of dropped Glocks going off, and they are supposed to be the safest.
Just my 2 cents.
Chris

 

[fyimo]

Congrats on the gun and having a great dad. !!!!

If one of my sons looked at one of my guns and said "mine" I'd remind him that it will be his some day when I'm taking a dirt nap. Until then he needs to get his grubby hands off of my gun. If he couldn't wait till then he would need to pull his wallet out and start handing me cash.

 

[Hyperion]

That's a great response, fyimo! I got a kick out of it.

 

[ladder13]

Originally posted by fyimo:
Congrats on the gun and having a great dad. !!!!

If one of my sons looked at one of my guns and said "mine" I'd remind him that it will be his some day when I'm taking a dirt nap. Until then he needs to get his grubby hands off of my gun. If he couldn't wait till then he would need to pull his wallet out and start handing me cash.

+1

 

[wheelgun1958]

THE BOOK, chapter V section 2 verse 3. Early issue revolvers in a serial range of 1 - c.42000 usually will have a "GHS" marking indicating Major Gilbert H. Stewart as inspector. Middle issue revolvers in a range of 42000 until April 1918 usually have a Springfield Armory flaming bomb.

So, it appears sometime between late 1917 through early 1918.

Over 600 posts and you STILL don't have a copy of THE BOOK?

 

[Speedo2]

I too, would probably be yelling at my kids to stop monkey-pawing my stuff too soon. But wait; Yugo said that he was cleaning up his Dad's gun room....which, unfortunately, would be an unlikely event at casadelspeedo. Good on you, Yugo. -S2

 

[yugolovr]

Guys I wouldn't exactly sat he gave it to me. That debate is still going on today. Heck he didn't even know he had it. The gun originally belonged to my grandfather who was an avid gun collector of all types of firearms. If I took the time and looked the in card file I would be able to tell you what store he bought it from and for how much. Personally I think he should just be happy I don't want the Colt New service revolver. At least that is what I think it is.

 

[fyimo]

Originally posted by Speedo2:
I too, would probably be yelling at my kids to stop monkey-pawing my stuff too soon. But wait; Yugo said that he was cleaning up his Dad's gun room....which, unfortunately, would be an unlikely event at casadelspeedo. Good on you, Yugo. -S2

True, When my kids come to clean up my gun room it will be when I an going for the dirt nap. When they come now we fish, hunt, or go shooting and I clean the gear up when the leave.

 

[yugolovr]

Too be honest guys I do things for my parents everyday. I clean their house mow their yard. I basically work for them doing whatever they ask. When I was in High school I had a very bad car accident that left me brain damaged. Most people today wouldn't even realize that anything like this ever happened to me, but there are always side affects. Most of these are caused by the medications that I have to take. So I have basically become my parents handyman, groundskeeper, and maid. My parents have both developed severe back problems and they just can't do the all the work on their property anymore. About a year ago they asked me to move back in with them, and since I'm single I went ahead and did it.So while I took the gun and said mine it is certainly not like he can't find it within about ten minutes.

 

[fyimo]

Originally posted by yugolovr:
Too be honest guys I do things for my parents everyday. I clean their house mow their yard. I basically work for them doing whatever they ask. When I was in High school I had a very bad car accident that left me brain damaged. Most people today wouldn't even realize that anything like this ever happened to me, but there are always side affects. Most of these are caused by the medications that I have to take. So I have basically become my parents handyman, groundskeeper, and maid. My parents have both developed severe back problems and they just can't do the all the work on their property anymore. About a year ago they asked me to move back in with them, and since I'm single I went ahead and did it.So while I took the gun and said mine it is certainly not like he can't find it within about ten minutes.

I wasn't trying to be disrespectful and your dad loves you and wanted you to have the gun. I have given my sons guns in the past and they will be getting a lot more in the future.

it's all good friend

 

[yugolovr]

FYIMO I know you weren't being disrespectful so no worries there. As a matter of fact I think this is the greatest gun forum on the net. It has what I have to believe some of the more upstanding individuals that I have had the opportunity to chat with. All I was trying to do was explain the relationship that I have with my parents. You yourself have posted in other threads that I have started on this forum and I am in awe of some of your collection. Take for instance some of firearms you posted in the " lets see your grips guys" thread that I started some months ago. I just want you to know that there was in no way any offense taken in any thing that you said. Heck I just got done discussing with my dad about how this 1917 needs a set of Tyler T Grips.

 

[yugolovr]

Well I cleaned the 1917 this morning. All I have to say is that I have seen diesel engines that were cleaner. As a matter of fact I wound up cleaning most of the parts in a parts cleaner for engine parts. Now that I have the gun cleaned up it looks fantastic. It just has the basic holster wear and scratches that you would expect for a gun of its age.

 

[bagolden]

I have a little reverse twist to the 'mine' thing. Dad always wanted a levergun but never got around to buying one. I was sitting on an old Marlin and a newer Winchester and had just bought a '92 clone in .45 Colt. Anyway I gave Dad the Winchester. Later traded the Winny for a Marlin that out shot the Winchester. Fast forward a few years, I was showing him my latest deal. A Straight stocked '60s Marlin in .35 Rem, he got this big stupid grin as he said 'Mine!' I'll never get on the plus side of gun giving with him, so with a big stupid grin I said "Yes it is."

 

[H Richard]

When shooting the 19617, you may need full moon or half moon clips. Available from Midway, Brownell's, Dillon, etc. They are steel clips into which you load the rounds and act as good as speed loaders. You should be able to shoot individual rounds, but the extractor won't reach and you will have to poke the rounds out one at a time.

 

[walnutred]

I don't know, I lost my 31-1 to my daughter in a similar manner.

 

[yugolovr]

Well guys my gun dealer was able to find some full moon clips for it from Smith & Wesson. So I now have 8 moon clips for it. I also picked up a Bianchi 5 bhl holster for this old gun. The only thing that I have found confusing is why there are so many different moon clips for the 45. If you look at the descriptions for what guns they fit they are for the newer 625 or the 25-2. The only clips that I found in my search were the polymer ones, and some carried by Numerich.
This is believe it or not going to become my new carry gun. I have problems with sights on shorter barreled. Also the weight of this gun isn't much more than the 66 that I was carrying before. All I have to do now is remember to send in my check for my Tyler t grip.

 

[yugolovr]

Wheelgun 1958 this particular 1917 does have the Springfield flaming bomb so I guess that makes it an early 1918 gun. I will only be practicing with lead bullets with this gun. The carry ammo I bought for it are Speer Gold Dots. They are a softer bullet so no worries there. I would have gone with Winchester Silvertips, but they are next to impossible to find anymore. Also I noticed a ball and detent on the yoke. Does this make it a triple lock? I am sure I will have more questions about this old gun because I've never worked on one this old. So please check back on this thread if I bring it back up. Thanks a lot guys.

 

[cgt4570]

The cylinder hold-open pin (it's a pin about 3/8" long, not a ball, by the way) was a standard feature on K and N frames prior to WW1.
No, that's not a triple lock. They are a completely different animal. Triple Locks have a shrouded ejector rod housing with another locking bolt at the bottom of the shroud.

Chris

 

[yugolovr]

Do you guys think that the Speer Gold Dots will be alright in this gun? I went to their website and even the 200 grain +p ammo isn't that hot. I just don't know much about the metallurgy of these older Smiths. I will basically be treating the 1917 the same way I treat my 66. Light loads for the range. Hotter loads for carry. If you guys see any thing wrong about this approach to shooting it tell me.