S&W M1917 .45 Revolver

[camopara]

Hey guys,
Looking for the going rate on a M1917 revolver. Here's the trick...it has British proofs, so it was probably lend lease...one turned up in my local antique store I can't find any information for the ones with British proofs.
Its blued, which is proper, all matching, has plastic grips, which I guess is how we rebuilt some of them, and is in 90% condition.
Thanks for your help.

[Gene]

What caliber is it, .45 or .455?

[camopara]

.45, I believe they were all made in .45. I guess they couldn't produce enough of the M1911's so this was the gun they produced.

[Roy Queen]

I paid $500.00 for my S&W M1917. The finish on mine is pretty worn, but has the original grips, and the US proofmarks are intact. I've seen another one in my area for $650.00 not too long ago.

[camopara]

This one is priced at $600, but I don't know if the British proofs and the plastic grips hurt the value? I might be able to haggle, but I need to establish a baseline before I do that. I should add that all the US proofs are there, along with all the British proofs. It's a legit piece, I just can't find anything that tells me value with the addition of the Brit proofs.

[har wagner]

I also collect the 1917 S&W revolvers
They were made in .45 acp and .455 most of the Brit's were .455
and the going price's are from 350.00 pore to 1500.00 mint with holster
if the .455 has been converted to .45 then they are in the 250.00 to 350.00
range. They are great revolvers to collect.

[ottomaton]

I guess they couldn't produce enough of the M1911's so this was the gun they produced.

In WWI everybody went crazy trying to get enough handguns. The British bought tons of crappy Spanish revolvers, etc. If you could make a gun someone would buy it.

The US government had a contract with S&W to handle the slack that Colt couldn't fill, but were not happy with what they were getting. US government actually took over running Smith and Wesson. I don't think that would go over too well today.

[jacobtowne]

Smith & Wesson and Colt produced about 150,000 M1917 caliber .45 ACP revolvers each. The Smith is the .44 Hand Ejector; the Colt is the New Service.
They are both fine revolvers.
The best way to determine the original chambering for the S&W is a factory letter from Roy Jinks.
$600 seems a bit high for one that is not in original condition (stocks).
Some were made in .455 Webley during WWI for the British. In addition, some 20,000 S&W M1917s in .45ACP were sent to Britain early in WWII as "obsolete" arms, despite the fact that many were subsequently issued to U.S. troops, mainly military police.
JT

Here's a Colt shipped October, 1918.

[camopara]

I believe it was one of the ones sent to Britain as 'obsolete'. It has the original S&W blued finish, plastic grips, and the additional British proofs from when they accepted it.

[har wagner]

S&W Also supplied hand ejector mod's in .455 during ww2