Original Items: Only One Set Available. The M1917 Revolvers were six-shot, .45 ACP, large frame revolvers adopted by the United States Military in 1917, to supplement the standard M1911 pistol during World War I. There were two variations of the M1917, one made by Colt and the other by Smith & Wesson. They used moon-clips to hold the cartridges in position, facilitate reloading, and to aid in extraction since revolvers had been designed to eject rimmed cartridges and .45 ACP rounds were rimless for use with the magazine-fed M1911.

A moon clip is a ring-shaped or star-shaped piece of metal designed to hold multiple cartridges together as a unit, for simultaneous insertion and extraction from a revolver cylinder. Moon clips may either hold an entire cylinder's worth of cartridges together (full moon clip), half a cylinder (half moon clip), or just two neighboring cartridges.

The modern moon clip was devised shortly before World War I in 1908. The device then became widespread during the war, when the relatively new M1911 semi-automatic pistol could not be manufactured fast enough for the war effort. The U.S. War Department asked Smith & Wesson and Colt to devise ways to use the M1911's .45 ACP rimless cartridge in their revolvers. The result was the M1917 revolver, employing moon clips to chamber the military-issue .45 ACP ammunition. Smith & Wesson invented and patented the half-moon clip, but at the request of the Army allowed Colt to also use the design free of charge in their own version of the M1917 revolver.

This set includes the following items:
- Unissued M1909 Holster by Graton & Knight dated 1917: This was a fantastic find! This holster was produced for use in 1917 but never made its way to the frontlines. It appears that it was made, stored and forgotten about. The leather retains its light brown natural look with lovely verdigris buildup on the brass fittings. The thigh strap is still present and in the coiled position and still soft to the touch. The small leather tie inside the belt loop to secure it from moving when mounted is present and still soft. It has a clear US oval logo on the front.

The leather is still soft, solid with great intact stitching. There is only minor staining, other than that, this is still a very serviceable, attractive holster.

On the rear of the holster there are additional markings, which were not stamped well, so they are hard to read:

G [& K]
1917
A.G.

G&K is the marking of Graton & Knight Manufacturing Co., Worcester, Massachusetts,
who made this holster in 1917. A.G. is the marking from the inspector at that location: usually it was their initials.

This holster is not a left hand design. It was originally designed to be carried on the right side of the waist with the gun in the "Butt Forward" position known as the Cavalry Draw. The right hand would be used for holding a sword.

- “Half Moon” Revolver Clips Ammunition Pouch: The half moon pouch would hold two 3 round half moon clips in each pouch, totaling 6 clips, 18 rounds in total. There is a clip in each pocket on the pouch, a total of 6. There are no markings on the pouch and it does show signs of field use and wear, but free of any extensive damage.

This is a wonderful set of items in hard to find condition! It would be difficult to try and upgrade from them. Comes more than ready for display.