Lee;

I'd say it was worth 6 tough seasoned street fighters in a bad situation. I also once owned a S&W 1917 rollmarked NTPD (North Tarrytown NY Police Department) that was chopped and bobbed when I bought it. After a few months of relentless begging from a pal, I succumbed to her charms and gave the revolver to her. She was one of the best armed policewomen I knew at the time and a very competent shot. I shot from time to time with her, her Dad and my Uncle, who were radio car partners for several years before they went into the detective bureau. And shortly after seeing the piece and how well it performed at 15 yds., true love blossomed. Unfortunately, only the revolver became the object of her affection. But we all agreed there was something a bit ungainly, seeing her little hands wrapped around that monster. All you saw was that huge gun protruding from the diminutive figure of this very petite young lady. I'm certain that if she had to jerk that piece in a confrontation, the subsequent reaction of even the toughest perp would have been one of complete shock.....that would have lasted for just about one second, before he met Jesus! As an aside, I believe that many of these modified revolvers exist and were once quite popular amongst LEO's looking for any advantage they could muster. The full size military configuration made these impractical for most LEO's working in plainclothes, so the modifications seem to have followed a logical course. It was simply cheaper to chop and bob an inexpensive finish worn surplus 1917 than to buy a new S&W with similar factory features. A detective assigned to one of the Harlem squads had one that was nickel plated. He swore it psychologically doubled in size when he pulled the piece under the streetlights of that charming historical neighborhood.

John;

The catalog photos and your Audley photos are simply excellent. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing those with us.

Edited to correct my poor spelling!