I posted on another forum and got this reply,

Quote from: Roy G. Jinks;141985502

"The S&W spec. sheet date 1918 list the rifling as 6 grooves and one turn in 15 inched. I hope that helps. They list all the spec.s if you need them."  Roy

Kevin

Stawhat,
Thanks, but that is just the twist rate and the direction. The standard 1911 twist rate was  1:16 and a LEFT hand twist.  We changed it to Right Hand so the torque of the bullet traveling down the barrel would rotate towards the right as the shooter looks at it, thus pushing it INTO the hand since most shooters are right handed and you are able to control it better.  Now almost all 1911 barrels are Right Hand twist.

Which direction was the rifling twist on the S&Ws?  Actually the twist rate and the direction are not that interesting to me, the bore and groove dimensions are what everyone has been talking about on this subject.  On this thread, it has been stated the S&W 1917s had rifling for hardball which insinuates shallower grooves for jacketed bullets.  Because of that "hardball" bore some were advising soft lead bullets didn't do well.

A 1 inch difference in rotation per foot is not enough to of a difference to cause any measurable difference because of soft lead bullets, and the twist direction has no influence.  Where did the Roy Jinks quote come from? I have his "History of S&W". I don't have his "Smith and Wesson, 1857-1945 A Handbook For Collectors" or the books put out by the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association, perhaps it appeared there?

Does someone have the actual dimensions?  They will be something like this:


I've posted what I have measured on 1917s, 1950s and 1955s (M25), but I'm curious as to what the official Army Inspection print was that has been suggested as the "standard" we should be discussing.  Or even what Roy or the Collectors Association says the original S&W prints stated.

Thanks for that information, what else can you find?

~Mako

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