M-1917 Accuracy?

[Texas Star]

Would some of you fellows who own S&W M-1917 .45's post pics of some of your better targets? Or, just tell me how well they'll shoot, to maybe 25 yards?

Mention whether your gun has the old service style grips or the Magna style. I've read that recoil is pretty sharp with the original grips.

In general, do you think these guns shoot as well as, say, the .38 M&P/Model 10?

I'm mainly asking about accuracy with .45ACP ammo in half-moon clips. But if you shoot lead .45AR ammo, tell us about that, too.

Thanks,

T-Star

 

[BUFF]

I have had 4 1917's that I have shot a bit, one Brazilian, one commercial from 1930, one nice and one really beat WWI military guns.

None shot all that great, 3 inch groups at 25 yards were about it with good 230 grain FMJ ball ammo on good days. The commercial 1917 does the best, it will shoot hard cast 250 grain SWC bullets, 6.2 grains of Unique in .45 Auto Rim brass into 2 inches, and about the same with ball. It has a very good trigger and larger, thumbrest stocks that I believe are Ropers and both help.

I have had a number of later S&W .45 ACP revolvers, including 4 or 5 Model 25-2 1955 Targets and 3 Model 625's (5" 1988, 4 " 1989, 4" Mountain Gun) that all shoot better than the best 1917 I have tried.

I think part of the issue to me is the tiny sights on the 1917. I have to really work hard and have the light flowing from the right direction to have any luck. I don't shoot the original, small wood service grips well. Something bigger than Magna's, like targets, Pachmyers or Hogues work better for me.

 

[K.R._Rabbit]

I picked up a military 1917 and I have been shooting with the standard 230 gr. FMJ bullet. I reload the round to standard vel. and I have had good luck. I have started at close range and slowly been backing the targets out. This is one of the first efforts at 10 yds (?). Everything BUFF says is true for me, the sights are small and hard to pick up but I really enjoy these old guns a lot more than the modern ones. I think the history and challenge add to it for me.
Rabbit

 

[Texas Star]

Heaps of thanks, guys!

Rabbit-

That gun looks like it will shoot minute-of-German, Italian, or Jap! :D

I'm sure that most of these that were actually employed in a combat zone sufficed for the purpose. I was just hoping that they'd collect small game or bean a snake in the head.

The sights do leave that impression, but the sights for contemporary M&P .38's are similar.

I've had a Colt M-1917, but it was so long ago that I don't recall how it grouped. I was 16 then, and probably mainly shot it at cactus (probably a no-no now) clods of dirt, etc. Later, I had a M-1950 Target, but the results with .45AR ammo were so dismal that I soon traded it off.
(A Colt New Service made in the mid-1930's shot VERY well, about on par with a S&W M-29 with 6.5-inch barrel. However, it was in .45 Colt caliber.)

T-Star

 

[BUFF]

Sometimes folks get overly concerned with paper target accuracy in a combat weapon.

Consider the fact that, if your gun can shoot 4 inch groups at 25 yards, none of the shots will be more than 2 inches from the point of aim. Most will be considerably closer than that.

The groups I reported were shot from a Ransom Rest. Hand-held, the mechanical accuracy of the guns was overshadowed by the small sights and the hard-to-hold (for me) little stocks.

I think that the three most important qualities contributing to practical accuracy are good, easy-to-see sights, a good triggger pull and stocks that allow a comfortable, repeatable grip. Few folks worried about handgun sights much when the 1917 was developed. As Texas Star mentioned, the sights on one are about par for the era.

 

[Walter Rego]

My 1918 manufactured M1917 also shoots about 4" groups at 25 yards with hardball. One of the things about older military guns, both handguns and rifles that is forgotten, is that the sights are designed for soldiers who are between 18-25 years old in most cases. Looking down them with 40 or 50 year old or even older eyeballs does not give the same performance !

 

[KEN L]

Its important to remember these guns were designed to be used with hardball ammo and thats what they shoot best with. As with any gun, its not how accurate the gun is, but how accurate are you with the gun. I've owned a minty military version for many years, and though I haven't shot it in a very long time it always shot well as long as I did my part.

 

[sunday bill]

My old eyes can't define as much detail as is needed for top accuracy with old-style sight blades at 25 yards, so most of my shooting is at 13-15 yards.

Hardball or cast 200 grain RNFP bullets sized to .454 are very accurate (a ragged off-hand hole) in my ca.1917-made Colt at these distances. Oldtimers used to attribute this preference for "over-size" lead bullets to the fact the old war hosses had shallow rifling. The old Colt has many times proven to my satisfaction to be the equal of M&Ps with comparable sights.

Haven't shot a recently acquired S&W Brazilian enough to know much about its favored load, accuracy potential, etc.

My 1939-'40 Colt New Service in 45 Colt with 250 grain .452 hardcasts is as accurate as anything I own.

 

[ACP230]

I put an Evans "Wonder Sight" on my Brazilian contract 1917.

It helped some but I still don't shoot it as well as my other Smiths with regular adjustable sights.

Mine doesn't seem as impressed with hardball as you might think either. If I remember correctly it liked a cast lead bullet with a truncated cone design more.

 

[Texas Star]

Thanks, everyone.

T-Star

 

[opoefc]

I have a 1917 that has a fixed target sight in the rear, as modified by Springfield Arsenal for the Army pistol team , circa 1920s-30s, for Camp Perry Military matches. I haven't shot it in years, but it did shoot slightly better than Model 1911 Colt autos, also fired in those matches. A little under 2 in. at 25 yrds was the average, as I recall, with .45ACP hardball and it tool a good shooter to do that. Ed.

 

[tommy F]

Agree with Buff, as I have 4 SW 17s and modern 25s & 625s. They are alot of fun with target lead reloads and great defensive guns. I shoot these alot mostly offhand inside 15 yards. Even tried to test 17s with no drill scope mount and could not get target groups.