Smith & Western 45 hand ejector

by Don Sikes , Vera Cruz, Missouri, Saturday, March 04, 2023, 16:37 (629 days ago) @ Bob Hatfield

Back in the mid 1990's I acquired a Colt 1917 that was my first .45ACP revolver... about 20 years ago I had to let it go to pay some medical bills and had wanted another .45ACP revolver to replace it... I found a S&W 625 (Model of 1988) but again in 2011 I had to let it go...

I've been wanting another one ever since... So to bring us up to current date, I found a S&W 1917 in .45ACP this last year for about 5 and a half bills so I snatched it up... it's not original in that sometime in it's past life it had been nickel plated and it looks like all the "U.S. Government) markings were removed however the "S&W DA .45" on the left side of the barrel is still crisp and clear ... but for what I paid, I figure I could live with that in that it'll be a shooter and not a safe-queen... I did replace the cracked and worn grip panels with a set of Jay Scott panels and installed a T-Grip adapter to fill the gap between the trigger housing and the grip frame... one thing I did find interesting is that the serial number 147X puts the manufacture date in early 1917 according to S&W web site... the serial number matched on the bottom of the barrel and on the edge of the crane ahead of the cylinder... unfortunately there were no serial number stamp on the back of the cylinder (probably removed during polishing to nickel plate the revolver)... it is a sweet shooting revolver and I was able to hit a coffee can repeatedly at 25 yards with it...

Sorry about the pictures... the camera doesn't focus as well as I liked so some of the detail is not easy to see...

here's the other side