S&W M1917 - I hope I did alright!

[android]

Yay, I got this on GB, should be here Thursday. Even had the right grips on it, so no added expense.

Can anybody tell me about doing a barrel swap? I don't want to chop down the original. Where do you even get a spare barrel??

Thanks,
Andy

[Solent MKIII]

You did more than alright! Nice find, android! Check out the net and start hitting up gun shows for a spare barrel. Some of the other members should be chiming in with advice on a good gunsmith to do the cut-down and rebarreling.

[djd]

Very pretty! Great find

[Chewbacca Jones]

Looks like a beauty! I agree about not cutting down the original barrel. If you can find a local gunsmith, they might be able to help locate a spare or a current/semi-current production barrel to modify and swap and hold onto the original. Other options - contact S&W, or pick up a copy of Handgunner or Guns & Ammo Magazine. There should be people listed in it who do this stuff for a living, or you could write in for advice.

[hocfutue]

Check with www.gun-parts.com

I've purchased all kinds of odd ball parts for various firearms. Be sure to email/call them if you don't see what you want on the site. They may have it in a box in the back.

Good find, and good hunting for the barrel. Please don't hack up what you got!

[Digger4Glory]

Well done, and enjoy! I would not cut down this barrel. If you can get another and swap it out thats okay. I have the modern Model 22 of this gun. I took it to a gunsmith and he cut down the barrel and put on a ramp site. He then reblued it and it looks superb. The cost was $150.00 added onto the gun that was $800.00 or so.
Back to your gun, just put it in a longer holster as this is a gun the character would have used regardless of the barrel length. After all, what would Indy do? He would use and make good use of everything around him. Since this piece is from that period, it naturally works!
Great find!

[Digger4Glory]

FYI folks: The Gunsmith I used is located in Wallkill NY. I found him on the internet. The work was done early this year. He is a registered armorer for Smith & Wesson. He uses the same bluing as they do. He takes 90 days to do the work. He is very busy so that why the window is 90 days. I bought the model 22 gun from him, so that is why it was a bit of a break.
His website has all the info you need:
J.C. Blauvelt Gunsmith, Inc.
Owned & Operated by John C. Blauvelt, Jr.
www.jcbgunsmith.com

[sithspawn]

Great Gun! I am rather envious. I have a 1917 S+W, with Stembridge barrell. Got the barrel from Lee Keppler back in the early 90's. The only problem is I don't have the correct grips. I have the vintage grips with the medallion. Oh, well ! The search goes on. CONGRATS on an AWESOME gun. Enjoy!

[android]

Back to your gun, just put it in a longer holster as this is a gun the character would have used regardless of the barrel length. After all, what would Indy do? He would use and make good use of everything around him. Since this piece is from that period, it naturally works!
Great find!

Thanks for the comments, everybody.

Digger, you know, after thinking about it, this is exactly what I'm going to do. I know some of you have all five variants of the movie pistols, but I just want to stick with my Inglis and the S&W. And the S&W is typical of the feeling of all the Indy revolvers. The overall size is the same as the Webley, so obviously, a long holster is not out of place or "incorrect. I'm very much a "close enough" personality, so I'm not going to obsess about it not being exactly a Stembridge.

Now I just have to wait for the Inglis to come back from Robar so I can get some good photos of them together.

[Indiana Joosse]

A truly great looking gun!



Congratulations!

I wouldn't change anything, just keep it the way it is. Don't mess with something that way.

I mean we all try to dress like Indy, but it's not like we are going to get plastic surgery to look like Harrisson Ford, now is it?

[Digger4Glory]

Now your talking android! A period piece for a period character. What could be better?
Great find, great gun!
Enjoy!

[IndianaSean]

Very nice find!! I have been seeing spare barrels on GB for some time. May be still on there. Or as Hocfutue stated try www.Gunpartscorp.com


Fortune and Glory!
Sean

[android]

I got some additional info from an S&W expert over on THR.

You have a .45 Hand Ejector US Army Model of 1917, with the frame
manufactured between Sept. 17 1917 & January 1919.

The grips on your gun are correct for a commercial sale prior to 1938,
but it lacks the S&W logo on the left side of the frame that guns manufactured
for civilian sale are supposed to have. S&W bought back a large number of parts
and frames (read guns) from the US Army at the end of WWII and assembled them as
new guns. So although originally manufactured in 1919, your gun may have been
re-manufactured in the 1950s. It may also have been an overrun gun sold
commercially at the end of WWI, or one that had been 'liberated' by a soldier.

So I got pretty lucky on both my Indy guns. My Inglis is a 0T serial number that gives it a mfg date of April 1944 and this one is 1918/1919 so very early versions.