SWEET, great find on a rare bird.
Possible .45 Colt 2nd Hand Ejector
- Thread starter Chuck F
- Start date
Jack Flash
Member
Not always. Certainly some 1915 - 1916 production shipped to England were not so marked.
Chuck,
Wow, very happy for you, an outstanding find!
Roy Jinks wrote the following on 1/2/17, and one has to wonder if he made this discovery while researching your gun:
“For all the members who are searching for a special .45 H.E. Model of 1917 Commercial Production gun here are five great ones to look for. I discovered them today while research one for a letter. These six revolvers are all 5.5 inch blue, but what is unique is that they were all chambered in .45 Colt and shipped on April 29, 1926. Here are the serial numbers to keep your eyes open to find; 179008, 179031, 179043, 179075, 179177 and 179216. Good hunting. Roy”
Wow, very happy for you, an outstanding find!
Roy Jinks wrote the following on 1/2/17, and one has to wonder if he made this discovery while researching your gun:
“For all the members who are searching for a special .45 H.E. Model of 1917 Commercial Production gun here are five great ones to look for. I discovered them today while research one for a letter. These six revolvers are all 5.5 inch blue, but what is unique is that they were all chambered in .45 Colt and shipped on April 29, 1926. Here are the serial numbers to keep your eyes open to find; 179008, 179031, 179043, 179075, 179177 and 179216. Good hunting. Roy”
Yes, mine is one of those, although my letter specifies April 9 1926. Moore-Handley was a major hardware jobber in AL. I wish I could get into their records for April 1926. I just wonder why a special order for 5 in .45 Colt?
This one has been used; fair amount of original blue, but freckled. Barrel and cylinder patinaed with a bit of pitting and scattered scale (to be lovingly cleaned up) bore leaded and a bit corroded. The lockwork is unharmed, locks up tight timing spot on.
I bought it as a shooter 1917 and was initially put out that it wouldn't close on a Moon clip. I almost sent it back, then I noticed the long chambers and thought to ask here. Glad I did. Someone probably carried and used it, then it fell on hard times and lay neglected for a while. It came to me via a pawnshop, so provenance is anyone's guess.
This one has been used; fair amount of original blue, but freckled. Barrel and cylinder patinaed with a bit of pitting and scattered scale (to be lovingly cleaned up) bore leaded and a bit corroded. The lockwork is unharmed, locks up tight timing spot on.
I bought it as a shooter 1917 and was initially put out that it wouldn't close on a Moon clip. I almost sent it back, then I noticed the long chambers and thought to ask here. Glad I did. Someone probably carried and used it, then it fell on hard times and lay neglected for a while. It came to me via a pawnshop, so provenance is anyone's guess.
I suspect there were a lot of 45 Colt fans during that period that weren't sold on the new fangled 45 ACP cartridge that needed those PITA clips to extract them from a revolver.
Many excess 455 2nd models from the British WW I contract that were sold here in the states like 23 shipped to Shapleigh Hardware in St. Louis, MO. on 1/1/1918, were converted to 45 Colt.
The 23 at some point were converted to .45 Colt and it’s unknown if by the factory before shipment to Shapleigh or after delivery to Shapleigh. But there was market demand for them in 45 Colt.
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Jack Flash
Member
I can only guess as well. Since 5 were ordered together, could they have been ordered by a small police department?
Chuck you need to submit letter to Smith and Wesson Historical and se if there is any info in scanned documents
1Aspenhill
US Veteran, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
He stated in his first post that his serial number was 1792XX. Roy stated that one of the serial numbers was 179216 which I guess is the OPs.
Originally the 9 and 2 in his serial # were transposed; notice it was revised today.
That would be my guess. There are numerous small cities in Jefferson County, surrounding Birmingham.
Now it looks like I should go visit Mr. Carroll and stop at every pawn shop in Alabama! This gives all of us ".45" collectors new hope lol. OR when you get tired of that one, let me know when you sell it 
Congrats on a great find.
Congrats on a great find.
Plain Old Dave
US Veteran
Ultimate combo here. A .45LC Smith and Wesson revolver with fixed sights and a 5" barrel. One of my bucket guns (though in a considerably more affordable .455/45 configuration). This thread is useless without pics...
Sigobsessed
Member
Congrats on a great find!
