question about 1917

[kimporter]

hello all,i was going to write this huge report on how my new to me 1917 shot,how much fun i had at the range etc,but my range now only allows 100 yd shooting(dang it)anyway when i got out in the sunlight i noticed the cyl has a plum color to it,is this normal,sn is 227xx,sorry for the crappy pics,

 

[Muley Gil]

It is possible that your revolver has been reblued. That would account for the plum color.

That's a nice looking early 1917. The concave grips were changed to a convex top style for most of the production.

 

[H Richard]

Those grips were only issued on about the first 2500. The plumb color has something to do withthe diferences in the heat treat and how the bluing ages. It has been more common in a reblue at a slightly offf temperature, but has been observed in factory original finishes also

 

[jdh]

Still looks much better than the crappy peeling nickle job done to mine.

 

[kimporter]

after i asked i saw the" plum" tag at the bottom and did a search and found out tons of info,thanks guys

 

[kimporter]

well heres more info,had a party last night and was showing off the 1917 to a friend(he worked for a very well known gun shop jn lex,ky) he observed that it did have a reblued cyl,also it had a very well done reblue on the bbl,which i did know about(a gb horror story i wont go into) he said it looked like they had removed the bbl and reblued it seperatly from the frame,as the ghs inspectors stamp(well all stamping really) is still very sharp ,

 

[CJKarl]

Nice, bet she shoots nice too.

 

[CJKarl]

The more I learn about mine and the more I shoot it, the more I love it.

 

[NORWICH CADET]

Here's mine SN 8398 with the dished grips used up till around SN 30,000 when the rounded grips were used.

 

[kimporter]

wellllllll,i have only shot some 185gn win white box in it so far,and i was very disappointed.got a spread of about 10inchs at 25 yds,all to the left,i have shot this ammo in a kimber compact and a rock island compact and got a group of about2inchs at 25 yds at poa,the ammo shoots very clean in both of those but its VERY dirty in the smith,strange

 

[shep854]

The finish on my 1917HA is what looks to me like a dark 'greenish-brown' and different parts appear to have slightly different shades. Whether this is from refinishing or not, it has been on the revolver long enough to acquire its own 'character'.

 

[Muley Gil]

Some of the 1917s-both S&Ws and Colts-were refinished in a parkerized finish for WW II.

 

[shep854]

Some of the 1917s-both S&Ws and Colts-were refinished in a parkerized finish for WW II.

That's one of the little mysteries of my Hand Ejector; it has no military markings, just a CAI import stamp along with the regular S&W markings.

 

[JSR III]

Having different parts of a "blued" revolver look like different colors, especially plum is not uncommon. IIRC, they did not blue guns as a whole gun but did batches of like parts at a time. Therefore, a batch of cylinders could be first, followed by a batch of barrels etc. My understanding is that if the condition of the salts varied slightly or the temperature of the mix was off slightly, parts could take on various shades of blue/plum.

The greatest variation seems to be between cylinders and frames followed by barrels and frames. It could also be due to length of time left in the mix. Anyway, it is very common to see plum cylinders on darker blue frames with S&W revolvers.

 

[frobee]

new to this forum, so i figured id say hi.
great aunt handed down a S&W 1917 #37125 (matching numbers) and i was curious if anyone could help with insight on this weapon. (value, history, anything)

 

[Deacon KC]

frobee, welcome to the place. This is a great community and will help you out.

 

[shep854]

Frobee, another welcome! Be careful how you ask; you may find out what it's like to drink from a fire hose!

 

[kimporter]

gonna get that dreaded S&Witis too,i got it bad now

 

[bettis1]

kimporter,

M1917's produced prior to Feb. 1918 had grooved sides on the hammer. From your picture, I can't tell that your's does. The concave top grips were dropped shortly after that but yours still has them. The GHS inspector stamp was replaced with the Ordinance Bomb in approximately April 1918. So your revolver was probably manufactured somewhere between late February/early March and April 1918.

I believe that the "plumb" color on a gun of that age would be a sure indication that, at least, that part was refinished. If you will give us more detailed photos of both sides and the inscriptions we can give you a better opinion.

Bob

 

[Muley Gil]

"That's one of the little mysteries of my Hand Ejector; it has no military markings, just a CAI import stamp along with the regular S&W markings."

It sounds like a Brazilian 1917. Does it have a Brazilian crest on the sideplate, or possibly, a spot where it appears a crest was removed?

 

[JSR III]

Frobee, welcome to the forum. Not to dodge your question, but if you do a search in the search function using 1917, you will probably pull up more threads about the 1917 than you will have time to read this year.

They are very neat old revolvers and can shoot either the .45 ACP round using moon clips or the .45 auto rim. Actually, they will shoot the .45 ACP without moon clips, however, since there is no rim on the case, they won't extract easily.

Price like anything S&W depends on condition. High condition guns are going over $1,000 with plain janes still grabbing $500 to $600 and up. There seems to be an uptick in interest lately.

They were produced to supply the war effort for WW1 in the military configuration and then later a commercial version was made to answer the demand from the general public. There is also a Brazillian version that was shipped circa 1937 that sports a Brazillian crest on the side plate.

Again, welcome aboard and enjoy the ride.

 

[shep854]

The suggested prices given here are a real surprise to me! I paid $300 for mine, as a consignment gun. The seller said that was what he found on the Internet.

 

[JSR III]

I will pay $300 cash money for any decent 1917 that you have for sale.

Go to a site like GunBroker.com and do a search using 1917. I would be very surprised if you find any with an asking price of $300 unless they come with a leash and a collar.

 

[shep854]

I will pay $300 cash money for any decent 1917 that you have for sale.

Go to a site like GunBroker.com and do a search using 1917. I would be very surprised if you find any with an asking price of $300 unless they come with a leash and a collar.

I sure didn't try to talk him UP on the price! For a moment, I was afraid I had after waxing eloquent on the history of the M1917. Fortunately, he's a really decent guy (whew!)
----
Muley, there is absolutely no sign of a Brazilian crest on the sideplate. I suppose it's possible that the sideplate was replaced, but from the serial number (23xxx), it would likely have been part of the first batch, shipped in the '30s, but those should have had a flat topstrap--mine's rounded.
If only it could talk...

 

[shep854]

I finally got my computer working again, and am figuring out Imageshack...therefore, here are pics of my 1917:

 

[Gen.Eric Colt]

Even though I own a very nice 1917 of my own, I still drool every time I see a nice one on the forum. It seems as if S&W owners shoot their old guns more and worry about collecting less. I'm going to go look some more and then grab my revolver and go bust some caps the rest of the afternoon.

 

[A10]

That old 1917 looks pretty cool with those '80's targets on it Shep! I normally prefer the looks of the original grips, but I'll just bet that handles real nice!

 

[shep854]

That old 1917 looks pretty cool with those '80's targets on it Shep! I normally prefer the looks of the original grips, but I'll just bet that handles real nice!

.45ACP through a gun that big certainly makes for a very soft, pleasant shooter! Compared the more ergonomic "combat" grips, those big "target" grips feel too big (what's funny is that back when I first got into shooting, target grips looked normal, and combat grips looked plain weird!), so I'm going to put older, slim grips back on along with a grip adapter.