S&W 1917 finish

[Casual]

OK guys newbie to this site as I usually hang out on Colt Forum ( I know, I know) This weekend I purchased a S&W model 1917 US at an auction that I don't know a lot about. Serial# 60640 with walnut grips & GHS inspection. Here is where I go off the rails a little bit. The gun is in great shape, markings really good & sharp, but it is parkerized instead of blued. I assume that this is an armory redo, but the markings are so clear it has me puzzled. Does anyone know if S&W parked any guns before they shipped them? Casual

 

[murphydog]

They all had the standard commercial blue finish from the factory, so the Parkerizing would have been from an arsenal (common around WW II) or aftermarket.

 

[Iggy]

A quote from Wikipedia site about the 1917s.

While these revolvers were originally blued, S&W M1917 revolvers rebuilt during and after World War II may have been parkerized during arsenal rebuild or under a refurbish contract with S&W.

 

[JSR III]

If you can, list all markings and their locations. That may help answering your questions. Photos are even better.

 

[DWalt]

There is no question yours is of WWI production. With a SN that high, it should have the Ordnance flaming bomb stamp, also the Eagle's head (or some say a Penguin) inspection marking and the letter "S" followed by one or maybe 2 digits. GHS is an acceptance stamping. It would NOT have left S&W during WWI with a phosphate finish (I don't think phosphate finishes even existed during WWI), almost certainly a later arsenal refinish. Quite a few M1917s in military inventory (both Colt and S&W) were re-furbished for service during WWII and given a phosphate finish and new grips. If so it may also have an arsenal stamping (usually initials, such as RIA for Rock Island, SA for Springfield Armory, etc.), which was typical.

 

[deyomatic]

How about some photos? MUCH easier to post here than the Colt Forum.