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Half-moon clips enabled Smith & Wesson’s Model 1917 revolver to function with .45 ACP ammunition, making it an effective substitute for the Model 1911 pistol. These revolvers played a significant role in the First World War. Displayed with the gun are an Army-issued canvas pouch holding six loaded clips and a World War I vintage ammo package containing eight loaded half-moon clips.

Yet, useful as the revolver was for close-quarter combat, it certainly could not replace the Lee-Enfield rifle as the primary fighting implement of the British Army. Nor was it feasible to equip infantrymen with both rifles and revolvers for several reasons, not the least of which was the problem of securing the long gun when the handgun was deployed. Instead, handguns were worn by commissioned officers, who normally did not carry rifles. British infantry raids on German trenches were typically led by lieutenants armed with revolvers. Not surprisingly, the battlefield attrition rate of British lieutenants during the First World War was severe. Handguns were also carried by both officers and enlisted men in such assignments as Field Artillery, where rifles were impractical.