ltwguns.com

Here is a Colt 1917 Amry, (cir. 1919), Fitz Special, .45 ACP, 2.25" barrel.
I recently aquired this Colt 1917 Fitz. It functions very well, and locks up tight. The grips are way over-sized, whoever put this together must have had huge hands!.
It supposedly has a checkered past (still working on its history).

The Colt with its original Berns-Martin holster.

_________________
"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

Just beautiful! I wish that there were more of those around. Thanks for sharing.

Very cool.

I have some other pics of that piece on file, although I can't remember where I stole them.

ML

Mushinto..that particular piece has been around several times on various boards, as any of us die-hard Fitz fans will recognize. I had been talking with Bocephus about this one over the last week or two, since he absolutely feels the need to torture me with ALL of his Fitz acquisitions of late..lol . I would be very interested to see what/if anything else can be found out about this piece. Bocephus, did you make that call that I suggested?

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"There is a true glory and a true honor, the glory of duty done, the honor of integrity and principle."--Gen. Robert Edward Lee

Wicked piece of vintage iron. I can't wait to hear it's history.

Curiosity got the better of me. I could not resist seeing what was under those grips.
I tried cutting off the black tape, it was very dry-rotted, and just crumbled. The tape was taken off, the grips were removed, and this is what I found.
It was anticlimactic at best.
The frame had ben cut approximately one inch, and left at that. The function, and action of the revolver was pretty rough, and was in need of some major repair.






With that said the rest of the revolver seemed solid. The Colt was sent to Dave Sams in North Carolina.
http://www.samscustomgunworksusa.com/
Dave Sams rebuilt the entire Colt revolver, and welded up the frame. It was an expensive job, but well worth it. The Colt is now ready, and good to go for the next 100 years!
This is the Colt 1917 Army "Fitz Special" after receiving it back from Dave Sams.
The frame was sent to Patrick Grashorn in Colorado to have custom Elk grips fitted to the Fitz (stay tuned).

_________________
"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

Wonderful.

ML

Some of us can only dream! Very nice!

_________________
Tommy C.
NREMT-B
NRA Life Member / TSRA Life Member

Here it is the Colt 1917 Army Fitz Special. It is finally done.
Dave Sams did a miracle on the Colt. http://www.samscustomgunworksusa.com/
Patrick Grashorn made the grips, they turned out wonderful. http://www.grashornsgunworks.com/
Hopefully the Colt Fitz Special will be around for another 100 (or two) years from now.








One of the things I've noticed are the three notches on the back of the grip frame.
Makes one wonder????

_________________
"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

You sure latch onto some interesting stuff, Bo'!

The holster looks like a spring clip break front model. What is the holster maker's name?

You are right, it is a break front, and has a very strong spring.
Manufacture is Berns-Martin.

_________________
"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

Wow! Glad I fell upon this thread. What a find, and such an interesting one at that. That's a fabulous piece of history there. I'm glad it was acquired by someone who obviously treasures such a piece. Keep it up!

EricO

That's a real piece of history right there. Berns-Martin holsters were the shiznitz back in the day.

Yeah, I'm real glad he got it too. Real glad.

M(has no Fitz)L