Colt 1917 w/moon clips

[heatheroo]

I have a 1917 Colt in excellent condition. .45 Colt ammo is getting pricey and sometimes scarce so I decided to try shooting .45 ACP using moon clips. It was my understanding that this is how the 1917 was designed to be operated. I got the moon clips from CheaperthanDirt. Using them I can't close the action. There is not enough clearance between the cylinder and frame. Now if you look at my 1917 closely, you will see that it was originally stamped .455 Eley and then this was stamped over. It is now stamped .45 Colt. It has the lanyard ring but no writing on the frame at the butt as I have seen on other 1917's. I wondering if this is actually a civilian model rather than a govt. issue and the civilian models were never intended to use the moon clips? Either way, I'm not going to alter the pistol so I have 10 moon clips and the "demooning" tool if anyone needs them.

Thanks.

[Pizza Bob]

Your gun was probably part of "lend/lease" and was made for the UK. .455 Eley was their service cartridge during WWII and 1917's sent to the UK were chambered for this cartridge. Often times, when these guns found their way back to the US after the war, they were rechambered for .45 Colt, due to the scarcity of .455 Eley ammo. They were never designed with enough headspace to use with moon clips, as the .455 was a rimmed cartridge - as is the .45 Colt. Usually the only thing that was done was that the cylinder was bored straight through, removing the shoulder that was in place for the .455 length cartridge.

1917's made for the domestic military were chambered for .45 ACP (rimless) and had to be used with the half-moon clips (full-moon came along much later - 70's maybe). Later, the .45 Auto Rim or .45 AR was invented, which was simply a rimmed version of the .45ACP with a rim that duplicated the thickness of the ACP case + clip, so that rounds could be loaded individually and moon or half-moon clips weren't needed.

If you're giving the clips and tool away, I'll be glad to take them off your hands - but, being out of work, really can't spare the change to buy them. Either way, good luck. 1917's are a lot of fun. Stick with the low-powered Colt rounds - with the popularity of cowboy action shooting they shouldn't be too hard to come by.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

[heatheroo]

Thanks for the info. I figured it was something along those lines. That pistol is fun and I like that it has some history to it. I got it from my dad and he replaced the original grips with bone grips. Good luck on the job search. I got laid off back in Jan. In April I managed to find a temp job that lasted until August and now I'm temping up in Carbondale. I live up here during the week and go home to my family in Lancaster Co. on the weekends. Not much fun but it beats unemployment.

[Dave_n]

No it was part of the WWI series in 0.455 Eley, Comparable to the S&W Mk II Hand Ejector or the Triple Lock of the early 1900s. No 0.455 guns were new issue in the UK Forces in WWII. A lot of post WWII "used" guns meaning from all ages that were sent to the UK post Dunkirk, or were available from UK reserve stocks, were rebored to either 45 Colt or sometimes the cylinder was faced off to accept 0.45 ACP in Moon Clips when they were imported into the USA in the 1950-1960 time frame.

If anybody actually butchered a true Colt or SW 1917, which was effectively the same frame as the 0.455 in WWI, but designed from the start to use 0.45ACP in half moon clips, due to a lack of capacity to make the 1911 when the US came into WWI in April of 1917, then they deserve to be in the lowest reaches of hell. A true 1917 has that marked on the heel of the frame and is quite distinctive.

Mind you the butchering of true 0.455s is also a crime! Luckily I have two MkII HJ S&W's one still in 0.455 the other reamed for a 0.45 Colt, but either way, never fire a regular load in either of these even if cut for 0.45 ACP. Use Cowboy loads for a 45 Colt and hand load to approx 650 fps for the 0.455, slug the barrels and only use lead bullets. Dave_n