M1917 Colt versus S&W

[Trinidad Bill]

I have gone hot and cold from post to post on the Colt versus the S&W. Every time I think I should wait for a Smith someone post a tremendous positive on the Colt!

Now I have to look at the Triple Lock and I do not think I can pass on the Colt M1917!

 

[Rick Bowles]

What a fun an informative thread. Next we should compare and contrast the S&W Schofield and the Colt Single Action Army.

 

[Iggy]

I have had an on and off romance with the old New Service guns for over 40 years. I had a beautiful pristine one in my hands and had to let it go.

I finally found another I could afford about 6 mos ago but traded it off. I thought I had them out of my system until one appeared in a pawn shop last weekend.

So now I have another, it's not as pretty as some and has ugly grips, but it's tight as a bull's butt in fly season. Thom Braxton brought me 3 pairs of grips to try out today.

Maybe this one will cure the itch.

 

[DCWilson]

I'm going to have to confess my own general appreciation for the New Service varieties. While I prefer the Smith 1917 to the Colt version by a small amount, there are several big Colts that have no exactly comparable model in the S&W lineup or that compare favorably to the ones that do exist. Several months ago I came into a 1909 Army in pretty good shape; I guess some would compare it to the .455 HE second model in .45 Colt, but for some reason that doesn't feel exactly right to me. I still need to do some tune-up work on it before I will shoot it, but that is one big and admirable handful of gun.

 

[Jack Flash]

Interesting comments about the quality of finish on the Colt versus the S&W. Was it possibly due to Colt's more recent contracts with the US Army giving Colt a clear idea of exactly what the Army wanted? Colt manufactured the government model M1909 as previously mentioned, and of course their newest design, the M1911 auto-loader. By 1917 Colt got the message loud and clear that the Army did not want to pay for a beautiful finish that would be quickly degraded by rough and tumble holster duty.

Maybe S&W never really got the message. Collectors today may love the fit and finish of the S&W M1917, but at the time, the Army was not impressed. Frustrated at the perceived slow rate of production at S&W, the US Government took control of the company in September, 1918, and managed it till the war ended.

About the size difference between the two revolvers - I have a repo holster that a S&W M1917 fits in perfectly. But a Colt M1917 is a really tight fit, probably too tight. I assume if the Colt rode around in the holster long enough, the leather would stretch to improve the fit (?)

Someone mentioned the .455 revolver that S&W made under contract for the Brits earlier in the war. Colt supplied them with .455 revolvers as well. So after you get your set of M1917s from each company, you will "need" to do the same for the .455.

 

[Iggy]

Jack Flash

Someone mentioned the .455 revolver that S&W made under contract for the Brits earlier in the war. Colt supplied them with .455 revolvers as well. So after you get your set of M1917s from each company, you will "need" to do the same for the .455.

You hush up yo mouth, you hear!!! Don't need no durn help from you!!!

 

[DWalt]

The original WWI flap holsters fit both the Colt and S&W revolvers equally well. Reproduction holsters may not. I do have a reproduction holster from IMA (an excellent reproduction with great workmanship by the way) which fits the Colt 1917 perfectly - not tight and not loose. I have compared it side-by-side with the real thing, and there is very little difference, except for condition. I recently bought a reproduction holster from Sarco, and it's almost as good as the IMA, except its leather is not quite as thick as IMA's.

 

[Trinidad Bill]

Very nice!

U.S. WWI M1917/42 .45cal Revolver Leather Holster Embossed US ima-usa.com

 

[DWalt]

Most of the original M1917 holsters were of the "Butt-forward" type, i.e., if worn on the right side, the butt was forward. That was a carryover from horse cavalry days when a trooper carried his saber into battle in his right hand. and drew his pistol from his holster using his left hand. At one time, I had a very interesting posed 8 x 10 photograph of a large group (maybe 20 or so) of U. S. Army officers (may have been National Guard, but I don't know) taken sometime in the 1930s, and all wore the butt-forward carry M1917 holsters and revolvers and Sam Browne belts. Of course, I couldn't tell whether they were Colts or S&Ws. I don't know about the IMA holsters, but the Sarco holsters are available either as butt-forward or butt- backward.

 

[savit260]

To identify a factory original finish on a Colt 1917 take a look at the area surrounding the front sight. If you see a section that appears to have been taped off with a smoother polish than the rest of the barrel, you have one with an original finish. This is where the solder was cleaned up after the front sight was installed. I you look very closely at this pic you can see the outline next to the front sight. As mentioned earlier, the Colt's didn't have the "commercial grade" polish jobs that the S&W 1917's had.

Many 1917's were re-furbished by the Army for service in WWII. These guns have a Parkerized finish, and include additional inspectors marks.

The Colt's are suited to larger hands, and have a bit longer trigger reach IMO.

My personal 1917 has virtually no original finish left (except in some protected areas), was not re worked for WWII, and has all it's original inspection marks intact, sharp and clear.
At nearly 100 years old (shipped the last week of 1917) it locks up and times exactly as a Colt should with ZERO play.
Although the trigger pull is quite heavy, it's smooth as butter, and is probably the most accurate revolver I own. Shoots 230gr ball perfectly to the sights. My friends call this one "The Lazer" due to it's accuracy.
Clearly it's seen some hard use over the last century, but functions exactly as it should.

 

[haggis]

Note that there is also a Colt forum, and all of the really serious Colt nutcases hang out there. And there are several of those who specialize in the Colt New Service and M1917 revolvers.

Guilty as charged.

Buck

 

[robertrwalsh]

The trouble with the Colt is getting parts for it these days.