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M1917 Revolver

From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
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The M1917 Revolver refers to two .45 ACP revolvers with the same designation used by the United States during World War I. During World War I, the official sidearm of American forces was the M1911 Government .45 Automatic, however supply shortages forced the U.S. Army to ask two major gun manufacturers, Colt and Smith & Wesson, to each update their existing commercial heavy frame revolvers and build a version that could be fielded as a supplement to the standard M1911.

Colt already had an offering to the military, their M1909 heavy revolver, but it was chambered for the antiquated .45 Long Colt round. They re-chambered the revolver for the newly adopted .45 ACP round (calling the commercial variant "the Colt New Service Revolver"). Smith & Wesson re-chambered their own Second Model .44 Hand Ejector revolver as well. Thus there are two versions of the Model 1917 revolver that are externally very similar, one built by Colt and one built by Smith & Wesson.

Smith & Wesson continued the M1917 with the Model of 1950, later renamed Smith & Wesson Model 22 and Smith & Wesson Model 25.

The .45 ACP was a rimless round, and thus the revolvers required half (or full) moon clips to load the cartridges.

The M1917 Revolver and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Specifications

  • Weight: 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) (Colt), 2.25 lb (1 kg) (S&W)
  • Length: 10.8 in (274 mm)
  • Barrel length: 5.5 in (140 mm)
  • Cartridge: .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rim
  • Action: double action, solid frame with swing-out cylinder
  • Muzzle velocity: 760 ft/s ( 231.7 m/s)
  • Feed system: six-round cylinder, loaded singly (.45 Auto Rim) or with two three-round half-moon clips (.45 ACP)
  • Sights: blade front sight, notched rear sight

Smith & Wesson M1917 Revolver

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Smith & Wesson M1917 Revolver (Military issue with lanyard ring) - .45 ACP. Note the ejector-rod socket, common of a S&W revolver. Also note the S&W style cylinder release latch and half-moon front sight. These are the most easily distinguishable external differences between the Colt and S&W versions.

Film

Title Actor Character Note Date
The Heart of Humanity William Stowell John Patricia 1918
The Big Parade American officers 1925
All the King's Men police officer 1949
Paths of Glory Kirk Douglas Colonel Dax 1957
Farewell, Friend Alain Delon Dino Barran 1968
Farewell, Friend Charles Bronson Franz Propp 1968
Farewell, Friend Olga Georges-Picot Isabelle Moreau 1968
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Kris Kristofferson A biker 1974
The Great Gatsby Scott Wilson George Wilson 1974
Raiders of the Lost Ark Harrison Ford Indiana Jones Shortened 1981
Batman (1989) Jack Palance Carl Grissom 1989
Last Man Standing Thugs 1996
The Newton Boys Vincent D'Onofrio Dock Newton 1998
The Newton Boys Dwight Yoakam Brentwood Glasscock 1998
American Soldiers: A Day in Iraq Iraqi police officer 2005
All the King's Men (2006) Mark Ruffalo Dr. Adam Stanton 2006
The Spirit Eva Mendes Sand Saref 2008
The Good, the Bad, the Weird Jung Woo-sung Park Do-won 2008
The Good, the Bad, the Weird Henchman 2008
Fury Brad Pitt Staff Sergeant Don "Wardaddy" Collier 2014
Fury Logan Lerman Norman Ellison M3A1 2014
Hacksaw Ridge Hugo Weaving Tom Doss 2016
Hacksaw Ridge Andrew Garfield Desmond Doss 2016
The Highwaymen Kevin Costner Frank Hamer 2019

Television

Show Title Actor Character Note Air Date
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles James Handy Det. Frank Brady Ep. "Spring Break Adventure" 1992-1994

Video Games

Game Title Appears as Notation Release Date
BloodRayne W&S 1917 2002
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault 2004
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth 2005
Sniper Elite III 2014
Rising Storm 2: Vietnam 2017

Colt M1917 Revolver

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Colt M1917 Revolver (Military issue with lanyard ring) - .45 ACP. Note the unsupported ejector rod - common of Colt revolvers of the period, as well as the Colt-style cylinder release latch and blade front sight. Smooth walnut grips were used on all WWI issue Model 1917 specimens

Film

Title Actor Character Note Date
Journey's End Colin Clive Capt. Denis Stanhope 1930
Ian Maclaren Lt. Osborne
Gun Crazy John Dall Bart Tare 1950
Halls of Montezuma Reginald Gardner Sgt. Johnson With pearl grips, in shoulder holster 1951
Amphibian Man (Chelovek-Amfibiya) Mikhail Medvedev Zurita's boatswain 1961
The Oil Prince Stole Arandjelovic Prince's henchman 1965
El Dorado Robert Mitchum Sheriff J.P. Harran Modified to look like a Colt SAA 1967
Battles Without Honor and Humanity Hiroshi Hatano Police 1973
Mulholland Falls Michael Madsen Det. Eddie Hall 1996
The Mummy Cory Johnson Mr. Daniels Two revolvers 1999
Captain America: The First Avenger Neal McDonough Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan 2011

Television

Show Title Actor Character Note Air Date
Fantômas Jacques Dufilho Inspecteur Juve Ep.2 1980
Jean-Paul Zehnacker Lupart
Tales from the Crypt Eric Douglas Lt. Kalthrob episode: "Yellow" (S3E14) 1991
The Lost Battalion Jay Rodan Lt. Leak 2001
Agent Carter Neal McDonough Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan "The Iron Ceiling" (S01E05) 2015
Westworld Ben Barnes Logan 2016
The Man in the High Castle - Season 3 Jason Beaudoin Griggs 2018

Video Games

Game Title Appears as Notation Release Date
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine 1999
Forgotten Hope 2 "Colt M1917" 2007
State of Decay "M1917" 2013
Heroes & Generals 2016
State of Decay 2 2018
Beyond The Wire "Colt M1917" 2021

See Also