I have a S&W 45 made in 1937 for Brazilian contract. It's been a great cheap shooter for about 12-15 years and my main home defender until recently, when it got out of time and locked up. I know NOTHING about gunsmithing but can't afford to pay one so I tried to fiddle with it myself. Bad Mistake. I took the handgrips off and the leaf spring came out. The small end of the leaf spring seems to hook under something iunder the back of the hammer and the wide end of the spring clearly fits in a slot at the bottom of the grip frame, but I can't figure out how to get both ends reconnected at the same time. I'd appreciate any help or advice anyone can supply. I really like this old gun. I hope I haven't ruined it.
Need help fixing my S&W Model 1917 45
- Thread starter DG45
- Start date
Back the strain screw (in the front, bottom of the front strap) out almost all the way. Slide the bottom of the spring back into it's recess. Next hook the top with the "hooks" over the two little pins on the stirrup hanging down from the hammer. Tighten the strain screw back up all the way.
Gun4fun is right, but the question is why did it come out in the first place?
The pin that holds it in place on the hammer probably let go. This is just a guess, so take it for what it's worth.
Maybe the hammer spring just wore out. I've never worn one out, so I don't know if this is even possible. I did wreck one once, when I put the spring back in after I took down my 629 in order to remove the Hillary Lock. I put the hammer and spring back in, but did not turn down the strain screw. When I cocked the hammer, to admire the action, I bent the hammer spring in an un-natural kink in the "neck" of it. I tried to bend it back by hand, but I ended up replacing it. But, I digress.
If this is your home defender, you MUST know that it will go bang when you squeeze the trigger. You owe it to yourself to have it looked at by a gun-smith. IMVHO.
The pin that holds it in place on the hammer probably let go. This is just a guess, so take it for what it's worth.
Maybe the hammer spring just wore out. I've never worn one out, so I don't know if this is even possible. I did wreck one once, when I put the spring back in after I took down my 629 in order to remove the Hillary Lock. I put the hammer and spring back in, but did not turn down the strain screw. When I cocked the hammer, to admire the action, I bent the hammer spring in an un-natural kink in the "neck" of it. I tried to bend it back by hand, but I ended up replacing it. But, I digress.
If this is your home defender, you MUST know that it will go bang when you squeeze the trigger. You owe it to yourself to have it looked at by a gun-smith. IMVHO.
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Hello
Two excellent points made her by pervious members, but another thing to check is that the main spring is in correct. It has a angled fork on the Hammer stirrup end. Make certain the Open Fork Angle is facing towards the REAR of the revolver. It will hook up either way, but to get the revolver functioning correctly the fork of the main spring needs to face the rear of the revolver's Grip frame..Be sure to torque that strain screw back down tightly as it effects the correct ignition of the ammo's primer when bottomed out tightly. Just a Thought.. Hammer It
Two excellent points made her by pervious members, but another thing to check is that the main spring is in correct. It has a angled fork on the Hammer stirrup end. Make certain the Open Fork Angle is facing towards the REAR of the revolver. It will hook up either way, but to get the revolver functioning correctly the fork of the main spring needs to face the rear of the revolver's Grip frame..Be sure to torque that strain screw back down tightly as it effects the correct ignition of the ammo's primer when bottomed out tightly. Just a Thought.. Hammer It
Thanks Gun 4 Fun
Thank you Gun 4 Fun, rjreivero and Hammer It for the expertise and advice. I finally got that SOB leaf spring back into my S&W 1917 45 and got handgrips back on. Now I just have the original problem. It's still locked up tight. The trigger won't pull, the hammer won't cock, the cylinder won't turn, and the cylinder won't open and swing out either. However, I can turn the cylinder slightly by hand. When I turn it just right the cylinder sort of clicks into place. When that happens, the trigger will move just a little, but I still cannot get a complete trigger pull. The hammer will move too, about a half inch, after the cylinder clicks into place, but still not enough to cock it. And no matter what i do, I still can't get the cylinder to release and swing out. Anybody got any ideas? I'd love to send it to a gunsmith but when I say I can't afford to, I mean I can't afford to.
Thank you Gun 4 Fun, rjreivero and Hammer It for the expertise and advice. I finally got that SOB leaf spring back into my S&W 1917 45 and got handgrips back on. Now I just have the original problem. It's still locked up tight. The trigger won't pull, the hammer won't cock, the cylinder won't turn, and the cylinder won't open and swing out either. However, I can turn the cylinder slightly by hand. When I turn it just right the cylinder sort of clicks into place. When that happens, the trigger will move just a little, but I still cannot get a complete trigger pull. The hammer will move too, about a half inch, after the cylinder clicks into place, but still not enough to cock it. And no matter what i do, I still can't get the cylinder to release and swing out. Anybody got any ideas? I'd love to send it to a gunsmith but when I say I can't afford to, I mean I can't afford to.
My S&W Model 1917 45 has been FIXED!
Thanks to all who offered advice and help. Thanks again to Gun 4 Fun who definitely knows some stuff about guns. First he told me how to get the leaf spring back in, and then his second advice was to check out the ejector and that was exactly right. When I tightened that down that was all it took. Now my old 45 is back in business loaded for bear beside my bedside table as always. It's actually tighter now than it was before and has a smoother action. So here I go off into the sunset, just cruisin' on down Better than Ever street. Before I sign off though, I also want to say thanks to you too Salvadore for bringing up the Smithy forum idea. I had no idea there was such a thing. I'll keep up with the 1917 45 info in that forum from now on. Incidentally, I saw in one of the postings that you Salvadore like me are also the owner of one of the S & W Model 1917 45's from that Brazilian contract of 1937. Mine has three different serial numbers on it, so it's a real no-class mutt, but it has the wooden handgrips and lanyard ring and doesn't look bad and it's pretty darn accurate. I paid $125 for it in Virginia about 12-15 years ago and another $8 at a gun auction for an original 1942 Tex Tan holster for it and altogether, it's definitely the best $133 total I ever spent. Thanks again to all.
Thanks to all who offered advice and help. Thanks again to Gun 4 Fun who definitely knows some stuff about guns. First he told me how to get the leaf spring back in, and then his second advice was to check out the ejector and that was exactly right. When I tightened that down that was all it took. Now my old 45 is back in business loaded for bear beside my bedside table as always. It's actually tighter now than it was before and has a smoother action. So here I go off into the sunset, just cruisin' on down Better than Ever street. Before I sign off though, I also want to say thanks to you too Salvadore for bringing up the Smithy forum idea. I had no idea there was such a thing. I'll keep up with the 1917 45 info in that forum from now on. Incidentally, I saw in one of the postings that you Salvadore like me are also the owner of one of the S & W Model 1917 45's from that Brazilian contract of 1937. Mine has three different serial numbers on it, so it's a real no-class mutt, but it has the wooden handgrips and lanyard ring and doesn't look bad and it's pretty darn accurate. I paid $125 for it in Virginia about 12-15 years ago and another $8 at a gun auction for an original 1942 Tex Tan holster for it and altogether, it's definitely the best $133 total I ever spent. Thanks again to all.
Plus 1 on the loctite! Also, you might want to take the cylinder out of the gun and carefully clamp the ejector rod in a set of padded jaws in a vice, load all six chambers with empty cases to prevent damage to the locator pins, and turn the cylinder by hand after loctiting the threads. This will allow you extra leverage to get the ejector rod good and snug. Just don't twist hard enough to shear off the ejector rod
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