This particular revolver is chambered in .45 A, an automatic cartridge first created for Colt pistols, hence A standing for Automatic Colt Pistol. Then why is an autoloader cartridge in a revolver? The 1917 exists because when the U.S. entered WW1 in 1917, Colt could not manufacture enough 1911 pistols to supply them. So what the military did is they turned to the two main revolver manufacturers, Colt and S&W, and had them make a revolver in .45 A. They wanted it in the same cartridge as the main 1911 to make sure the supply line would get too complicated, but .45 A, being a semi-auto cartridge, does not possess a protruding rim to hang in the revolver cylinder. So what they did is they created the half-moon clip. Each would hold three rounds, and the cartridge would snap into the clip, and the clip would act in the place of the rim. The revolver is used by Wardaddy, played by Brad Pitt, in the 2014 movie Fury.
The Colt/Smith and Wesson Model 1917
img_4532.jpeg
This particular revolver is chambered in .45 A, an automatic cartridge first created for Colt pistols, hence A standing for Automatic Colt Pistol. Then why is an autoloader cartridge in a revolver? The 1917 exists because when the U.S. entered WW1 in 1917, Colt could not manufacture enough 1911 pistols to supply them. So what the military did is they turned to the two main revolver manufacturers, Colt and S&W, and had them make a revolver in .45 A. They wanted it in the same cartridge as the main 1911 to make sure the supply line would get too complicated, but .45 A, being a semi-auto cartridge, does not possess a protruding rim to hang in the revolver cylinder. So what they did is they created the half-moon clip. Each would hold three rounds, and the cartridge would snap into the clip, and the clip would act in the place of the rim. The revolver is used by Wardaddy, played by Brad Pitt, in the 2014 movie Fury.