I am now a Revolver owner! And a couple of questions.

C

Correia

New member
I went to the gunshow yesterday, of course not planning to buy anything, only helping a friend look for a good deal on a 1911. I've always only owned square flat guns, I've very little experience with round guns. Except that I learned to shoot with my Dad's Blackhawk, and other than that and what I've read in gun mags I know very little about revolvers.

But I've always wanted a 1917 in .45 ACP. I don't know why. They are just so big and ugly and serious looking. Well yesterday I found one. $225 out the door! It has been reparkerized (looks like a good job too). The bore is in great shape. The action feels good. It looks like it is in time. TFLers Bobwest & skyder (both revolver knowledgable type folks) thought that it looked real good. Somebody has put Pachymars on it, but I guess that is okay. I bought it to shoot not to look at. :)

The fact that it is a .45 put me over the edge. I came close to buying a minty '60s highpower that morning, but it was $500, which is stretching the old gun budget, and I don't own any 9mm or reload any 9mm. But I always have .45 laying around. Same dealer that I bought a tack-driving sporterized Mauser from last show. 200 dealers and I end up at the same folks twice in a row.

No chance to shoot it yet, but hopefully I will sneak out tomorrow night. Got 5 moon clips ready to go.

A couple of questions:

1. Is it okay to dry fire a 1917? It has the type of hammer with the firing pin on it, is there danger of breakage?

2. Is it safe to carry it around with a round under the hammer? Or is this a 5 shooter when lugged around? There is no transfer bar.

3. Where do you lube round guns? :p My 1911s have all sorts off parts that like oil.

4. What kind of loads do these like? My standard .45 reload is a 200 gr. lead SWC, on 5 gr. of bullseye. Not a very hot load, so I'm guessing that should work just fine.

5. Where is the best place to order moon clips? I paid to much for the ones I have.

Thanks everybody. I have a few minutes to go play with my new round gun before I have to go to church. Better hurry. It is calling me. :p

-Larry Correia
MOLON LABE!
 
1. Yes, you can dry fire safely.
2. Depends on exact age. This model was made both before and after the changes in the hammer block mechanism, no S&W revolvers that I am familiar with use a transfer bar system.
3. Lube very lightly, other than wiping entire gun down for rust prevention. Usually a drop down the inside of the hammer, and maybe a drop on the front of the cylinder and where the crane enters the frame. But wipe off any excess. DO NOT lube ejector star on back of cylinder, good way to collect unburnt powder and jam the gun.
4. Any standard pressure (or less) .45 ACP should work just fine, what will work best has to be determined by the shooter and the gun.
5. Lots of sources, and prices vary widely. Check various reloading supply places, Brownell's, Dillon, etc.
 
Dry firing any older gun can cause some problems such as spring breakage, simply because it's an older gun, made with older metalurigical properties. The design itself is, however, OK for dry firing.

I have seen numerous older guns that have had springs break due to dry firing, even though the design is OK for dry firing, and it's also possible that the firing pin COULD break off, especially if the metal is crystalized, which is also possible.

I'd use snapcaps just to be on the safe side and protect your springs and firing pin.

Most of the 1917s use the old-style hammer block, which is a spring loaded device mounted on the side plate. Late model Brazilian contract 1917s MAY use the new-style hammer block, I'm not entirely certain about that, as my 1917 is an early Brazilian contract gun.

You need to make certain that the hammer block is functioning correctly and is free to move in the side plate, which requires removing the side plate.

This also allows you to get at the guts of the gun for proper cleaning and lubrication.

If you're not familiar with how to disassemble the interior of an S&W revolver, find someone who can show you how it is done, or get a copy of Jerry Kuhnhausen's S&W shop manual.

One thing MUST be said. NEVER EVER pry the side plate off!

I use grease on the internals of all of my S&W revolvers. The grease stays put longer than oil, and that way I don't have to take the side plate off nearly as often.

I've found moon clips, and the declipping tool, at gunshows for about .50 cents a clip, and $2.50 for the demooning tool.
 
The hammer-block is the older alternative to the transfer bar, and generally works just as well. It's a piece of metal that stops full forward hammer motion until the trigger pulls it down and out of the way for firing...sorta the reverse of the transfer bar. It's harder to spot, being much lower in the mechanism than the transfer bar is...with the hammer held partially cocked, gun UNloaded, slowly squeeze and release the trigger and you should see the block raise and lower down at the base of the hammer.

Like others already said, I'd say a gun that old should be fully cleaned and the hammer-block safety inspected before I carried it six-up.

Wolff and others should still have springs for those. Before trusting my life to a gun that old I'd change the springs out. Wouldn't cost too much to have a gunsmith do that, a lube job and inspection all at once. Besides the lockwork, a full inspection for cracks and alignment is in order.

Despite it's age, with good springs in it's a gun you CAN still trust your life to.
 
Thanks for the advice everybody. I will detail strip it when I get a chance.

I'm excited to take this beauty out and shoot it. :D
 
Those older S&W's, when they had hammer blocks at all, had ones that moved to the side, in and out of the sideplate. A camming surface on the hand pushed the hammer block in and out of the way.

The problem was that the hammer block was spring loaded and if it stuck due to dirt or spring failure, the gun was dependent only on the rebound slide to prevent firing if dropped on the hammer. But if the hammer was struck hard enough, the hammer pivot pin sheared off and the gun fired. The new type hammer block, working off the rebound slide, and moving up and down, solved both problems.

The war time Model 1917 had no hammer block at all, and depended for safety on the rebound slide. The old style hammer block was added to the commercial model in 1933.

For the best half moon clips, try and buy GI ones. They are thicker than the new commercial ones and work better. I recently bought some at a gun show for $1 each. You just have to know what you are looking at.

Jim
 
I lightly oil and wipe off my 1917 Colt (yeah Colt made them too, based on the New Service model wsich seems a LOT bigger than a smith overall.) Its the only DA revolver I own. I try not to dry fire it, but only because it's old. I use a low power 200 gr semi wadcutter "plinking load" of 5 gr of red dot or good old 230gr hardball.. that's what it was designed to shoot. No +p for this old gun, though I think it could take it. I picked mine up for something like $275 a number of years ago.

Only bad thing was finding a holster. I finally bought a replica holster at IMI militaria (they run huge ads in the shotgun news). Concealable holsters are a pain too... wonder how Elliot Ness carried his? Gun parts corp has the full moon clips, but technically half moon clips are more historicaly accurate. :D

Only bad thing is they won't let me run an IDPA course with my 1917 army.. it won't fit in that little box :rolleyes: maybe I could use it in my 'back up gun" stage hahaha
 
Just FYI, it's always been my experience that .45ACP revos have the most satisfying report of any handgun. It's not the sharp crack of a a supersonic 9mm or magnum, and not the anemic pop of the .38's or lesser calibers. It's an authoritative CRASH that indicates that hell's on the way. Sorry guys, couldn't resist sharing....
 
A 1917 can mean either Colt or S&W. You didn't indicate which. I'm familiar with the Smith and as Jim Keenan said it does not have a drop safety.

By the way you paid a very good price, probably due to the refinish(parkerizing).
 
Colt vs S&W - the Colt 1917 ejector rod is hanging in the breeze underneath the barrel; the S&W has a small "lug" under the barrel that "locks" with the front end of the ejector rod. The other major difference between the Colt New Service and the S&W 2nd model Hand Ejector is the trigger reach. You need VERY large hands with long fingers to properly hang onto and fire a Colt New Service - it's actually not a larger gun, but Colt somehow made the distance from the back of the grip to the trigger much longer than a S&W.
 
The mention of Brazil was about S&W revolvers identical to the Model 1917 that were made FOR (not IN) Brazil. Many of these came on the market a few years ago. Many were Model 1917s that were repurchased and refinished by S&W; they have many of the original US inspection markings.

As to strength, a Colt New Service will probably take any .45 ACP load in the book and some way out of it. It is one strong revolver. The S&W is also pretty tough, though maybe not quite up to the big Colt. Of course, they weren't made to handle .44 Magnum pressures; get a modern gun for the .44 Maggie and bigger stuff.

Jim
 
I went out and shot this bad boy today. Wow! :D It is great. Very accurate once I got used to sights, that was slow fire, single action. Being a 1911 kind of guy I'm going to have to get used to the DA pull. Very nice gun.

No serious accuracy work, but I could hit a target that was about the size of a 5 gallon bucket at 80 yards. Sweet. :D

I'm definatly going to have to get a de-mooning tool though. I have sore fingers.
 
I am now a revolver owner

I use a S & W model 25 in NRA bullseye competition. I do not use Moon clips. They are just a pain to fool with. I just load my rounds in the cylinder and shoot. After shooting, if you turn the revolver upside down , push the ejector rod all of the way out and shake the revolver, most of the cases usually fall out, If not, a small screwdriver can get them out very easily.;)
 
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