Has anyone ever come across one of the Israeli made M&P copies? I've only seen photographs. They have Israeli markings on them and I've read that they were very high quality, but can anyone confirm this?

I'm just curious.

...have never seen one in real life. From what I understand these were .38/200 Victory models that were converted to use 9mm in half moon clips. The Israelis had a lot of British stuff and could'nt afford to throw anything away back then. Keep hoping to run across one at a gun show but don't know if any have ever made it over here in any numbers.

At Manchester Firing Line in NH, there's a parked HB Model 10 in 9MM on display, I don't think it's a Model 547. I was told it was made by S&W for the DOD.

Supposedly made by IMI. Here's a link to some pictures:

IMI Model 1917

I recall seeing one in an auction catalog last year, but have never come across one in person.

Bob

S. Kelly,
Israel did have 547s at some point. I have two that were imported from Israel in the 1980s. I knew the shop owner that made several buying trips to Israel and brought back 547s, FALs and other arms. Unfortunately I have no history of when Israel acquired the 547.

The IMI Model-1917 is the one I was talking about. I have a book about collecting firearms. Originally published in 1971 so the prices are obsolete, but fun to look at. It shows the IMI S&W clone as being a handgun that was imported into the U.S. until the 1968 Gun Control Act. It's described as being rare in the U.S. and gives a price range between $90 - $125. That was forty years ago. I would imagine now if you found one of the 9mm Israeli M&P's you'd pay much much more.

Using one of the Inflation calculators that comes out between $500 - $700 in 2010 dollars (approximately). So even in 1971 it wasn't cheap.

Do the Israelis have a gun auction site?
Might be a good place to find one, and then see if it could be imported...if you have the cash and patience.

__________________
Lost it all in a boat accident