M1917 Revolver

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Smith & Wesson M1917 Revolver (Military issue with lanyard ring) - .45 ACP. Note the ejector-rod socket, common of a Smith revolver. Also note the S&W style cylinder release latch. These are the only easily distinguishable external differences between the Colt and S&W versions.

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Colt 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.

The M1917 Revolver was a six shot revolver, chambered for the .45 ACP round - a rimless round that required half (or full) moon clips to load the cartridges. During World War One, the official side arm of American forces was 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 revolver and each 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.

They (or a variation thereof) can be seen in the following:

Specifications

• Weight: 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) (Colt)
• 2.25 lb (1 kg) (S&W)
• Length: 10.8 in (274 mm)
• Barrel length: 5.5 in (140 mm)
• Cartridge: .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rim
• 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 or with two three-round half-moon clips
• Sights: blade front sight, notched rear sight

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
King Kong	Bruce Cabot	Jack Driscoll	Colt	1933
Gun Crazy	John Dall	Bart Tare	Colt	1947
Halls of Montezuma	Reginald Gardner	Sgt. Johnson	Colt with pearl grips, in shoulder holster	1951
Paths of Glory	Kirk Douglas	Colonel Dax	Colt	1957
Bonnie and Clyde	Faye Dunaway	Bonnie Parker	Colt	1967
Bonnie and Clyde	Warren Beatty	Clyde Barrow	Colt	1967
Bonnie and Clyde	Denver Pyle	Frank Hamer	Colt	1967
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia	Kris Kristofferson	A biker		1974
The Great Gatsby	Scott Wilson	George Wilson	S&W	1974
Raiders of the Lost Ark	Harrison Ford	Indiana Jones	Shortened S&W	1981
Batman (1989)	Jack Palance	Carl Grissom	S&W	1989
Michael Collins	Liam Neeson	Michael Collins	Colt	1996
Michael Collins	Brendan Gleeson	Liam Tobin	Colt	1996
Last Man Standing		Thugs	S&W	1996
The Newton Boys	Vincent D'Onofrio	Dock Newton	S&W	1998
The Newton Boys	Dwight Yoakam	Brentwood Glasscock	S&W	1998
The Mummy	Cory Johnson	Mr. Daniels	Two Colt revolvers	1999
American Soldiers: A Day in Iraq		Iraqi police officer	S&W	2005
All the King's Men (2006)	Mark Ruffalo	Dr. Adam Stanton	S&W	2006
The Spirit	Eva Mendes	Sand Saref		2008
The Good, the Bad, the Weird	Jung Woo-sung	Park Do-won	S&W	2008
The Good, the Bad, the Weird		Henchman	S&W	2008

Television

Show Title	Actor	Character	Note	Air Date
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	James Handy	Det. Frank Brady	S&W; Ep. "Spring Break Adventure"	1992-1994
The Lost Battalion	Jay Rodan	Lt. Leak	Colt	2001

Video Games

Game Title	Appears as	Notation	Release Date
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine		Colt	1999
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb		Colt	2003
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault		Colt	2004
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth		S&W	2005
Forgotten Hope 2		Colt	2005