S&W 1917 Question
- Thread starter caygeon
- Start date
Cocked&Locked
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- S. Ontario
the 1917 isn't built for the pressure the .45 long colt produces. I don't know if you can chamber it or not, but if you did, it might not be for long.....if your chambered for .45 acp use moon clips or auto rims.
- Location
- Surrey, B.C.
Isn't .45 ACP just a cut down LC? No, I don't think it would even chamber in the fist place.
The Wizard
CGN Regular
- Location
- Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
Darren Constable,
Actually the S&W M1917 can handle the pressure of the .45 Colt but due to design changes to handle the .45ACP you cannot chamber the .45 Colt in a M1917 nor is it a simple task to convert a M1917 to .45 Colt. Also remember the .45 Colt was designed in 1873 for black powder and the .45 ACP was designed about 1905 for smokeless powder. Both launched a 230 grain bullet at about 800fps.
Actually the S&W M1917 can handle the pressure of the .45 Colt but due to design changes to handle the .45ACP you cannot chamber the .45 Colt in a M1917 nor is it a simple task to convert a M1917 to .45 Colt. Also remember the .45 Colt was designed in 1873 for black powder and the .45 ACP was designed about 1905 for smokeless powder. Both launched a 230 grain bullet at about 800fps.
The S&W 1917 is just a variant of the S&W Hand Ejector 2nd Model. The HE-2 was made in .45 LC as a factory offering in fairly small quantities, Specimens in .44 Special are more common.
Factory SAAMI pressures for the .45 ACP cartridge are in the 16,000 psi range as compared to about 13,000 psi for smokeless loadings in the .45 LC so there really is no pressure issue here. The 1917 is a big N-frame revolver and strong enough to handle pressures well in excess of the .45 ACP cartridge.
The 1917 had headspace shoulders built into the cylinder that prevent the .45 LC round from fully entering the chambers. It would therefore be impossible to close the cylinder. The .45 Auto Rim cartridge (which is just a .45 ACP case with a rim added) was created to get around the necessity of using moon clips. If you look at the rim thickness of the .45 LC case and compare it to the thickness of the .45 AR case you will see that the the .45 AR has a much thicker rim. So, even if you could stuff a .45 LC case into the cylinder and get it to close the firing pin would probably not protrude far enough to strike the primer hard enough to fire the round.
The Colt 1917 revolver was a variant of the New Service series and it is much easier to find a New Service in the .45 LC chambering than a HE-2 in .45 LC. Because Colt developed the .45 LC round and S&W developed the .44 S&W Special, the two companies tended to stress production of guns in the calibers that bear their name.
-Zimms
Factory SAAMI pressures for the .45 ACP cartridge are in the 16,000 psi range as compared to about 13,000 psi for smokeless loadings in the .45 LC so there really is no pressure issue here. The 1917 is a big N-frame revolver and strong enough to handle pressures well in excess of the .45 ACP cartridge.
The 1917 had headspace shoulders built into the cylinder that prevent the .45 LC round from fully entering the chambers. It would therefore be impossible to close the cylinder. The .45 Auto Rim cartridge (which is just a .45 ACP case with a rim added) was created to get around the necessity of using moon clips. If you look at the rim thickness of the .45 LC case and compare it to the thickness of the .45 AR case you will see that the the .45 AR has a much thicker rim. So, even if you could stuff a .45 LC case into the cylinder and get it to close the firing pin would probably not protrude far enough to strike the primer hard enough to fire the round.
The Colt 1917 revolver was a variant of the New Service series and it is much easier to find a New Service in the .45 LC chambering than a HE-2 in .45 LC. Because Colt developed the .45 LC round and S&W developed the .44 S&W Special, the two companies tended to stress production of guns in the calibers that bear their name.
-Zimms
Cocked&Locked
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- S. Ontario
The Wizard said:
I stand corrected,
every day learn something new!
- Location
- Southeastern Michigan
Years ago I had a S&W M1917 that was converted to 45 Colt. If you do this conversion you have to watch the length of the cartridges as the cylinder may bind up. I recommend against this conversion as I find the 45acp nice in my M1917 and I do not see any real advantage to shooting the 45 Colt in it. Lastly, I could still shoot 45acps in the converted M1917. It bled off a lot of gas when shooting 45 Colts and made a whizzing sound when fired. The bleed off put the recoil at a 38 Special level. Regards, Richard
This is the M1917 I currently own:
This is the M1917 I currently own:
Thank you all
It's nice to know I can have a question answered is such a informative way. Richard that's a very nice finish on your gun, it looks like a bead satin,what kind is it and did you do it yourself. Thanks again and have a great day.
It's nice to know I can have a question answered is such a informative way. Richard that's a very nice finish on your gun, it looks like a bead satin,what kind is it and did you do it yourself. Thanks again and have a great day.
- Location
- Southeastern Michigan
caygeon, the finish on my M1917 is hard chrome but I do not know who did it. I wanted a boon-docking gun and I took it to Frank Paris, a gunsmith in the Detroit, MI area, for the work. Frank is long dead and he never did say who did his hard chroming work. The nice thing about hard chrome is it is very easy to clean the weapon after a shooting session. Regards, Richard
