UPDATED: MORE pics - Bought a 1917..have a few questions. Date of mfg...etc...

[jonnyc]

I have a couple of Smith 1917s and a another pair of Colt 1917s...not to mention a shaved Webley MKVI. Not many pistols more fun to shoot than those big 45s. I would recommend that you investigate 'Rim-Z' plastic Moon Clips. Very easy to load and unload, and fit all the revolvers above.

 

[ChargerBill]

Here are a couple images. I haven't cleaned the gun, and it wasn't clean when I picked it up, so I may post more, but I figure not too many members get excited about seeing a refinished gun... so these pics will likely be enough.

 

[Muley Gil]

Looks good to me!

 

[ChargerBill]

Thanks, I like it a lot.

Oh, almost forgot the range report:
Shot standard 45 acp reloads, fairly light charge. These are all I had to shoot. Long story short, ran through 4 moon clips and aside from the heavy double-pull, the gun is an absolute joy to shoot and incredibly accurate on the single action trigger. I'd like to lighten the double... it feels like 20lbs. A side note: I shot a new GP100 for the first time back to back with this 1917 and I liked the Smith a lot more.

 

[StrawHat]

Glad you like it! I don't lighten my mainspring but I do smooth the action. I prefer a smooth trigger pull. Two ways to do it. Dry fire a bunch or do or have an action job done. The action job is merely accelerated wear on the parts, basically a short cut to a million cycles of the action. What you are accomplishing with either is wearing in the parts and reducing friction between moving parts.

Kevin

 

[JH1951]

Give it a through cleaning prior to any work on the action. I had one that would barely cycle in double action. Disassembly and cleaning resolved the problem. There was old lubricant inside that had gummed up and fouled up the operation of the action.
I for one would welcome more pictures and comments from you as you become familiar with your 1917.

 

[AlHunt]

Here are a couple images. I haven't cleaned the gun, and it wasn't clean when I picked it up, so I may post more, but I figure not too many members get excited about seeing a refinished gun... so these pics will likely be enough.

I think you've underestimated us, my friend. You may have possession of that nice revolver, but we all now have a vicarious ownership stake.

We want to see pics from 360 degrees, we want to see the back of the cylinder, check for forcing cone erosion, we want to debate the size of the side plate gap, talk about whether it's actually nickel or some other silver looking finish, we'd like to see both sides of the grip frame to check for any telltale stampings, we'll need to know if all the numbers match, are the stocks numbered to the gun and so on.

Ultimately we'll decide it's pretty much what it appears to be but we take our vicarious thrill of ownership pretty seriously...

 

[ChargerBill]

Well then, here are pics from earlier today. As you can see it is pretty dirty inside and very gummy. I'm going to strip it down, clean it and see if that resolves any of the heft in the trigger.

 

[ChargerBill]

A few more pics

 

[ChargerBill]

And a few more. Note the 4 notches in the right side grip. Not sure if they mean anything, but they do raise curiosity.

 

[StrawHat]

Put the side plate back on. Put the grips in a drawer somewhere you will be able to find them. Put the revolver in a dish, container, etc that seals. Cover with a 1/1 mixture of ATF/ acetone. Slosh periodically. After a week or so, remove and blast with an air hose (face shield recommended). Remove side plate. If gunk is still present AND you feel comfortable, remove pieces and scrub with a toothbrush. Reassemble and try the action.

Let us know what you find out.

Kevin

 

[Truckman]

Note the 4 notches in the right side grip. Not sure if they mean anything, but they do raise curiosity.

The notches resemble initials to me......Ben

 

[ChargerBill]

So... soaking it as an assembly is no longer an option. Here is the gun ALMOST completely disassembled. I do not have the proper cup punches (yet) for the convex pins, and I will take the cylinder assembly apart once I fabricate some sort of soft covers for my plier jaws.

 

[ChargerBill]

It is pretty filthy. The yoke retaining pin took a lot of prodding to get out and of course the piston spring went flying across the room. Fortunately I only had to move a coffee table an upright reading light a recliner and a couch to retrieve it. Upside; found my backscratcher, the missing Q for my Scrabble set, a piece of petrified hot dog the cat left behind and 6 writing utensils.

 

[ChargerBill]

Put the side plate back on. Put the grips in a drawer somewhere you will be able to find them. Put the revolver in a dish, container, etc that seals. Cover with a 1/1 mixture of ATF/ acetone. Slosh periodically. After a week or so, remove and blast with an air hose (face shield recommended). Remove side plate. If gunk is still present AND you feel comfortable, remove pieces and scrub with a toothbrush. Reassemble and try the action.

Let us know what you find out.

Kevin

Is there a chance this mix will hurt the nickel plating? In particular the hammer just below the nose is slightly peeling.

 

[ChargerBill]

I almost forgot, the grips are original to the gun.

 

[Muley Gil]

So... soaking it as an assembly is no longer an option. Here is the gun ALMOST completely disassembled. I do not have the proper cup punches (yet) for the convex pins, and I will take the cylinder assembly apart once I fabricate some sort of soft covers for my plier jaws.

I don't feel a need to remove any pins. The only time I ever have was to remove the barrel.

 

[StrawHat]

Is there a chance this mix will hurt the nickel plating? In particular the hammer just below the nose is slightly peeling.

It shouldn't bother the nickel plating.

The peeling on the hammer may continue with use or it may wear in to the point it won't peel any more. Adding the plating to the hammer (and trigger) changed the working dimensions and tolerances. If it were my revolver, I would think about stripping those two parts back to bare metal. Casehardening would be expensive but blued they would nicely contrast with the nickel.

Kevin

 

[AlHunt]

Well then, here are pics from earlier today. As you can see it is pretty dirty inside and very gummy. I'm going to strip it down, clean it and see if that resolves any of the heft in the trigger.

Very nice, thanks. We can safely conclude it's a non-factory refinish. The plated trigger is a giveaway and the lack of a service date stamped under the grips pretty much seals the deal.

Is there some kind of peening next to the window where the hand engages? Maybe it's just an optical illusion. I can't imagine what would hit it there.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

I will take the cylinder assembly apart once I fabricate some sort of soft covers for my plier jaws.

I use a wooden clothes pin clamped on the extractor rod knob. Then I clamp that with channel lock pliers or you could clamp the clothespin in a vice. Then put 3 empty cartridge casings in alternating charge holes to support the extractor star. You should be able to unscrew the cylinder and star from the rod by turning the cylinder counter-clockwise (right hand thread).