S & W 1917 info needed

[mauserdad]

Just picked one up. Appears to be original blue finish about 50%. No rust or pitting. Bore very nice. Serial number 138034. All numbers match. Smooth walnut grips. Ordinance bomb top rear left side of frame. Eagle head S21 left side behind trigger. Eagle head S24 rear face of cylinder. Eagle head S2 bottom of barrel at rear. Eagle head S2 inside left side of frame where crane locks up. Also number 213 located there. This number also on inside of crane. Bottom of frame with lanyard loop. Marked US ARMY MODEl 1917 No 138034. Bottom of barrel marked "UNITED STATES PROPERTY". Just a very slight play in cylinder with hammer down. Virtually no play with hammer cocked. Very smooth tight action. Fired 6 rds of 45ACP using half moon clips. No problems. I see no step in bores of cylinder. Is this correct? When was this pistol made? Any other information would be great. Thanks. Ed

Information

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[Johnny Peppers]

The cylinder should have shoulders in the chambers to headspace the .45ACP round. Drop a round in one of the cylinders to see if it stops as it should, or falls farther into the cylinder. If unmodified, you can fire .45 ACP rounds without the half moon clips, but have to pick them out individually.
Your Model 1917 was probably made about the middle of November, 1918.
The numbers inside the crane are assembly numbers. After the crane was fitted, the pistol was disassembled to be finished, and the assembly numbers help get the fitted parts back together.

[mauserdad]

Johnny,thank you for the comeback. Found out on one of the other boards that the cylinder was probably bored out for the 45 LC. Thank you for the other info.. Ed

[Johnny Peppers]

The .45 Colt is slightly larger in diameter than the .45 ACP, so you will probably get some case expansion firing .45 ACP. A reversal of the .38 S&W Victory models that were bored out for .38 Special. The original .38 S&W is larger in diameter than the .38 Special it was bored out to, again causing case expansion when firing the .38 Special.

[mauserdad]

Johnny again thank you. I wont be reloading them. I bought this more as a collector piece to fill a void in my U.S. military pistol collection. Will not be firing it a lot. I got it for an excellent price. Ed