Did you ever drive a little too slowly past the city animal pound then discover a Pit Bull riding in your back seat? And you have no idea how it came to be? Well, that happened to me in Tulsa last weekend. First, I hear, "Hey, dad, check that out>" Suddenly my wallet is on the table and this puppy is riding in my back pocket.

US Property Marked 1917 Colt, serial in the 234xxx range (1918?); barrel cut to 2", unusual front sight (crsides thinks it is Ihiaa), bobbed hammer with nicely checkered stub for emergencies, rounded butt, and polished trigger. The action is as smoother as polished silk.

Any other Big Bore Belly Guns out there?

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Randy
Provenance nerd

That is a beauty!!! I wouldn't have been able to resist either. I think they did a great job shortening the grip frame. I'm sure the front sight is pretty functional, but that would be my only quibble, it just isn't "period". Very nice... I'll bet Fitz would approve.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

That is outstanding!!!!! That's a RayBar front sight for a shotgun, like used on Ithaca shotguns. Way practical, pre dates the fiber optic sights of today.

Whoever made her up put some thought into her.

Very nice! I too don’t care much for the look of the sight, but sure it looks a lot better through the rear sight!

I’m sure no one else here would let that happen to us. Cool find.

Very cool! I had to go back and look at it a number of times . Range report would really make my day.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Bearpa, I did some googling of the Ray Bar sights. Found one reference to their 'Glow worm" sight from in the 1970s'.It does appear to be screwed into the ramp much like a shotgun bead.

Can you shed any more light on that?

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Randy
Provenance nerd

I'll have to check later, but I think it looks just like the sight that came from the factory on my Ithica "Featherlight" 20 gauge Model 37 from the late 70s, early 80s. I'll try to check soon.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

I've got one.


1916 vintage 455 HE MKII with a post war 45ACP barrel and cylinder.

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Eccentric old coot

That is one cool Roscoe..

Very nice! How does it shoot?

Looks like one I had many years ago...


BTW, all the work was done by Austin Behlert.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Still doing some research on this one. Colt New Svc, absolutely no factory markings on it except serial number. Colt says it shoulda/woulda been made in 1921 but it is open on the books. Interesting Bucheimer 2" shoulder holster with age appropriate wear came with it. Had to be a custom order holster.



I got to play with Quinn's new acquisition at Tulsa. Its really neat and that front sight does its job. I actually dropped this one in my shirt pocket at the SW BBQ. Great action to boot.


Charlie

Ithaca was the Ray bar, I think Simmons made the Glo Worm,
Marble had the Sun Spot. I think a company Bradley made a
similar sight to Ray Bar also. If sight is not a Ray Bar it's a copy.
All the above sights were sold 3/56-6/48-8/40 shanks. I'm not
sure if they were avaible with drive in shank. I got a whole box
of these different Flo sights, but they are loose, I threw the
packages away years ago to save space.

I couldn't walk by that one either. I like that it's pretty faithful to a Fitz yet still retains the trigger guard. But I'd like to own one with the cut guard too. Here's my bare metal 1917 again, with it's little '51 Cobra sidekick. I call these two "Fatman & Little Boy". You sure did good on that one!

Have you seen Det. Ganio's Colt NS .45 snub in Chic Gaylord's, "Hamdgunner's Guide"?

I, too, have one. Smith 1917. I suspect it was "acquired without authorization", as it was cut just short enough to lose the US PROPERTY marking.

Ramp front sight, Wondersight rear, and that nice spring-loaded ball-bearing front lock-up

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I always take precautions

No. What does that one look like? Over at Colt forum I've seen that the front sight like on mine is pretty common on a chopped 1917. I was told they're made from "hose cutter blades" whatever they are. I have an early 60s gun ad somehere where a gun magazine vendor was selling pre chopped Colt 1917s and called them "Big Bertha". Sine so many have the same sight I wonder if mine was one of those. I really like Iggy's short 1917 S&W pictured here earlier.

Quinn, I heard you mention that Colt (a four letter word!) at the Southwest Bunch dinner but I didn't get around to come over and take a look at it. I had seen a chopped Colt 1917 at the gun show and wondered if it was the same one, but it is not. The one I saw had some very amateur "engraving" on it and I never got a price on it, the owner was away from his table.

Here's my chopped and round butted .45, actually a Model 1950 Military (pre-Model 22). Found it at a gun show in 2010.

I used to have one just like Iggy's. It was lots of fun.

Very cool piece, as are the others pictured, especially the "Fitz'd" Colt. I've owned several big bore snubbies but currently the only one I have is this 3" RB .41mag 28-2 that Mark Hartshorne put together for me earlier this year.

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

I like the switchblade and knuckles, actually.

Qinn

The Ray Bar sight has been used on the Ithaca Model 37 shotgun since 1955. It is a screw in sight with a 6/48 thread. I put one on my fathers old Stevens 520 shotgun, which he swapped a Billy goat for back in 1936. Love the sight, easy to pickup on a shotgun, though you don't really use the sight, but easy to track a bird or clay with.

I believe the sight was exclusively an Ithaca option and their design. At the time of introduction it was an expensive option. You could send your 37 back to the factory for install. Also used in the Ithaca Model 51. It was the grandfather of fiber optic sights. Today it's called a Tru Glow. I've never heard the term Glow Worm but it sounds like a term they may have went too, as it fits the description.

Looks great on the belly gun, I have been in need of a project, have it now. The hunt starts! I believe Brownell's still lists the sight.

Like to know how it shoots.

Tell us more about the switchblade. I bought one in Tulsa

This one has a high tech front sight known as a piece of a buffalo nickel.

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

The knife is marked "EIG Cutlery Italy" on the hilt and has been in my collection for some time. EIG was one of the major switchblade importers in the 1950's. It is the classic button release with 'picklock' release to close.

I have learned that to a large degree Italian automatic knives are not marked by the maker and bear only the distributor/importer's name. On a recent trip to Venice I acquired a new made high quality lever lock knife that had no markings at all. Even the box and paper were unmarked. In Italy you must have a gun permit to purchase an automatic knife. Fortunately, the store accepted b y Texas carry permit though the clerk looked over his shoulder a lot while running my credit card.

So, Curtis show us what you got/

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Same ones here...nothing new to offer up.

Have this Bulldog .44 in right front pocket of my bib-overalls right now.





This one has appeared in a couple of gun books

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C & L

I'll start a new thread

I have always thought a buffalo nickel or an indian head penny makes a nice front sight. Larry

I remember Ithaca's RayBar as a blackened brass base with a loop at each end holding the plastic insert. Early ones had Ithaca Patent stamped into the base in tiny letters.
They actually made the bases in the Ithaca factory and assembled them there, the red inserts were a vendor supplied piece.
Just going by what I remember what was on the M37's and some of the Knicks.
Maybe the single loop like this one was offered/used later on.

Lot's of aftermarket sights around from many sources and many of the foreign mfg's use them on their shotguns.

Neat looking revolver no matter!

What kind of a sick person would buy something like that???

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My favorite color is nickel

ME!!!!! Larry

Nice snag Dave! That is the Colt 1917 I saw at the Wanenmacher show. I don't feel too bad that I didn't come back around to it because I wound up with a .44 Special New Service instead. Glad to see that you got it.

By the way, now and then a post comes up where someone wants to cut down a perfectly fine gun into a belly gun. I always recommend that they look for one that's already been Bubba'd, like this one. They are out there. Please people - don't be a Bubba!

Seeing these belly guns made me dig one out the safe - which makes me ask - has anyone heard from Lefty Lewis lately? (Bell Charter Oak) - I know he had health issues last year, but it was sounding like he was on the road to recovery then.

As old school as they get.....

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OGCA Member.

Pretty cool pistola, but I'm in the "don't like the front sight" camp. I'm a bubba of the first order, but I still prefer a shark fin on an old Colt and a half moon on an old Smith. I'd still take it (if I could legally buy a stubby in Canada) but I'd lose sleep over how to fix that one thing. Wouldn't stop me from scooping it up though.

Also appreciate your other pieces in the pic.

Kerry: When I first saw this on the table in Tulsa I, too, had a negative reaction to the sight and figured I could always change it. But, I do have tired eyes and thought "at least I can see it!" Since I posted this on the forum and got some initial thought on the sight I have spent a lot of hours online. So far I have been unable to identify the sight. Its is NOT the Ithaca version from the '70's. . In looking at the details on this gun it was not a quickie, chop and go job. The machining on the ramp is almos overkill. I'm almost to the point of puling the sight and sending it out for carbon 14 dating.

So, at this point I think I'm gonna leave her alone until I get some specific answers--which I'll probably never get. I think range time is next order of business.

Thanks for all the commentsss

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Here's the mate to this gun in it's natural state. The seller got them in the white from I think "Uberti-USA" in the 80s. These guns are exceptionally well polished and assembled, with only three tiny proof marks on them. But I'm sure your's were removed on this fine snub.



russian photo sharing

The wheelguns in this thread have lots of character- thanks to all for sharing

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Some Might Say.

I didn't mean to sound critical, as I said I would have bought it too! There is definitely a market for high visibility sights, this revolver is proof of that, and many come that way from factory now (or something similar). If it works, great. Very nice either way.