You do know why the 1917 hold 6 rounds, don't you?
No. It was designed to hold the British .303 rimmed cartridge. When Remington reworked the design to .30 06 in the rimless they retained the same internal magazine to speed production and you have the 1917.
It was called by some (including Sgt. York who won his Medal of Honor with one) "that English rifle". York trained with the Springfield '03 but when he got to France they gave them 1917's. It has a longer sight radius which makes them a more accurate weapon for the same cartridge.
He used both the 1917 and the 1911 in his heroic action. Some think he used a Lugar, but that was used in the movie because it was the only handgun they had on set that could fire the blanks without misfires/mis-feeds.
Who says Hollywood can't effect history...
History is something I both enjoy and fear, less we forget...