M1917 revolver 1

M1917 revolver
M1917 Revolver

Smith & Wesson M1917 (Brazilian contract)

Type Revolver

Place of origin  United States

Service history
In service 1917–c. 1954

Used by See Users

Wars World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War

Production history
Designed 1917

Produced 1917–1920

Number built c. 300,000 total (c. 150,000 per manufacturer)

Variants Slightly differing versions of the M1917 were made by Colt (shown above) and Smith & Wesson

Specifications
Weight 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) (Colt)
2.25 lb (1.0 kg) (S&W)

Length 10.8 in (270 mm)

Barrel length 5.5 in (140 mm)

Cartridge .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rim

Action double action, solid frame with swing-out cylinder

Muzzle velocity 760 ft/s ( 231.7 m/s)

Feed system six-round cylinder, loaded singly or with two three-round half-moon clips

Sights blade front sight, notched rear sight

The M1917 Revolver (formally United States Revolver, Caliber .45, M1917) was a U.S. six-shot revolver of .45
ACP caliber. It was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1917 to supplement the standard M1911 .45 ACP semi-automatic
pistol during World War I. Afterwards, it was primarily used by secondary and non-deployed troops. There were two
variations of the M1917, one from Colt and one from S&W.
M1917 revolver 2

Background
U.S. civilians arms companies of Colt and Remington-UMC as well as other companies were producing M1911
pistols under contract for the U.S. Army, but even with the additional production there existed a shortage of M1911s.
The interim solution was to ask the two major American producers of revolvers to adapt their heavy-frame civilian
revolvers to the standard .45 ACP pistol cartridge. Both companies' revolvers utilized half-moon clips to extract the
rimless .45 ACP cartridges. Smith & Wesson invented and patented the half-moon clip, but at the request of the
Army allowed Colt to also use the design free of charge in their own version of the M1917 revolver.

Colt M1917 revolver

Colt had until recently produced a revolver for the U.S. Army called the M1909, a version of their heavy-frame,
.45-caliber, New Service model in .45 Long Colt to supplement and replace a range of 1890s-era .38 caliber Colt and
Smith & Wesson revolvers that had demonstrated inadequate stopping power during the Philippine-American War.
The Colt M1917 Revolver was essentially the same as the M1909 with a cylinder bored to take the .45 ACP
cartridge and the half-moon clips to hold the rimless cartridges in position. In early Colt production revolvers,
attempting to fire the .45 ACP without the half-moon clips was unreliable at best, as the cartridge could slip forward
into the cylinder and away from the firing pin.[citation needed] Later production Colt M1917 revolvers had headspacing
machined into the cylinder chambers, just as the Smith & Wesson M1917 revolvers had from the start. Newer Colt
production could be fired without the half-moon clips, but the empty cartridge cases had to be ejected with a device
such as a cleaning rod or pencil, as the cylinder extractor and ejector would pass over the edge of the rimless
cartridges.

Smith & Wesson M1917 revolver

The Smith & Wesson Model 1917 was essentially an adaptation of that company's Second Model .44 Hand Ejector,
chambered instead for .45 ACP, employing a shortened cylinder allowing for use of half-moon clips, and a lanyard
ring on the butt of the frame. Smith & Wesson had recently (c. 1915-16) produced the Hand Ejector, which uses their
heavy .44 caliber frame, for the British Army in .455 Webley caliber due to shortages in British production facilities
of standard-issue Webley Mk VI top-break revolvers.
The S&W M1917 is distinguishable from the Colt M1917 in that the
S&W cylinder had a shoulder machined into it to permit rimless .45
ACP cartridges to headspace on the case mouth (as with automatic
pistols). The S&W M1917 could thus be used without the half-moon
clips, though the empty cases would have to be poked-out manually
through the cylinder face, since the extractor star cannot engage the
rimless cases.

While these revolvers were originally blued, S&W M1917 revolvers

Smith & Wesson 1917 with moon clips and two rebuilt during and after World War II may have been parkerized during
auto rim cartridges arsenal rebuild or under a refurbish contract with S&W.
M1917 revolver 3

Later Use
After the First World War, M1917s became popular on the civilian and police market. Some were military surplus.
Others were newly manufactured. Smith and Wesson kept their version in production, for civilian and police sales,
until they replaced it with their Model 1950 Target.
Many civilian shooters disliked using half-moon clips. Loading and unloading the clips is tedious but obviates
refilling the chamber with single rounds. Bent clips can cushion the firing pin strike and cause ignition problems.[1]
For these reasons, in 1920, the Peters ammunition company introduced the .45 Auto Rim. This rimmed version of
the .45 ACP allowed both versions of the Model 1917 revolver to fire reliably without the clips. In the late 1950s and
1960s, the Colt and Smith & Wesson 1917 were available through mail order companies at bargain prices.
The military service of the M1917 did not end with the First World War. In 1937, Brazil ordered 25,000 Smith and
Wesson M1917s for their military.[2] Now out of service, surplus examples can be identified by the large Brazilian
crest stamped on their sideplates. They are sometimes referred to as the M1937 or the Brazilian-contract M1917. The
Brazilian model had an altered rear sight, and most were fitted with commercial-style checkered grips, though some
utilized smooth grips left over from the United States contract.[3]

Users
•  Brazil
•  United States: Used By U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.
•  Philippines
•  South Vietnam: Used By MACVSOG/

References
Smith & Wesson 1917 with Speer Reloading
Manual

Further reading
• Smith, W.H.B: "1943 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms" (Facsimile). Stackpole Books, Harrisburg PA
(USA), 1979. ISBN 0-8117-1699-6
• Field Manual 23-35 Pistols and Revolvers, 26 February 1953
• Speer Reloading Manual Number 3, Lewiston, ID Speer Products Inc 1959
• Taylor, Chuck: "The .45 Auto Rim," Guns Magazine, September 2000
• Venturino, Mike " WWI Classic Returns", Guns Magazine December 2007, San Diego, Publishers Development
Corp. 2007
Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and Contributors

M1917 revolver  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=552332586  Contributors: A Werewolf, Aldis90, Ana Nim, Asams10, Bluefist, Boris Barowski, Calmer Waters, CapnHawk,
Commander Zulu, Cpl.Punishment, Creepelectronics, Danielwork, Daysleeper47, Deathbunny, Deon Steyn, DocWatson42, Fastilysock, Gaius Cornelius, Grahamboat, HarryPagetFlashman,
Hmains, Hotspur23, Jack Bethune, JippoJabber, John Nevard, Juubelimies, KEN, Koavf, Kross, LWF, Magus732, Martin-wiki, MatthewVanitas, Mboverload, Mcumpston, NawlinWiki,
Nukes4Tots, Oatmeal batman, Pinethicket, Prodego, ROG5728, Rama, RobertLunaIII, Sietse Snel, TGC55, TheFlarbar, Thernlund, Ve3, Winged Brick, 59 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Smith-et-Wesson-1917-p1030108.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Smith-et-Wesson-1917-p1030108.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0
 Contributors: Rama
File:Flag of the United States.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Anomie
File:M1917 revolver.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:M1917_revolver.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Mcumpston (talk)Mike Cumpston Original
uploader was Mcumpston at en.wikipedia
Image:1917 Smith and Wesson with Speer reloading handbook.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1917_Smith_and_Wesson_with_Speer_reloading_handbook.jpg
 License: Public Domain  Contributors: Mcumpston (talk)Mike Cumpston. Original uploader was Mcumpston at en.wikipedia
File:Flag of Brazil.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Brazil.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Anomie
File:Flag of the Philippines.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Philippines.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Achim1999
File:Flag of South Vietnam.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_South_Vietnam.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Abjiklam, Anime Addict AA,
Antemister, Avia, ChongDae, Conscious, Cycn, Denniss, Editor at Large, Electron, Fry1989, Gryffindor, Homo lupus, Illegitimate Barrister, Kauffner, Ludger1961, MS05L, Madden, Mattes,
Multichill, Namkhanh02, Qgnt, ThomasPusch, Thorjoetunheim, Wrightbus, Zscout370, 24 anonymous edits

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