People love to tell you how the M1911 won ‘Two World Wars’ but often fail to mention the other .45 ACP pistol that was present in both of those wars and beyond. This is the M1917, which sounds singular, but in reality, the M1917 is either a S&W or a Colt revolver. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here.
You see, when the United States entered World War 1, we really weren’t ready. We didn’t have enough rifles or handguns. While most people associate World War 1 with the M1911 and Springfield M1903, they were both minorities in the Great War. The Enfield M1917 armed more soldiers by a large margin, and more M1917s armed those who rated handguns than the M1911.
The United States needed handguns, and they couldn’t produce M1911s fast enough. Getting the tooling, machinery, and training to build new M1911s wasn’t feasible in short order. However, companies like Colt and S&W had the machinery to build revolvers. At the behest of the United States military, they began producing .45 ACP revolvers for the war effort. This would supplement the M1911 and could be rapidly made.
A Tale of Two Guns
S&W and Colt both adapted two different guns to form their individual M1917s. Both guns were just adaptions of revolvers they were already making but chambered for .45 ACP. S&W was using the 2nd Model Hand Ejector, aka the famed Triple Lock. Colt went with the 1909 New Service revolver.
They converted the guns to .45 ACP. Daniel Wesson created the first moon clip in the form of a half-moon. The .45 ACP rounds lacked a prominent rim which made it impossible for the revolver’s hand ejector to catch them. The moon clip allowed them to be easy to eject. At the request of the Army, S&W made the half-moon clip available to Colt for free.
The S&W had a shoulder machined into the cylinder to allow the round to headspace on the cartridge mouth. Colt did not have this shoulder. Thus, a Colt M1917 must have the moon clips to work. The S&W variant can shoot without moon clips but requires a case-by-case ejection.
The S&W and Colt M1917 revolvers both accompanied the American Expeditionary Force to Europe and fought in the trenches. When they returned, the weapons proved popular on the civilian market. Eventually, a full moon clip was designed that held six rounds for ease of use and very fast reloads.
There was also a cartridge called .45 Auto Rim. This was a .45 ACP with a prominent rim that could be fired and ejected without the need for a moon clip of any kind. That’s how popular these guns were on the civilian market.
Beyond World War 1
When we entered World War 2, we weren’t ready, again. We needed to pull the M1917s back into service alongside the M1911s. The M1917s went to Europe and the Pacific and served with distinction once more. Although, they didn’t outnumber 1911s anymore. They were commonly used for rear echelon roles, and M1911s typically went to the front.
Still, they stuck around and were used in the Korean conflict and even in Vietnam. However, in Vietnam, they were used for a specific purpose. They armed tunnel rats going into the holes in the ground to chase the Vietnamese out. The tight confines proved problematic with the M1911. The lack of a moving slide with the M1917s ensured they had a functional gun for close-quarter use.
In the 1930s, the Government of Brazil ordered 25,000 M1917 revolvers from S&W. They are fairly typical but feature a Brazillian crest, as well as checkered grips. They have slightly different rear sights but are functionally the same.
How They Shoot
My example is a Brazillian Contract M1917, and it’s a gun I adore. Not for any functional reason, but because early 1900s revolvers are cool, and its unique history makes it intriguing. At the range, the recoil might surprise you. You’ve probably shot a .45 ACP and know what to expect, right? Well, with the M1917, you’ll get a little stiffer recoil experience than you what you expect.
Without a slide or short recoil system, you get the full force of the gun’s recoil energy. This isn’t some crazy, hand-hurting recoil, but it’s significant enough to mention. Also, the grips kind of suck. They are too small and twist a bit with every shot. Commercial grips were a popular upgrade to these guns, and I can see why.
Still, hammer down on that grip and keep it tight, and you can keep your rounds on target. I enjoyed dumping a cylinder of six 230-grain .45 ACPs into the chest of a torso target in a couple of seconds.
There is still some thrill to send those big .45 trotting down range. You can watch those big pills collide with steel targets and send them rocking backward. The big 5.5-inch barrel gives you a nice long sight radius, and a single action trigger makes it easy to land some long-range shots on target. I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to keep a six-inch gong swinging with the M1917.
Where You’ve Seen It
Does this gun look or seem familiar? Believe it or not, it’s oddly popular with movie productions. I can’t say why, other than they tend to be somewhat common. I get its popularity in WW1 and WW2 movies, but it appears everywhere. Maybe .45 ACP blanks are cheaper than .45 Colt or .38 Special blanks. Here are a few movies you might have seen it in.
Fury: The World War 2 tank movie has Brad Pitt’s character War Daddy carrying an M1917 in a shoulder holster throughout the film. His M917 has clear sweetheart grips attached to it
Indiana Jones: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” has Indy carrying a custom M1917 revolver. The barrel is trimmed significantly, and it wears an odd front sight.
Marvel – In the first “Captain America” movie, one of Cap’s Howling Commandos, Dum Dum Dugan, carries an M1917 revolver. It later appears in the “Agent Carter” television show with Dum Dum.
The Legend
Next time someone asks you which gun won two world wars, tell them the M1917 just to make them pause and think. It’s as true as the M1911 winning both World Wars. The M1917 is an interesting part of America’s history of service firearms. If you get the chance to snag one, I highly suggest that you do.
