Pawn Shop Colt 1917 Army

[whitecoyote]

This Colt 1917 (manufactured cir. 1919) started out life as a typical Military Colt revolver. It came from a pawn shop in Columbus, OH.
The Colt was a real beater. It could barely function, and was determined to be unsafe to shoot. It was nothing more than a "wall hanger", but the revolver was solid, which made it a perfect candidate for a project gun.

I sent the Colt 1917 off to Dave Sams http://www.samscustomgunworksusa.com/ with a list of things I wanted done to the revolver. Mr. Sams said he could do it, and agreed to take on the project.

Here is what was done to the revolver. Revolver sent to Dave Sams 04/22/2009. Received back 10/22/2009.
*Tech inspection
*Build up & re-fit bolt (rebound lever contact)
*Build up & re-fit rebound lever
*Re-fit ratchet
*Install crane ball detent
*Re-time cylinder hand
*Build up & re-fit bolt (cylinder stop contact)
*Cut & re-crown barrel to 2"
*Install Colt style "half-moon" front sight & calibrate
*Shorten ejector rod & re-thread
*Action job. Smooth, polish, lighten, single & double action
*Make oversized cylinder latch & ream frame
*Straighten bent ejector rod
*Re-finish satin matte blue

The Pawn Shop Colt 1917 is good to go for another 100 years!
Now the search is on for a holster.

Before pictures:


After pictures:






I added Elk Horn grips from Patrick Grashorn http://www.grashornsgunworks.com/
WyattBurp made the holster, and I'm still waiting on the Tyler T grip.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Nice big bore snubby!

 

[gb6491]

Wow!, that is a slick rig; thanks for posting it
Regards,
Greg

 

[broken]

great job on a fine revolver,looks great, bet it shoots great.

 

[David E]

So, how much did all that cost ?

Looks great !

 

[gun addict]

agghh i'm sry but i'm gonna chime in

if you have simply restored it to a functional level and kept the orignal blueing/everything you'd have on hand a very collectible piece. But now it's just a shooter, if you're happy with it great, but it'll always be a mutt

 

[DNS]

I'm a snubby fan and I'd like to say that is one sexy girl

Mike

 

[1KPerDay]

That is so cool I can't even stand it.

 

[whitecoyote]

agghh i'm sry but i'm gonna chime in

if you have simply restored it to a functional level and kept the orignal blueing/everything you'd have on hand a very collectible piece. But now it's just a shooter, if you're happy with it great, but it'll always be a mutt

Opinions vary. Thanks for yours.

 

[Jim Watson]

Well done, but I wouldn't have sawn it off that short.

I wish I could find the old old magazine with Frank DeHaas' article on the 1917 he rebuilt.
He started with one with a good tight action so little internal work was required beyond trigger adjustment.
As I recall, he cut the frontstrap loose from the frame, bent it down and welded it about halfway down the back of the trigger guard.
He made target grips to fit the new shape of grip frame.
He made a windage adjustable rear sight out of a round rod slotted for a leaf and drilled for adjusting screws, and silver soldered it into the little scallop at the rear of the factory's hogwallow fixed.
He built an elevation adjustable front sight attached to the stub of the factory front blade, neater and trimmer than the old Colt target style.
Cleaned up and blued.

Bear in mind that he paid maybe $19.95 for the gun and did all the work himself.

 

[atlanticfire]

I like it! There have been several time that I have turn nothing into somthing and always glad I did it afterwards. Now go shoot the snot out of it!

 

[MountainBear]

I too would like to know how much that beauty ended up costing. By the way, I agree with the majority. You took a beat up old gun with no life left and gave it a breath of life as a functional and well built custom. Nice job.

 

[NinjaFeint]

agghh i'm sry but i'm gonna chime in

if you have simply restored it to a functional level and kept the orignal blueing/everything you'd have on hand a very collectible piece. But now it's just a shooter, if you're happy with it great, but it'll always be a mutt

Not everyone is a collector of period accurate firearms...

 

[WC145]

You gotta love that, it is a very cool custom snubby. Makes me want one!

 

[gun addict]

Not everyone is a collector of period accurate firearms...

just saying, they're not making anymore Colt 1917 army models anymore and the prices on original pieces will only go up. I agree that the OP's new snubbie is a fine piece but it will only worth what he paid for. Nowadays $500 or so can get you a very nice .357 snubbie so i failed to see the point of putting tons of cash into reworking a rare 1917 army model.

 

[Mp7]

nice carry piece now ....

like it a lot!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

How much did you pay the pawn shop and how much was the work? (if you don't mind telling)

 

[WC145]

How much did you pay the pawn shop and how much was the work? (if you don't mind telling)

I'm curious about the cost of the work a well. I've got a S&W Classic 1917 that I got cheap and it might make a cool retro snubby...

 

[pageophile]

Big Fan of the end result

 

[solvability]

I like it - a lot - well done.

 

[goodtime]

It's an excellent custom from great lineage. And it's unique. Who else has one of these? Nice job!

How's the action, lockup, etc?

 

[Johnny Guest]

A little consideration, please ---

Four of you have asked the cost of the old revolver. Might it be that the owner doesn't wish to comment on that? Some people want to brag on how much, or how little, they spent on a project, and some had rather forget what they had to expend to get just exactly what they wanted. A one-of-a-kind custom project is just that. The owner will never get get his money back, and chances are he knows it. One thing for sure: You don't have that much work done on an old semi-junker without spending several hundred dollars, just on the mechanics. Then comes the refinish, some very nice stag stocks, and a custom holster that won't go for under a hundred bucks.

I'm very big on keeping old guns in the original configuration, but sometimes, it's understandable NOT to do so. Some 151,700 of the Colt 1917 revolvers were produced. A huge number of those ended up in a condition much like the "before" images in this thread. Other hundreds of thousands remain in very good and even excellent condition. One in poor-to-fair condition may well be a good candidate for a custom project such as this. Looks to me as if whitecoyote has taken an unsafe-to-fire old wall hanger and turned it into a nifty little package. It's not as if he butchered a 90 per cent New Service Shooting Master to do it, either. In any case, this 1917 is now a handsome example of the type. I have no idea if he'll ever carry it on the street, but it's certainly streetworthy. In the old days, I saw several similar type guns being carried for serious purposes.

If you do a search of whitecoyote's posting history, you'll see that he knows what he likes. I haven't seen any of his projects that look as if he destroyed any fine old collector-item guns. Had it been MY project, there are a few things I'd have done a little differently, But - - and this is the key point - - It is HIS, and I think it's an outstanding effort.

 

[Jim_100]

Very cool. I like the stock grips look a little more. Again a very neat gun. Oh yeah, I want one too!

 

[gunnie]

had he prefereded a high % 1917, to avoid the rebulid costs and parts shortage, that's his right. it is HIS money, HIS time and HIS vision of what a sweet snubby should be. gotta admit my tastes run close to his.

whitecoyote, i went to the web site, and saw no pictures of S&W revolvers. do you know if he works them?

gunnie

 

[gunnie]

PS...

A DETECTIVE SPECIAL ON STEROIDS!



gunnie