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S&W1917

Steeldog65

Steeldog65

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I'll try this again, I have a 1917 Smith & Wesson .45 caliber that was down necked .455 during WW1. It uses half moon clips to fire the semi-auto .45 bullets. It has never been fired as far as I can tell still has the original US Marshals leather holster and after an inquiry Smith & Wesson, there is no history after arrival in 1918 at the Illinois State armory. I got it in 2000 helping clean up a bank that was closing and it was in a cardboard box wrapped up in paper.
 

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Here is an American Rifleman article from 14 years ago about the 1917 S&W DA-

"As a fail-safe, S&W “step” machined the cylinder chambers to maintain proper headspace on the case mouths, enabling .45 ACPs to be fired without the clips, although cases would have to be removed individually."

It would also likely fire 45 Auto Rim ammo without the half-moon clips and would eject them.
( I would not use any of the +P 45 Auto Rim or 45ACP loads you might find) They would be for the modern S&W model 25-2 that were sold in 45 ACP.
I don't think Remington, Winchester or Federal load 45 Auto rim ammo any more but
Starline still offers the brass for reloading.

www.americanrifleman.org

An Official Journal Of The NRA | Smith & Wesson U.S. Model 1917 Revolver

This 85 percent gun would easily fetch $850 to $1,100 as both a shooter and a military collectable.
www.americanrifleman.org www.americanrifleman.org
 
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I already answered in the other thread.
Where are you getting this "down necked" thing from? What does that even mean? The .455 bullet is only .002" bigger than the .45acp. Both work fine in the same barrels.
S&W made guns for the U.S. chambered in .45acp. The guns made for the British were chambered in .455.
After WW I, many .455s had their chambers reamed to fit and headspace the .45acp cartridge and were sold in the U.S. Some were even reamed out to .45 Colt.
 
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Steeldog65 said:
Here you go, the information I have given is based on what Smith & Wesson wrote to me
Click to expand...

So, I don’t think this was a .455; if it was, it would say .455 on the barrel.

Someone may have cut down some .455 brass so they didn’t have to use clips; this is not uncommon., as .45 Auto Rim brass was not easy to find, and moon clips would get lost or damaged.

Are there any symbols, etc stamped on it, particularly on the barrel?

There also might be some stamps that are under the sticks (grips).
 
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More info-

"It was in the summer of 1914 when Walter Wesson, eldest son of D.B. Wesson and president of Smith & Wesson, received a request from the British government for a revolver chambered in the .455 Mark II cartridge. The factory was already producing the Hand Ejector First Model in .44 S&W Spl.—aka the Triple Lock—so it wasn’t much of a task to screw on a .45-caliber barrel and ream the cylinder to accept the British cartridge."

"The Triple Lock was expensive to manufacture. Thus, in 1915, with 15,376 guns produced, it was modified into the .44 Hand Ejector Second Model, which eliminated the extractor shroud and the yoke-locking mechanism."

www.americanrifleman.org

An Official Journal Of The NRA | A Look Back At The Smith & Wesson Model 1917

A wartime stopgap revolver remains the basis for today’s most sophisticated wheelguns.
www.americanrifleman.org www.americanrifleman.org
 
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