The M1917 Revolver refers to two similar six-round revolvers chambered for the .45 ACP round - a rimless round that required half (or full) moon clips to load the cartridges - used by the United States during World War 1, adopted under the same designation. During World War One, the official sidearm of American forces was the M1911 Government .45 Automatic, however supply shortages forced the U.S. Army to ask two major gun manufacturers, Colt and Smith & Wesson, to each update their existing commercial heavy frame revolvers and build a version that could be fielded as a supplement to the standard M1911.
Colt already had an offering to the military, their M1909 heavy revolver, but it was chambered for the antiquated .45 Long Colt round. They re-chambered the revolver for the newly adopted .45 ACP round (calling the commercial variant "the Colt New Service Revolver"). Smith & Wesson re-chambered their own Second Model .44 Hand Ejector revolver as well. Thus there are two versions of the Model 1917 revolver that are externally very similar, one built by Colt and one built by Smith & Wesson.
Action: double action, solid frame with swing-out cylinder
Muzzle velocity: 760 ft/s ( 231.7 m/s)
Feed system: six-round cylinder, loaded singly (.45 Auto Rim) or with two three-round half-moon clips (.45 ACP)
Sights: blade front sight, notched rear sight
Smith & Wesson M1917 Revolver
Error creating thumbnail: File missingSmith & Wesson M1917 Revolver (Military issue with lanyard ring) - .45 ACP. Note the ejector-rod socket, common of a S&W revolver. Also note the S&W style cylinder release latch and half-moon front sight. These are the most easily distinguishable external differences between the Colt and S&W versions.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingColt M1917 Revolver (Military issue with lanyard ring) - .45 ACP. Note the unsupported ejector rod - common of Colt revolvers of the period, as well as the Colt-style cylinder release latch and blade front sight. Smooth walnut grips were used on all WWI issue Model 1917 specimens
