S&W 1917?

[TazTJ]

I picked up a 45 acp revolver yesterday. Bluing on it is mint, surface under the bluing is more polished than my 27-2! I think it was re blued, but don't see any washing out of the stamped lettering, screw holes are still sharp edged, etc. Butt stamp is "US Army Model 1917, Serial # is 795XX, possibly made in 1918? This same serial # is on the Cylinder. Flaming Bomb stamp on the frame, possibly an Eagle stamp and lower case S as well, need to re look at it and get better pics today. The barrel also has the same serial number 795XX with a diamond on the flat milled on the underside. The left of the barrel says Smith & Wesson, right says 45 cal model of 1950. Would they restamp a serial number on a replacement barrel? The grip frame under the grips is almost all bare metal with some rusting/pitting, but the rest of the revolver is in excellent condition. I couldn't see any re stamping on the left side of the grip frame area yet, may try to clean some of the corrosion off. Guessing it's a 1917 that got a new barrel installed and a refinish?




Grips look commercial or aftermarket, which is find by me because they are comfy! Looking more for a shooter 45 acp revolver.

Gotta call the gun store; they used the number on the crane/yoke as the serial, which is different that what is stamped on the butt, barrel and cylinder.

Any preference of brand of moon clips? Wilson, Revolver Products and I think TK make them.

 

[arjay]

The grips are cokes,which were used on early 44 mags.Theyre worth a fair amount.

 

[samandglove1]

It looks like a good shooter with a replaced barrel, probably at the factory. A letter may clear it up, but not sure its worth it. I would just enjoy it.

Grips/stocks are worth $400-500.

 

[Bill Bates]

The diamond stamp is an indication of a factory replaced or rewroked
part and yes they did stamp the replaced parts with the original serial number.

 

[TazTJ]

Thanks for the info guys! The grips don't have anything stamped inside of them and don't have much of any flare/contouring to them when looked at from the back, so I assumed they were aftermarket. I will try to get more and better pics when I get home from work.

Good to know about the stamping the serial on the new barrel; I can tell the frame and cylinder did look a bit older than what the barrel suggested! So far, this is my oldest S&W I have a 19-3 from 1971 that I foolishly sold, a 27-2 N prefix from 1974-75, a 19-5 from 1987 and now this one from 1918.

Has anyone tried shooting w/o the moon clips? There is the ledge cut into the cylinder to keep the cartridge from going too far forward into the cylinder, but I would have to pop out the spent cases individually.

 

[sodacan]

You have a nice shooter grade revolver. You can shoot it W/O the moon clips as you thought. If the stocks are Cokes, they're probably worth more the gun. Enjoy that revolver.

 

[Jack Flash]

I think those are genuine S&W stocks and worth a lot in their own right.

This website dates it to July, 1918.
http://oldguns.net/sn_php/mildateslookup.php

Shooting without moon clips is fine as long as speed is not important. If you don't like plucking / poking the empties out, you can always use .45 AutoRim cartridges, but I do not think anyone currently manufactures it. You may have to buy the brass and load it yourself if you want to go that route.

The original half-moon clips are a little flimsy and easily bent, so they aren't great for repeated use. Ranch products makes full-moon and third-moon clips. I like the latter.

 

[stu1ritter]

Shooting 1917's without moonclips is no big deal, other than having to pop out each case when done. 45ACP headspaces on the front of the case. I shoot mine that way all the time.

Stu

 

[damienph]

That is a fine looking 1917. I have a '37 Brazilian and have fired ACPs through mine without 1/2 moon clips, no issues except having to poke them out with a pencil or pull them out with my thumb nail.
I mostly shoot .45AR through mine. I bought a few hundred pieces of Remington-Peters (R-P) brass several years ago. I think that they still make occasional runs of it. I have heard that Starline offers AR brass as well but I have never seen any.

Below is a pic of my '37 Brazilian

 

[Muley Gil]

Georgia Arms makes .45 Auto Rim. The website sez they are current out of stock. I bought some years ago and it shoots fine.

HANDGUN - **SELECT BY CALIBER - .45 AUTO RIM - Georgia Arms

 

[TazTJ]

Cokes?


barrel stamp:

 

[deyomatic]

Must be a replacement side plate. Maybe from whatever work they did when it went back to the factory.

 

[quinn]

I believe this may be a Model 1950 45 Military... aka pre 22. The 4 line address was never on an original 1917. This is a unusual bird.

 

[TazTJ]

Yeah, new side plate possibly, new barrel, cylinder show some wear on the front side, so I am guessing that it's original with the proof mark and serial # stamp w/o the diamond stamp like is on the barrel. It looks like there may be some wash out on the sideplate stamping though, the right side of the stamp doesn't look as deeply engraved as the left side of the stamping. The frame also has the 4 line registration info, too. Not sure if the original 1917's had this or not?

The grip frame under the grips is mostly all bare metal on the sides with rust spots, little to no bluing left on the sides, but the back and front straps are nicely blued. I didn't see any restrike marks to show that it was redone unless they were ground off at some point? It's raining today, so I will try to get some more pics tomorrow.

I am OK with it being a hybrid; I bought it as a shooter because I wanted a 45 ACP S&W revolver and it was less expensive than buying a new 625 or 325, which I will probably end up with as well one of these days, but I wish they still made a 3" or 5" model. 4" is right in the middle, but doesn't look as good to me!

 

[quinn]

Note: the 4 line address is on the FRAME, not the side plate. The S&W logo is on the side plate. This gun needs to be lettered IMHO. Model 22's are very scarce (only about 1200+) made. Can't explain the Stamping on the butt... Does the butt have an "S" in front of the serial like the barrel does?. My pre 22 has serial # S1098xx, a later number and shipped in Aug. 1954. Were they still using leftover 1917 frames to make these up?

 

[TazTJ]

No S on the serial # on the butt stamping. It has the 4 lines "US Army Model 1917" and below the lanyard ring hole it has the serial number on 2 lines.

The frame has the flaming bomb stamp, too, so I wonder if it was redone at the factory and the 4 line stamp added to the frame at that time?

 

[Toyman]

Roy Jinks advised when he took over factory repairs common practice when a gun was refinished the current address was stamped into the gun, He stopped the practice so this could be why this one has the 4 line address, factory replaced barrel and factory refinish

 

[r3captain]

Although re-finished you have a very nice looking 1917. I realize those coke stocks are comfortable, but you might not want to take it to the range dressed like that. Find another set of stocks and save the cokes for an appropriate piece as they're just too valuable for a shooter.

 

[TazTJ]

I think I have the N Frame square butt Targets from my 27-2 somewhere and the Kurac square Butt Magnas in Koa that are on the 27-2 currently. I fondled the 27 Classic 6.5" at a LGS recently and may try to get those grips as they were comfy and small enough where I could reach the trigger nicely (I have short fingers).

I'm going to try to shoot it tomorrow morning and see how it does; will prob switch grips before then to preserve the Cokes since a forum member is interested in them and another may be interested in a full gun trade. Too many decisions!

 

[DGT]

When you take the grips off, are there any numbers stamped on the left side?