I've got a couple, chopped from their original barrel length and in both cases to a little over 3".

First is a 624 (not a usual candidate for this sort of thing) that was a 4" but must have suffered some muzzle damage. The barrel and ramp were both shortened to 3-3/8". It was also round butted to accept these K-frame Pachmayr grips.


Second and most recently is this cut down and hard chromed 1917 (shipped April of 1918). It's barrel is about 3-1/4".


Although I generally prefer 5" N-frames these two, since they are in my two favorite calibers, are instant favorites.

Dave

__________________
RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

Although I have a holster or two for this'n...I's most times jest stick it my britches so I can draw 'er out left handed.

3" .44Special HD



Su Amigo,
Dave

__________________
"IN GOD WE TRUST"

1917 Colt U.S. Army .45 ACP...2.5" barrel, S&W adjustable back sight, red ramp custom front sight, hard chrome and nickel.









pictured/mentioned in these two Dean Grennell books

__________________
C & L

C&L i have both those books in my err... reading room next to bigbore sixguns by taffin and sixguns by keith, and the SCSW of course.
i do never get tired of bragging about this monster. A triple lock cut down LONG ago. still shoots real good.

Here's another cutdown 1917.

Lose the lanyard swivel, round the butt, and that is EXACTLY what I want.

I'll find a suitable 1917 one day for these mods; just wish I had been smarter and bought one when you didn't have to give a kidney for a good example.

Nice piece, bubbajoe.

.

Another cut barrel revolver I own, Army Special in .41 Long Colt



Still another cut barrel Official police in .38 special.

__________________
OGCA Member.

I remember, all those years ago. Dean Grennell said a few crafty dabs of a ball peen hammer removed the crude half-moon sight. I believe it has been 35 years since I saw that in print. Just goes to show how much of an impression that old Colt made on me. I have seen it many times on this site, and never tire of it. THANX.......................

__________________
dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Here's a couple scans from a book in my collection. The book is copyrighted 1929 and dated on the inside cover 1931.

Attached Images

	Fitz.jpg (76.6 KB, 336 views)
	Fitz2.jpg (128.2 KB, 373 views)

I'm glad to see this thread resurrected, too.

I have a refinished but mechanically perfect Smith 1917 that would be a fine candidate for rebirth as a belly gun.

Can anyone recommend a gunsmith who could do a good job of shortening and bobbing and round butting?

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

Okay...I know, it's not a "Big Bore", but it is .38 S&W, and, that ought to be enough to get to hang with the Big Boys now and then.

These have appeared in other threads, but they fit here as well. Both started life as 1917s.





I have a donor 1917 Brazilian that I am ready to send off. I intend to create my own personal belly gun. It will have many of the features of the engraved gun above, but with a durable finish, a 2011 vintage belly gun.

__________________
Dave

Title/author please?

Thanks,
Kevin Williams

__________________
Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

A cut down Victory.

The book is American Pistol Shooting by Major William D. Frazer.

sig, sent you a PM.

Dave

__________________
RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

Great Belly guns I'll have to go shoping for one!

__________________
Protected by Sigma 40VE

It's interesting that I stumbled on this thread today as I was writing this morning in a book on which I'm working about the Shanghai Municipal Police Reserve Unit about W. E. Fairbairn's Fitz Special. As big a fan as WEF was of the 1911 he carried a Fitz New Service for many years as did his son. The Fairbairn Fitzs were built at the SMP Armory. When I was visiting WEF's daughter Dorothea one time, I took her to lunch at the local pub and almost choked on my Strongbow cider when she mentioned that after her father died she turned his Fitz into the police to be destroyed! Also, I note my friend Lefty's post. Because of his long experience making holsters for bigbore snubs his are the holsters I use and always recommend for these guns.

I just happened upon this page from a 1940 Popular Science mag article about police training. Thought it would fit in with this topic. The link is included. Google has apparently digitized decades of this magazine.

Popular Science - Google Books

This is a bit of an old school bellygun, but a bellygun none the less.

CVA .45 Derringer



This is a bellygun for those of us with the bigger bellys.

__________________
Vaya con Dios

come on man.....though its not sturdy enough for casual shooting (50 rounds per month~) and its "only" a 5 shooter, the Charter Arms bulldog .44spl is the only current production stock gun has to fit in this section somewhere......as in big bore compact snubbies...

btw, the CA bulldog is an idea i love but cant find one that works well....

__________________
I'm only allowed 30 characters

I love these guns. My chopped Brazilian has been posted before, by me and the previous owner. No idea about the history, just that the work was done a long time ago by someone that knew what they were doing.

__________________
Don't kiss smiling dogs!

Very cool piece. I'd love to find one myself.

Works for me!

__________________
C & L

Colt 1917 .45 acp.

__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

white coyote, very very nice.

This is the one that I want.
Did you buy it already finished or have it done yourself?
Do you know who did the work?

Me too! Love the ones with the lanyard swivel still attached. At one point I bought a Brazilian M1937 to have converted but after cycling through 2-3 gunsmiths I could not find one who would a.) do the work or b.) do it in a time frame that was reasonable. I realize that the best guys stay busy but I have not had good luck with smiths. Therefore my hunt continues for one already converted.

Regards,
Kevin Williams

__________________
Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

These are pre war....well pre Iraq war.

The Colt started out as a beat up wall hanger. It barely functioned, it was determined the Colt was unsafe to shoot. I thought a long time about what to do with the Colt, and after examing it numerous times it appeared that the frame, barrel, and cylinder were very solid. I sent the Colt to Dave Sams. He worked a miricle on the Colt.
The Colt is solid, a fantastic shooter, and has one of the best triggers I have ever seen on a Colt!

You can read about the Colt here: >>> Pawn shop Colt 1917 (Update 01/06/2010, page 3, with pics) - ColtForum

This is what the Colt looked like before it was chopped.

__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Thanks for that link whitecoyote.

Will you PM me the approximate price that you paid for the work you had done? (I understand if you don't want to do that).
I looked at his website and it didn't list any. I know that the prices vary depending on how much mechanical work the original gun needs.

__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

whitecoyote thats one all business piece of hardware.

Here's some: From the bottom, clockwise; 44-40, 41 Long, 38 S&W, 32-20



rayb

"I'm no photographer"

__________________
"cumplo pero no obedezco"

i like that toothpick

This one is eventually going to be sent off to Dave Chicoine to be made functional again (hopefully)



















I don't know if this hunk of metal counts, but it has been cut down:

I am with you for the .44 - here is a pawn shop reject I am trying to save

Awesome belly guns guys!

God that one needs help.....

__________________
I'm only allowed 30 characters

Unfortunately I have nothing to add, but I'm hoping members here might have acquired some new belly guns?

Anyone....?

Alas, all I have are new bellyguns.
640 Twins

36-1 3"

66-2 2.5" sitting with one of the twins.

624 3"

I do have a couple of Semiauto belly guns.

I think it would have been sobering to stare across a Deadwood card table into the business end of this old Belgian beast between the 1880s and early 1900s. It sure qualifies as a belly gun; it's "Grandpa Saturday Night Special".

It's a .44-40 (.44 WCF) five-shooter, rugged, simple, crude and functional, made to sell cheap to guys who couldn't afford a Colt SAA or nice S&W top-break .44. I have several of these. They were guild-made, with no manufacturer's name, and most barrels are 4" or 6". When I bought this at a show years ago, I thought the barrel was cut down, but closer examination shows the length is probably original, as is the worn nickel and everything else. Most of these are badly pitted, but this one was hardly used at all and the bore is minty. I think they made the frames to fit a standard (S&W?) grip size. They bought those grips and very professionally removed the logos. Few of these guns survive with the original grips, but this one did. They were nitro proof tested, and I've fired my 6-incher with 4 grains of Bullseye and a standard 240 gr. Keith-type .429" lead bullet, which fits the bore perfectly. All springs on these things are heavy beyond belief, and everything was hand fitted from standard components, where one shop made the trigger guards, another the cylinders, another hammers and triggers, etc. Yes, those wacky trigger guard screws are original to this type. It does have a fairly safe rebounding hammer, for carrying full chambers, even with the old style cylinder locking, where it isn't really locked unless cocked. I don't think I'll be carrying this one, except maybe empty, as a backup club.

Shucks, I sobered up just looking at the pic. That revolver has that bad-business look about it.

__________________
C & L

Here's my EDC "belly gun", a 640-1 stoked with Corbon 125 gr DPX magnums that's equipped with a Big Dot tritium front sight.....

My recent additions.

__________________
OGCA Member.

I recently purchased this Behlert customized 25-2 from another forum member -



It's keeping my chopped Brazilian company -

__________________
Don't kiss smiling dogs!

Another cut down Victory owned, converted and operated by FBI SA George Gillum who started out his FBI career in Rock Springs, Wyoming and after getting married in 1948, was transferred to Las Vegas where he served until he retired in 1970. He served in NV at the time when Vegas was becoming Vegas with all the Mafia ties and influences. His neice Cami Hay, from whom I acquired George's revolver described him as the "tough, silent type that no one messed with, at least more than once." He must of been having served and survived in Vegas all those early years.
Chuck

__________________
SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

29-1,

Cool revolver and an even cooler history.

UC&P ( Up close and personal) ear wax removers.


Cheers;
Lefty

LOBO, who installed, and for how much, that Big Dot Night Sight?

__________________
I'm only allowed 30 characters