That was informative, thank you. They both seem to be highly regarded revolvers by gun enthusiasts and I enjoyed seeing them compared. I've always had an interest in military history and enjoy learning about historic weapons. Thanks for sharing.
Dangerfreak wrote:That was informative, thank you. They both seem to be highly regarded revolvers by gun enthusiasts and I enjoyed seeing them compared. I've always had an interest in military history and enjoy learning about historic weapons. Thanks for sharing.
Me too man. I do own the S&W so I was happy it kinda won, but of course I'd love to have the Webley too.
Dangerfreak wrote:That was informative, thank you. They both seem to be highly regarded revolvers by gun enthusiasts and I enjoyed seeing them compared. I've always had an interest in military history and enjoy learning about historic weapons. Thanks for sharing.
Me too man. I do own the S&W so I was happy it kinda won, but of course I'd love to have the Webley too.
They're both iconic weapons aren't they, and their connection with the Great War only adds to that.
To complete his recently gathered Indy gear, my friend spared no expense -- he bought a real 1912 S & W!
(He shoots as a hobby, and had long wanted a WWI period revolver, so this gave him a good excuse.)
Howard Weinstein wrote:To complete his recently gathered Indy gear, my friend spared no expense -- he bought a real 1912 S & W!
(He shoots as a hobby, and had long wanted a WWI period revolver, so this gave him a good excuse.)
That's awesome, did the same myself
Now comes the most important question: did he cut the barrel??
Howard Weinstein wrote:To complete his recently gathered Indy gear, my friend spared no expense -- he bought a real 1912 S & W!
(He shoots as a hobby, and had long wanted a WWI period revolver, so this gave him a good excuse.)
That's awesome, did the same myself
Now comes the most important question: did he cut the barrel??
No, he didn't. And -- my mistake -- it's made by Colt, though apparently the same as a S & W. Here's the gun:
My friend's details/comments about the gun: "It dates to 1920 based on the serial number. And I got a really good price [$599]. Purists will say that the barrel is too long and was made by Colt, not Smith and Wesson, but both companies made the gun for the US government... I have wanted a WW I era revolver for my collection anyway. This one is in excellent condition save for a couple scratches a past owner made... For the purists, all I can say is that Indy had several different revolvers in Raiders depending on what the prop department pulled out. I never had noticed the difference until I went to the Indy Gear site."
#### pretty! I have the m1917 which is the same as the movie and I still haven't cut the barrel yet. Since its over a hundred years old I still don't have the heart to cut it. Yet...
There's two US made revolvers produced in quantity for WWI, both were made for civilian and police/government use with their own designations ( Colt New Model/S&W Hand Ejector) and then their military designation which was M1917 ... the distinction was M1917 Colt and M1917 S&W both in .45 cal. with 5 1/2" barrels . Originally the US military sidearm was the Colt 1911 .45 automatic at the beginning of US involvement in WWI but production could not keep up ( tooling/assembly was more complicated), therefore, since the US had already been supplying the British .45 Colt and S&W( also in British .455 Eley which was the round used in their Webleys and large frame Enfields) revolvers through lend lease they began issuing them in majority to US troops in all services. The majority of these revolvers were made to take .45 cal rim cartridges but since manufacturing was set up to make .45 auto rim ( these days .45 ACP Automatic Colt Pistol) machinists/armorers/etc. machined down the cylinders to take " half moon" clips. These half moon clips would accept three .45 ACP rounds, essentially early speed loaders, so that the Colt and S&W revolvers would accept rimless cartridges to fire.
micsteam wrote:There's two US made revolvers produced in quantity for WWI, both were made for civilian and police/government use with their own designations ( Colt New Model/S&W Hand Ejector) and then their military designation which was M1917 ... the distinction was M1917 Colt and M1917 S&W both in .45 cal. with 5 1/2" barrels . Originally the US military sidearm was the Colt 1911 .45 automatic at the beginning of US involvement in WWI but production could not keep up ( tooling/assembly was more complicated), therefore, since the US had already been supplying the British .45 Colt and S&W( also in British .455 Eley which was the round used in their Webleys and large frame Enfields) revolvers through lend lease they began issuing them in majority to US troops in all services. The majority of these revolvers were made to take .45 cal rim cartridges but since manufacturing was set up to make .45 auto rim ( these days .45 ACP Automatic Colt Pistol) machinists/armorers/etc. machined down the cylinders to take " half moon" clips. These half moon clips would accept three .45 ACP rounds, essentially early speed loaders, so that the Colt and S&W revolvers would accept rimless cartridges to fire.
See this, this is why i come to this site!! Thank you for that dude that was awesome to find out. Mine takes those darn half moon clips and i haaaaate them. Such a pain to get the bullets in them...
A little tip. Any Webleys that are modified to take 45 acp are not safe to shoot. 45 acp has too much pressure for the Webleys that are designed to take .455 Webley rounds. Some people get around this by light-loading their own 45's to safe pressures.
Also, the S&W Classics line had 2 model 22s. One was the 1917 with 5 1/2" barrel and lanyard ring. The other is a 4" model 1950 without a lanyard ring. Both 45 acp. Modern tech and construction in a classic style revolver. I have one of each and I highly recommend either.