WWI was on the horizon and it seemed certain that the United States would become involved. S&W people began to work with Springfield Armory to develop a hand ejector model that would fire .45-caliber Government cartridge. This was accomplished in 1916 by the use of half-moon clips. New revolver is quite similar to .44 Hand Ejector in appearance. It has a 5.5" barrel, blued finish with smooth walnut grips and a lanyard ring on the butt. Designation "U.S.Army Model 1917" is stamped on the butt. After the war broke out, the government was not satisfied with S&W's production and actually took control of the company for the duration of the war. This was the first time that the company was not controlled by a Wesson. Factory records indicate that there were 163,476 Model 1917s manufactured between 1917 and 1919, the WWI years. After the war, sale of these revolvers continued on a commercial and contract basis until 1949, when this model was finally dropped from the S&W product line.