4040CCLLAASSSSIICC HHAANNDDGGUUNNSS:: TThhee UU..SS.. MMooddeell of 1917 Revolver (Smith & Wesson)By John Marshall

In 1914, as Britain anticipated a coming war inEurope, the country was very short of suitablefirearms. An inquiry was placed with Smith & Wes-son in the U.S. for a revolver that would chamberthe .455 Mark II cartridge. S&W responded with asample of their .44 Hand Ejector (first model)revolver re-barreled and re-chambered for the .455round. At first, the revolver was judged by theBritish as being too heavy and easily jammed withdirt. However, when England entered into “TheGreat War” in August1914, the badly gun-strapped Brits sentan urgent mes-sage to S&W tostart making .455revolvers as soonas possible. Thefirst models were shipped in September 1914. Thesehad the original S&W “triple lock” action, whichprovided a middle lock for the cylinder in additionto the normal fore and aft devices. These also had ashroud for the ejector rod under the barrel. In Janu-ary 1915, after about 5,000 revolvers had beensent, the design was changed to eliminate the mid-dle lock and dispense with the ejector shroud. Thecompany was in full swing production of thislighter-weight second model by June 1915. Produc-tion was completed in September 1916, with74,755 units having been shipped to England andCanada. This was all done through the RemingtonUnion Metallic Cartridge Company in New YorkCity, the purchasing agent for the Crown’s interests.

In 1915, Joseph Wesson, a son of one of S&W’sfounders, had succeeded his brother Walter aspresident of the company. He directed that workbe completed on developing .45 caliber revolversin anticipation of possible U.S. entry into the war.Much of that development work was carried out inconjunction with the Springfield Armory, thenation’s prime research and development center aswell as its largest producer of military small arms.As both S&W and Springfield were located inSpringfield, Massachusetts, their coordination waseasily expedited. The result of these efforts was amodification of the .455 Hand Ejector that couldchamber and fire the U.S. standard .45 ACP car-tridge. Because the American round was a rimlessdesign, the ejector star on the revolver could notengage the fired shells for proper extraction. Thisproblem was solved in an ingenious manner. Asmall sheet metal clip in a “half moon” configura-tion fastened three rounds together in a semicircle.This loaded clip could be inserted into the cylin-der, thus loading three rounds at once. Two ofthese fully loaded the cylinder. Following dis-charge of the cartridges, opening the cylinder anddepressing the ejector rod would allow ejection of

the clips and spent shells. This innovative fast-load-ing process trumped speed loaders and the princi-ple is still used today. Samples of this new revolverwere submitted for testing.

On April 2, 1917, the United States declaredwar on Germany, and arms production wasramped up. Existing supplies of 1911 semiauto pis-tols were scant, and projected production figuresshowed the U.S. could not manufacture enough ofthese for the troops being trained for overseas duty.Accordingly, the .45 ACP Smith & Wesson HandEjector revolver (called the Government Model by

S&W employees) was adopted as theModel 1917 revolver and manufac-ture started. The first one was complet-ed on September 16, 1917. Theserevolvers had 5-1/2” barrels, a blue fin-ish, smooth walnut grips without theS&W medallion, and featured a lanyardring in the butt. These had a two-steprounded front sight, and the rear sight was astepped groove in the frame’s top strap. The cham-bers in the cylinders had a ridge, which allowedproper headspacing of the rimless rounds. Thusindividual rounds could be loaded and fired with-out the half-moon clips, but would have to beplucked or poked out of the chambers. “UNITEDSTATES PROPERTY” was stamped underneath thebarrel, and the top of the barrel was marked“SMITH & WESSON SPRINGFIELD MASS.USA”over “PATENTED DEC.17, 1901, FEB. 6, 1906,SEP.14, 1909.” The butt was stamped with theserial number (the series began with ‘1’) and “U.S.ARMY MODEL 1917.” The left side of the barrelwas stamped “S&W D.A. 45.” Inspection markingsfound at the left rear of the frame near the rearsight area will be GHS (Major Gilbert H. Stewart),a “flaming bomb,” or an eagle’s head with a num-ber. Nearly 170,000 of these revolvers were manu-factured through January 1919, with 163,476 pro-

duced during the World War I period. The revolverpictured for this article left the factory in October1918. Interestingly, it has British proof marks onthe cylinder between the chambers, so it may havebecome a lend-lease arm to Britain during theWWII period.

Smith & Wesson was in the throes of completinga new building at this time, and was hard pressedto keep up with production demand. The U.S.Government decided that to move things faster, itwould take control of the company and manage itfor the war effort. This it did on September 13,

1918. This was the first time that the company hadbeen managed by someone other than a memberof the Wesson family. Management was turnedback over to civilian control after the war, whichended on November 11, 1918.

In 1917, a contract was also let with Colt’sPatent Firearms Manufacturing Company to pro-duce its own version of a large-frame double-action .45 ACP revolver. These Colt revolvers werealso known as Model 1917s. They are interestingarms with a story of their own, but will have to bethe subject of another article.

Both Smith & Wesson and Colt Model 1917sgave good service during World War I, wheremany soldiers preferred them for their ruggedreliability. Placed into inventory after that war,many were arsenal reconditioned and used inWorld War II. As substitute standard arms, thesewere principally for stateside guard duty, butmany saw combat use overseas. Most of thesehad the dull gray Parkerizing finish applied aspart of the reconditioning process. FollowingWorld War II, many Model 1917s were issued tothe U.S. Border Patrol, and even some to thePostal Service. Large numbers were thenreleased for civilian sale, and became economi-cal shooters for the then-plentiful surplus .45ACP ammunition.

Smith & Wesson continued to assemble andproduce the Model 1917 as late as 1949. In1937, the company filled an order from theBrazilian Government for 25,000 of these

revolvers. These had the Brazilian sealon the side plate. The Brazilianrevolvers were shipped betweenFebruary and October of 1938. Alarge number of these were re-imported to the U.S. for civilian

sale in the 1990s. Civilianmanufacture of the Model 1917

resumed in May of 1946 andcontinued through July of

1947. Frames made duringthe 1930s were already

serial numbered, andthose on hand were

also assembled andsold. The Model1917 inspired thelater 1950 and1955 S&W targetmodels, as wellas the Model 25and 625 .45ACP revolvers.

Today theSmith &WessonModel 1917and its Colt

counterpart havebecome collector items.

Once very popular and inexpensive surplusarms, the supply has dried up on recent years.Extant examples found on tables at gun showshave become sought after and relatively expen-sive. These big large-caliber revolvers are effec-tive self-defense arms, and many are still servingfor civilians in this role. They are truly classicrevolvers with an interesting history spanningmost of the 20th Century.

The Model 1917 inspired the later 1950 and 1955 S&W target models, as well as

the Model 25 and 625 .45 ACP revolvers.

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