Gun Digest 2011. Dan Shideler

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ to the computer, an internet search was conducted for any descendants or family members who might know “the rest of the story.” The Canadian Province of Ontario seemed the logical place to start, since Martin Bluethner’s military records listed the town of London, Ontario, as his home. Because Bluethner is not an especially common surname, a good chance existed that someone with that last name might be related to Martin. The search turned up one listing for the name. Ironically, the gentleman who answered my phone call identified himself as Martin Bluethner.

      Most cordially, Martin explained that although he believed Martin Herman Bluethner was his great uncle, after whom he had been named, he had never known the man and was unable to provide any details about his later life. Upon hearing what my research had discovered, Martin’s own curiosity became piqued. Exchanging e-mail addresses, we both agreed to look further into the matter and keep each other updated on any progress made.

      Over the next several weeks, a more complete picture of Martin H. Bluethner’s post-war, civilian life began to emerge. After his discharge from the Army, he was employed by the Canadian Bank of Commerce. He married Dorothy Florence Harvey on June 25, 1921, in Toronto. The wedded couple lived in Montreal, where two daughters were born to them. Martin immigrated to the United States on October 30, 1927, and established residence in Essex County, New Jersey. Six months later, on May 1, 1928, the rest of the Bluethner family joined him, making their home at 280 Gregory Avenue, in West Orange, New Jersey. On April 29, 1938, Martin Bluethner became a naturalized U.S. citizen in the Federal District Court at Newark. He continued in his banking career, starting as an auditor, and eventually attaining the position of Vice President with the Bronx Savings Bank. Martin lived out his final years in the town of Rye, in Westchester County, New York, where he died in May of 1982. He had survived one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern history and lived to a full 90 years of age.

      The only remaining loose end was to determine how the revolver and holster came into the possession of the dealer who sold them to me. Through a phone call to the dealer it was learned that he bought the gun and holster from a friend. The dealer said it was his understanding that they had belonged to his friend’s father. The dealer put me in touch with the friend, who told me that several years ago his father worked for a bank in the Bronx. The bank provided the gun to his father for use when he transported large sums of money via the New York subways (that must have been MANY years ago) and the man’s father had retained the revolver and holster when he retired. This information would seem to fill the final gap in the story, assuming that the man’s father was an employee of the Bronx Savings Bank where Martin H. Bluethner served as a Vice President.

      THE MODEL 1917 HAND EJECTOR

      Smith & Wesson’s Model 1917 revolver can perhaps best be described as an expedient that actually worked. When President Woodrow Wilson addressed Congress on April 2, 1917, requesting a declaration of war against Germany, the official side arm of the United States Military was the semiautomatic Colt Model 1911 pistol. Much like their Commonwealth allies, American forces were faced with a severe shortage of handguns as they entered the conflict. Furthermore, the Colt factory was unable to produce Model 1911s in anywhere near the numbers sought by the military. To bolster production, Remington-UMC was awarded a contract for manufacture of the pistols. The U.S. Army’s Springfield Armory also undertook the job of producing Model 1911s. But tooling up for such a project was no small task, and neither source was able to build the guns fast enough in the quantities needed.

      Procuring revolvers to supplement the semiauto pistols seemed a reasonable solution to the handgun deficit. However, the Army’s requirement that revolvers submitted for testing use the same rimless .45 ACP ammunition as the Model 1911 posed an engineering challenge. Smith & Wesson had been working on a Hand Ejector capable of firing the .45 ACP round and submitted samples to the Army for evaluation. The problem of extracting the rimless cartridges from a revolver cylinder was solved by means of a three-round “half-moon” clip, the design of which has been credited to Smith & Wesson President Joseph Wesson.

      Following tests conducted in early June of 1917, the Army found Smith &Wesson’s submission to be satisfactory for military use. The company was initially awarded a contract for 100,000 model 1917s, but according to Army records, Smith & Wesson ultimately delivered 163,634 of the revolvers to the U.S. Government between 1917 and 1919.

      Utilizing the half-moon clips developed by Smith & Wesson, Colt Firearms adapted their New Service revolver to fire the .45 ACP round as well. After testing, it too was deemed an acceptable alternative to the Model 1911 pistol, and Colt was also awarded a Government contract. Like Smith & Wesson’s Hand Ejector, Colt’s New Service revolver was labeled the Model 1917. While there is some difference of opinion among firearms historians regarding the exact total, At least 154,802 Colt Model 1917 revolvers were delivered to the U.S. Government during the course of World War I.

      Smith & Wesson’s Model 1917 revolver was essentially a Modified version of the .455 Second Model Hand Ejector that the company had built in large numbers for the Commonwealth nations. In addition to chambering the revolver for the .45 ACP round, modifications to the gun included shortening the barrel to 5-1/2 inches and slightly reducing bore size to better fit the .451" diameter .45 ACP bullet. Other changes were mainly cosmetic. Gone was the commercial grade finish of the .455, replaced by a faster, more utilitarian soft blue. Instead of being finely checkered, the walnut stocks of the Model 1917 were left smooth, another concession to increased production speed.

      Those measures taken to expedite manufacture of the Model 1917 didn’t diminish the gun’s functional qualities. It proved to be a rugged, reliable substitute for the 1911. Packing the same ballistic punch as its semi-auto counterpart, and quickly re-loadable by means of the half-moon clips, Smith & Wesson’s service revolver apparently was the side arm of choice for some U.S. troops. In the December 1999 issue of the NRA periodical Man At Arms, firearms historian Charles Pate presents a detailed study of the Smith & Wesson Model 1917. Author Pate writes that Military Police units reportedly preferred the Model 1917 revolver to the 1911 pistol.

      In his article, Pate also discusses distribution and usage of the Smith &Wesson revolver, saying, “World War I use of the M1917 was fairly extensive, but primarily by combat support and combat services support troops rather than infantrymen or the cavalry…many thousands were shipped directly to ports of embarkation for subsequent shipment to Europe, and the revolvers clearly played a significant role in the war.”

      Background research on the Model 1917 in my collection shows that it was shipped from the Smith & Wesson Factory to the Springfield Armory on June 8, 1918. The gun has the standard stampings of “UNITED STATES PROPERTY” on the underside of the barrel and “U.S. ARMY MODEL 1917” on the bottom of the grip frame behind the lanyard ring. It bears the usual Government inspector’s markings. These include a small provisional acceptance stamp on the left side of the frame behind the trigger, as well as the Ordnance insignia final acceptance stamp (a flaming bomb) on the left side of the frame in front of the hammer. Although this Model 1917 has obviously seen use, the overall condition of the gun is excellent. Regrettably, other than the information obtained from Smith &Wesson factory records, little is known about the history of this particular firearm. What role this revolver may have played in the War effort will probably forever remain a mystery.

      RANGE TESTING THE GUNS

      Even though the three World War I-era revolvers presented in this article are in great shape, none of them can be described as “mint.” In this writer’s opinion that makes them all eminently shootable. As well as being an enjoyable diversion, a range session with these three Hand Ejectors, using ammunition that replicates the performance of the original military rounds, should also provide some practical insight into the power and accuracy of the handguns used by Allied forces in the Great War.

      Finding modern .45 ACP ammunition that duplicates the load used by the American doughboys is not a problem. The classic loading of a 230-grain round nose, СКАЧАТЬ