Pawn Shop Colt 1917 Army

A handsome brute. I'm envious.

I'm glad that you didn't "restore" it so that it could be passed off someday as an original. We have too many fake "originals" as it is. Better a hotrod than pseudo showroom condition.

Very cool project gun, and now a nicely unique firearm!

I agree with "Johnny Guest" on this.... That revolver was only a wall-hanger and now it can be shot again and it looks great. I see no problem with that at all...

Wow!!! Great work on recovering an old queen. That's one revolver that I be envious of. I remember reading a book written by Dean Grennell detailing such a modification. I think that Mr. Grennell referred to them as a "Fitz" special.

Beautiful work IMHO.

hard to believe it's the same gun. very nice

Of course I think the whole project was right on and you have a wonderful gorgeous rig there. Thanks for sharing!

Totally kewl!

Now... how's it shoot? If it shoots 1/3rd as good as it looks, it'll be just fine... that's just fine wc. Superb.

Your smith did a fine job.

Not everybody wants a long tom. Short barreled pistols seem to command higher prices these days. If you guys want to know price I suggest you contact the smith for his fees

Count me as another BIG fan of this "project"!!! That gun is a beauty--no doubt about it. I like revolvers period, but snubbies best of all. This gun indeed looks like my Detective Special "on steroids," as another has stated.

And personally, I believe any gun owner has the right to modify any gun he wants, any way he wants. (Or not.) Those of us who buy 'em to have 'em and shoot 'em typically value guns differently than collectors, anyway. As far as the cost of his custom work. . .it's worth it if he thinks its worth it, IMO. And I would probably agree!

I really like the end result.

I love it. I'm going to start looking around for a similar wall hanger...

But, I would have left the original grips in place. The Elk grips look nice and all, but the originals have a lot of soul. Mean, tough-as-nails, punch-in-the-face, blood-and-guts sort of soul. The kind of grips that tell a story. The kind of story that no sane man wants to hear with the lights off. They are the Chuck Norris of grips.

I keep coming back to this thread to look at the photos. A very worthwhile project...flawless execution. Have you shot it yet? I'd love to see how it groups.

Yeah I keep coming back to look too. Very cool about the grips. Man I like that wood.

I have to agree that the old gun was well out of the collector category, so I don't see any reason to lament the change. As for the cost of the work, I would be very surprised if it did not run at least $1200; a pretty expensive belly gun, but what use is money if you can't spend it for what you want.

The so-called "Fitz specials" were similar, being based on the New Service, of which the Model 1917 is a variant, but J. Henry (Fitz) Fitz Gerald also had the trigger guards cut away at the front and the hammer spur removed. "Fitz" was a Colt factory representative and exhibition shooter for many years, so he could get almost anything he wanted from the Colt factory in the way of new guns or custom work at no cost.

Jim

OK I HAD to do it ! Specs are a Blue printed action by C&S with any sub par parts replaced. Shilen 1 in 15" twist barrel. Detent locks on frame and in custom under lug.. Gold front blade and squared rear noth sighted in a 25 yards with GI ball while in the white, then gun sent to Colt Custom shop for engraving and Royal Blue. Then to Roy Fishpaw for the grips. That was almost 15 years ago I think.

1917 beautiful

Hey it just struck me you could take a 1935 Brazilian Smith and do about the same thing. Wow a 45 Acp (AR) snubbie and could be just as beautiful. Talk about a nice CCW piece. Ye Ha
I'd add a K-frame Round butt job too, lots of grip choices. I'm Officially looking for any 1917 Smith or Colt Now.

I am truly envious of that bulldog. If I were you though, I would have cut the front of the trigger guard and bobbed the hammer for a true fritz special.

Gordon, that's just simply outstanding. Really. Outstanding.


John Pepper has a 1917 he had cut down to somewhere around the 3 - 4 inch length. I have to guess at the barrel length, because it would be rude to measure it. But as I recall when he showed it to me it was between 3 and 4 inches. I guess the next time he calls I'll bring it up in conversation.

I had a Colt 1917 just like your original Whitecoyote that I traded one of my knives for at a gun show I was set up at. For years she just sat in a case and I was never sure if I should shoot it or just keep it for my collection and relish the history it must have seen. One day I took it in to a local gunsmith/gun shop and sat down with the smith to talk over rebuilding it/making it shootable. What he said shocked me. He would never ever destroy such a revolver and I was wrong in never taking it out to shoot(I'll admit I was a revolver neophyte and did not know what made a revolver unsafe to shoot, I assumed "old" meant "unsafe") He asked if I wanted to part with the gun. I was in school at the time and took the money and ran. Boy I sure miss that gun. I love what you did with your revolver and think it looks great, especially the stag grips! Gordon dittos on your piece, beautiful!

I liked the before version much better. So much so that I have saved that pic in my "cool old guns" folder.

This one is a little older,and it's not very pretty, but I carry it every day.

1913 vintage.455 HE MkII with both the cylinder and barrel replaced to shoot 45 Colt.

Awesome revolvers are awesome!