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Makes me think that maybe we should regulate who gets to use hacksaws and files. . .
Shield your eyes, young ones! Look away!
But honestly…you find some kooky stuff on Gunbroker lately.
I suppose my level of outrage would depend on when the cuts were made. The text doesn’t say this seller did the damage, if it was done in the ’40s/’50s what are ya gonna do?
Might not want to tell that to JH Fitzgerald. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FitzGerald_Special
http://www.shootingillustrated.com/index.php/294/perfect-fitz/
http://www.guns.com/2013/02/20/forgotten-45-acp-wheelgun-the-smith-wesson-m1917/
Might have been a broken gun to start with, project might have been started 30 years ago. There was a time in the late 1980s/early 1990s with Brazillian issued surplus 1917s sold for dirt cheap (~$200). Looks like it wasn’t a real nice gun before the conversion.
I know all about the Fitz; I’m just not particularly impressed with it as an idea; and the execution on this particular one is pretty bad. The tool marks on the trigger guard are a dead giveaway.
I also don’t understand the point of converting a gun that is JUST FINE to a Fitz.
It didn’t sound like it was just fine to start with. The recoil shield is gone. The grips, while original Colt are not original 1917 grips. Is that paint on the ejector rod? The “NEW SERVICE 1917″ stamp on the barrel smacks of something Century Arms would do on imported surplus. Somebody managed to either fit a 3.25” barrel or actually fit a fixed front sight to a cut down barrel. What you see as tool marks, I can only see as possible nicks and scratches that are to be expected on a 97 year old gun. Only in the last 20 years have these become valuable collectors items. Before that any 1917 in less than 90% condition was seen as a shooter to be modified as seen fit. My local gun shop had a beat up Offical Police in 41 Colt a while back that was priced at about $200. I was really tempted to get it for some sort of project.
I don’t like seeing old guns chopped up. I’m the guy that complains when some neckbeard virgin bubbas up a Mosin.
At least they ATTEMPTED to make a period correct conversion. I have a 1917 Remington Mosin that I inherited from my grandfather. At some point the barrel and stock got cut down and the bolt handle turned down. (and oddly the rim around the bolt face ground off). All this work was done in the 1960s though.
That is true, I’d rather see a ’17 Colt or S&W cut down into a Fitz, derpy that I find it, than drilled and tapped for a scope or something.
The irony is that if this butchery had been done at the factory, this “rare” variation would be worth 10x the price. Now it’s just junk. On the other hand, maybe it’s value is in demonstrating an old and goofy trend in self defense modifications. I’m old enough to remember when such workshop surgery was all the rage and Colt and S+W didn’t garner the reverence as collectables they do now.
Might be interesting to see in 40 years what people complain about a good looking M&P thats been given an apex trigger job and a bit of stippling.