It was going to be a good day. I was headed to the gun show in Tallahassee FL. I had a nice chunk of change in my truck, and I had plans to hunt down a nice old revolver. The old days where you could find almost anything at a gun show may be gone but there are still a few stragglers who hold to the old ways. Old men who appreciate things other than the standard fare of either high-priced “tactical” or cheap, easy-sales stuff. You can recognize these men by the glass cases and old blued steel behind the glass. They may have small tables but there is certainly treasure buried there.
I had started my rounds, methodically searching for the Old Ones, those grandfathers who had grown up on the writings of Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton and who look at Clint Smith and John Taffin as new guys. As I started, my search was largely coming up empty. Cheap Cordura, poorly made holsters, someone trying to sell magic gun cleaner all there in force with few dealers selling the dusty old guns I was looking for. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of honest good dealers there. People selling quality guns, including some newer revolvers but just like when you get your mouth fixed on having a damned good steak, chicken joints lose their appeal. I wasn’t finding anything that made my mouth water.
I was on my fourth aisle when I saw what certainly looked to be a certified card-carrying Old One. He was set up to do business his way and not the way of current modern commerce. He had a single small table between him and the aisle, a chair for himself and a companion. The wall behind his back had a stack of boxes filled with small stuff and books. The most important clue I could see that this was who I was seeking was the two chairs he had set up on the aisle side of the table. He was a man not looking for quick commerce but for conversation. I still hadn’t had a glance at what wares he had on his table, as he had two people on the hook blocking my view and I was trying to flow with the crowd.
As the crowd eased by and I passed, I saw IT sitting there on the Old One’s table.
Dark, faded, blued steel, a long skinny barrel, and the massive cylinder of an N-framed Smith. Decent, well-earned wear on the high points and the smooth walnut grips that scream US MILITARY all on what appeared to be a genuine Smith and Wesson 1917 45 ACP revolver, restrained rather unpoetically with the white plastic zip tie required by “safety concerns” holding the hammer back. I felt that tug to go immediately to the table but instead, I decided to follow my grandfather’s rule of “Never interrupt a man who is doing business.”
In my mind, I was doing the math. It’s a Smith and Wesson 1917, but is it a .45 ACP or a 455? Is it original or a rebuild. Has it been converted from 455 or 45 Colt? Is it one of the Brazillian contract guns made from later parts or one of the US Property marked guns or even one of the Canadian contract guns in .455? And the most important question a man at a gun show has in his mind, which I certainly had in my mind was, “Do I have enough cash to make it mine?”
I kept walking to finish scanning the tables before circling back. I stopped here and there to see a couple of things before I made it back to the Old One’s table. No one was standing or sitting in front of him and a quick peek told me the 1917 revolver was still there.
I introduced myself and asked the Old One if I could sit and talk and he waives me into a chair.
Now for the younger men and women starting in this grand hobby of ours of guns and knives, this is where the real fun is. The Old One and I had a conversation about the 1917. In a room full of several hundred people they all disappeared, and it was just the Old One and me sitting there like long-lost friends discussing guns. We discussed the history of the model, how he wound up with it, why it was made the way it was, and exactly what the pistol was.
It was an original 1917, never reblued, not perfect but with some finish and a couple of light rust rashes, but functionally right. I checked the side plate and the screws, and I saw it had been opened before but by someone who knew what they were doing. The screw heads weren’t buggered up and there was no telltale pry mark on the side plate from a fool dickering with it.
I checked the serial numbers on the cylinder and the butt and to my surprise, they matched. Under the barrel, it was clearly marked US PROPERTY. At that point it had by far exceeded my hopes and dreams that right there in front of me for sale was an original US Property marked Smith and Wesson 45 ACP Model of 1917 with matching parts numbers and damned near all of the original bluing.
Truthfully, the 1917 revolver is a piece of history.
We reached the natural end of the conversation about what it was, and I was already smiling. The conversation alone was worth the price of entry. We bargained shortly and came to a MORE than fair price for me. I went to go get the cash from my truck, another of my grandfather’s pearls of wisdom, “Always walk and reconsider for at least a second before a bigger purchase”. I returned, if anything, more confident of the deal and we shook hands, exchanged money, and did the paperwork.
I spent the next hour or so finding stuff for the 1917 and I walked out of that gun show with a smile, a few full moon clips, a box of 45 ACP ammo, and that gun tucked in a cheap canvas case obtained in an expedient purchase from one of the other sellers. I left excited.
I knew I was in for a history lesson which I could now experience firsthand with the 1917.
The next opportunity I had, I packed the 1917 revolver up in that same canvas case and ran immediately to my buddy, Gunsmith Ed. Within minutes we had the gun open on the operating table. It was clear the gun had been opened before and cleaned and re-lubed properly. Probably not for a few years but the oil in it certainly wasn’t from 1917. The internal parts were unmolested, and no one had done an action or trigger job on it. Most surprising was all of the internal parts had matching numbers. The cylinder, barrel, butt, yoke, extractor star, everything but the grips were original to the gun. The grips were period-correct just no number on them. All in all, we decided I had really gotten a better deal than I previously thought. We left it as it was without any alterations except new oil.
I gathered up some standard pressure ammunition, jacketed ball ammo in a 220-grain load, and took the quick chance to fire off a few rounds to see if the old fixed-sight revolver shot anywhere near the point of aim. I didn’t have a loading tool for the moon clips, so I loaded the rounds by hand and had them ready. Lesson learned on that one. Even if you don’t cut yourself, you will pinch yourself and you will without a doubt curse moon clips during the loading. I had ordered a few (40) additional moon clips, but I only had six full moon clips and four half-moon clips on hand. I ran to the range and stapled up a sheet of paper with a single one-inch blue dot in the center.
I still get nervous when firing a new gun, particularly a new type or model of gun.
This was no exception. I loaded two half-moon clips in and went at it single action. The first round at seven yards ran low, no doubt my own nervousness showing itself. The heavy trigger didn’t help, yet blaming the trigger isn’t how I was taught. It was me. The next five shots left a nice clean cluster all slightly low and left, half on, half off the blue dot.
A quick shuck of the empties and I refilled the six chambers with a full moon clip. I took my time, and the next cluster was spot-on, right on top of the blue dot. Each time I repeated the drill on fresh targets the 1917 shot to the point of aim. Shooting it double-action opened the pattern, which easily diagnosed my limited shooting skill with DA revolvers. I had cut my teeth in the polymer age, and it was showing. I knew what I needed to know on that trip—that the 1917 Smith shoots to the point of aim, a real concern for a century-old gun with fixed sights and a pinned barrel.
I found myself a reproduction quality holster and lanyard and a friend gave me the finale.
An original 1917 trench knife made by Landers, Frary, and Clark.
I also came across a century-old French religious medal and matching prayer beads. All in all, a hell of a package. It only takes a moment of filling your fists with both the 1917 trench knife and the 1917 Smith, to cause you to think about the nasty trench warfare of WWI. Fighting Germans clad in heavy wool coats in muddy cold wet trenches. Not anything anyone ever wants to do. I could see how that big 45 ACP revolver and the knuckle duster with a foot-long needle attached would give a man a little comfort.
I started reading up on the 1917 and learned a few things.
Smith and Wesson produced 163,476 model 1917 revolvers for WWI to supplement the handgun production of the 1911. The half-moon and moon clip were invented by Joseph Wesson, the son of Daniel Wesson, and patented so they could use the rimless 45 ACP cartridge in revolvers. Smith and Wesson allowed Colt to use the clips to further the war effort. Smith and Wesson also was run by the war department to further the production of arms.
The 1917 was based on the 44 Special Hand Ejector second model, which eliminated the third locking point of the famous Triple Lock to lower the cost of production from $21.00 per to $19.00 per which equates to about a $60.00 savings today. I even learned the 1917 revolver saw service with the US Military in Vietnam by tunnel rats, soldiers tasked with clearing the underground tunnels used by the Viet Cong as bases.
I recently stopped by to see a friend, an old gunsmith we will call George, to talk revolvers. George was a gracious host and dug deep into his safe and broke out an original, extremely fine condition Triple Lock with the factory nickel finish and pearl grips in a five-and-a-half-inch or so barrel. Here I was holding the holy grail original N framed Smith and Wesson chambered in 44 special and instantly I understood it was where the 1917 came from. A check of the serial number later showed me his Triple Lock was a first-year production gun. Rare just isn’t the word for it.
N-Frame Evolution
The N-frame was certainly a great gun when it was born as the Triple Lock, when the second model hand ejectors came out, and when the 1917 was introduced. The same guns later evolved into the 38-44 Outdoorsman and the Registered Magnum in 357 Magnum.
The growth kept going and the 44 Magnum and the 41 Magnum arrived in an N frame format. The movie Dirty Harry popularized the 44 Magnum while Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton certainly kept it in the minds of shooters and hunters. Cops commonly carried the big N frames in 44 Special, and 45 Colt. More recently, Jerry Miculek, set the world record for six shots, reload, and six more shots on a single target in 2.99 seconds using a performance Center 45 ACP N Frame Smith which used the same moon clips designed for the 1917. Heck, if you do a quick check on gunbroker.com for the most expensive gun on the site, you will find a shortened well-worn 1917 used by Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The 1917 is an over-engineered beast of a handgun, with features way ahead of its time. Robust and chambered in the 45 ACP cartridge it is certainly capable if you are.
Finding this 1917 revolver has helped me start what I think may become a lifelong addiction to the big bore N-frame Smiths. Good luck and good hunting.
