Smith and Wesson D.A. .45 M1917

Post by **Abner** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 1:36 pm

This is my S&W M1917. It's obviously been refinished at some time (has black parkerized type finish, instead of blued), so it's more of a "shooter" than a collectible:

ChrisMD · Post by **ChrisMD** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 1:37 pm

Very nice. Now....how bout a range report?!

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micsteam · Post by **micsteam** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 3:52 pm

Very nice !! Yes, it's been parkerized but not military grade (grey/dark grey) .. looks aftermarket black parkerizing. Looks like a nice piece, congrats !!

Post by **Abner** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:19 pm

ChrisMD wrote:Very nice. Now....how bout a range report?!

I have some half moon clips somewhere around here...I'll see if I can dig them up

micsteam · Post by **micsteam** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 4:28 pm

They have full moon clips now ( it's like a WWI speed loader) and even two shot clips as well, check Gunbroker.com you should be able to pick up a bunch cheap.

ChrisMD · Post by **ChrisMD** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:50 pm

Abner wrote:
ChrisMD wrote:Very nice. Now....how bout a range report?!
I have some half moon clips somewhere around here...I'll see if I can dig them up

That's the spirit!!!

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Trebor · Post by **Trebor** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:04 pm

Just FYI, the U.S. military would routinely Parkerize blued guns when they went in for inspection/rebuild between WWI and WWII. This was done to a lot of Model 1917's.

Just letting you know that while this might not be an original finish, it likely is still this guns military finish, and it doesn't lesson the value as much as you would think.

Post by **Abner** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:31 pm

Trebor wrote:Just FYI, the U.S. military would routinely Parkerize blued guns when they went in for inspection/rebuild between WWI and WWII. This was done to a lot of Model 1917's.

Just letting you know that while this might not be an original finish, it likely is still this guns military finish, and it doesn't lesson the value as much as you would think.

It seems that the arsenal-refinished guns have more of a grey/green parkerization or am I wrong about that? This one has a black parkerized finish.

ChrisMD · Post by **ChrisMD** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:46 pm

Abner wrote:
Trebor wrote:Just FYI, the U.S. military would routinely Parkerize blued guns when they went in for inspection/rebuild between WWI and WWII. This was done to a lot of Model 1917's.

Just letting you know that while this might not be an original finish, it likely is still this guns military finish, and it doesn't lesson the value as much as you would think.
It seems that the arsenal-refinished guns have more of a grey/green parkerization or am I wrong about that? This one has a black parkerized finish.

It depends on what was available at the time. Sometimes they used zinc phosphate parkerizing which has a grayish green tinge to it. Also common was manganese phosphate parkerizing which is darker and almost black when it's first done. Alot of 1911A1s were done this way. I had my commercial 1911 done in MP parkerizing.

After looking at yours I believe it is manganese phosphate but pics can be deceiving.

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Trebor · Post by **Trebor** » Fri May 01, 2015 4:09 pm

I'll second the idea that original and rearsenal U.S. military Parkerizing is all over the place in regards to color.

I've seen numerous color variations on what I assume is original factory Park on U.S. contract weapons and more variations on arsenal repark.