1937 Brazilian contract S&W 1917 opinions

Hitzy

Hitzy

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So looking my recently acquired 1937 Brazilian 1917 over, it seems to be of WWI manufacture. Has small eagle head acceptance stamp in crane recess, has "U" notch rear sight, s/n puts it in 1917-1918 production....
So what's the score? Did they sell them some surplus and some new manufacture? Sounds like something Norinco would do...:)
Don't get me wrong, I like it alot, all the numbers match, and it's a BIG revolver......BIG.
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S&W had lots of left over parts, including inspected frames from the US M.1917 contract.

I've never heard of an US inspected Brazilian however.

Regarding the serial number: S&W often assigned serials to various contracts; eg) there are at least 2 sets of "Triple Lock" serials: The original .44 Special guns, then the .455 "Triple Locks" started over from serial # 1, (however the first .455s were converted .44 Specials, so there are 2 sets of .455s with the same serial #)

IIRC the first .455 "Second Model Hand Ejectors" started again at serial# 1.

This gun is a "Second Model Hand Ejector" frame, not a "Triple Lock".

I believe the "S&W Collectors Association" is interested in info on these guns (post-war US inspected frames).

I've seen a number of post-WWI S&W "2nd Model Hand Ejector" frames (in various calibers) which were US inspected.

Colt also sold @1000 "Commercial M.1917" "New Services" in various calibers during @1930 which cleaned out their parts bins of pre-WWI barrels & frames....
 
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Nice condition, compared to mine, it is a little better,that is. Although the finish is often a little rough on these Brazilian guns, often they shoot surprizingly well if the bore is good, and the timing is on.

(hey brother, I am here!)

Not much surface corrosion present Hitzy, many out there in the used gun market are often in worse shape. For a fixed sight handgun, I personally find mine to be a half decent shooter.
A nice plus for these Brazilian guns is the rearsight is a little better than the earlier "actual" M1917s.

Big ole N frame, smooth, long action, double action shooter. Elmer Keith "wore out" alot of these M1917s, in Idaho, prior to WW2. It has been written....(can you say abused??)

If I were you, I would shoot more cast lead, than FMJ ball ammo, through it.
E-gun parts(Numrich) is a great source for spare parts, plus they have the full moon clips.
The mixmaster parts came right from S&W, apparently there was two shipments to Brazil, one in 1937, and another in 1946.

From what I have discovered, on the internet, especially the first shipment, in the depths of the Great Depression, many guns were assembled at the factory, with whatever fit together on the parts shelves.
Nice gun overall Hitzy, enjoy........
 
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I bought one at a Bud Haynes auction last year. I has to be one of the best buys I have ever made. While the bluing is very worn on mine, the action is very smooth. Much nicer than my S&W586, some armorer along the line did a very nice job on mine. Considering it just has a notch sight, it is bang on at 30 yards using 230 gr ball ammo. Its shoots as tight or tighter than my 357! I put a set of N frame grips on it , and it gets exercised regularly! Moon clips are way faster to load than speedloaders, and the brass is easier to find.
Wyle1
 
Brutus said:
Nice condition, compared to mine, it is a little better,that is. Although the finish is often a little rough on these Brazilian guns, often they shoot surprizingly well if the bore is good, and the timing is on.

(hey brother, I am here!)

Not much surface corrosion present Hitzy, many out there in the used gun market are often in worse shape. For a fixed sight handgun, I personally find mine to be a half decent shooter.
A nice plus for these Brazilian guns is the rearsight is a little better than the earlier "actual" M1917s.

Big ole N frame, smooth, long action, double action shooter. Elmer Keith "wore out" alot of these M1917s, in Idaho, prior to WW2. It has been written....(can you say abused??)

If I were you, I would shoot more cast lead, than FMJ ball ammo, through it.
E-gun parts(Numrich) is a great source for spare parts, plus they have the full moon clips.
The mixmaster parts came right from S&W, apparently there was two shipments to Brazil, one in 1937, and another in 1946.

From what I have discovered, on the internet, especially the first shipment, in the depths of the Great Depression, many guns were assembled at the factory, with whatever fit together on the parts shelves.
Nice gun overall Hitzy, enjoy........
Click to expand...

Yeah, looking at the rifling it's a bit shallow, I figure cast would be the way to go to preserve it. It's weird, but all inside the revolver it hardly shows any wear at all, all the parts under the sideplate look pretty fresh-there was a bunch of cosmoline still in it, I don't think it was shot very much. The outside looks like someone rolled it down a hill several times-lots of scratchs on the finish. No rust or pitting anywhere, lust looks like it was thrown around alot. I tried to get a pick of the guts but it turned out poor...
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Here is Mine
Unfortunately the front and rear sight have seen some level of modification. I know that some of these were converted for target shooting but I honestly have no idea who did this...

Otherwise she's a great big revolver with tons of character and I love her.
You can get an affordable replica 1917 holster from HERE (as I did).
Modelo 37
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Model 1917
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