Pawn Shop Find

[mortdooley]

 Tuesday I dropped by a Pasadena Texas pawn shop in a neighborhood where most of the shop signs are not in English looking for a short barrel 20 gauge pump. The guy behind the counter didn't have any shotguns that met my needs and no handguns in sight, so I asked about handguns. He produced a yellow pad with a list of handguns that are always kept in the safe. One of them was a Colt revolver in .45 Colt caliber for $499, it turned out to be a New Service made into one of the biggest snub nosed (2.5 inch) pimp guns I have ever seen. Someone had polished off the rampant colt logo and most of the words, chromed it and gold plated the hammer and trigger. Now I'm holding something that will never be anything but a shooter but I am OK with that if I can get a good price on it. After a little back and forth we agreed to $277 plus tax which made it $300 out the door. It's a good thing I don't go to pawn shops more often, no telling what I would bring home.

[bafsu92]

Sounds like a good find. You need to post some pics of that little monster.

[mortdooley]

 I hope to include a range report one day next week!

[Hazcat]

THAT was a fun find!  Post the pics and the range report.  At 2.5 it is something like an old sheriffs model.

[Bic]

Sounds like a prime candidate to be a "Fitz Special"   - I would 


MP

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Sounds like a prime candidate to be a "Fitz Special"   - I would 


MP

Might actually be one.
Personally I think cutting the trigger guard was a bad idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FitzGerald_Special

The FitzGerald Special, "Fitz Special", or "Fitz Colt" is a snubnosed revolver modified for concealed carry. The concept was pioneered by John Henry Fitzgerald (also known as J.H. Fitzgerald, J. Henry Fitzgerald, and "Fitz") an employee of Colt Firearms from 1918 to 1944. Mr. Fitzgerald was a well known and respected competition pistol shooter of the 1920's and 30's. He was also a well known theorist and innovator of combat pistol shooting tactics. He wrote a book on the subject pistol shooting. There are "authentic" Fitz Specials modified by Fitzgerald himself, though the term can more generally refer to any revolver with similar modifications.


Concept

Fitz Special revolvers are made by bobbing the hammer spur, shortening the barrel to two inches, rounding the butt, and removing the front half of the trigger guard. Reshaping the hammer and the butt allows the gun to be drawn quickly with little risk of the weapon snagging on clothing. The halved trigger guard facilitates quick trigger acquisition, even for shooters with large fingers or gloves. [1]
[edit] History

J.H. Fitzgerald first came up with his concept sometime before 1926 when he modified a Colt Police Positive, whose shortest available barrel length was four inches. He later modified two Colt New Services in the same manner.[2]
[edit] Use in Popular Culture

The character of NYPD Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, portrayed by actor Tom Selleck, in the television series Blue Bloods, carries a Fitz Special revolver that was given to him by his father, Henry Reagan, NYPD Police Commissioner, retired, who also carried it "on the job" and had it given to him by his late father who was also a career NYPD officer.

[PegLeg45]

Sounds like a prime candidate to be a "Fitz Special"   - I would 


MP

AKA "The Foot-Killer"   

[RTFM]

[Ping]

Cool. Love pawn shops.

[justbill]

Cool. Love pawn shops.

Some of the most interesting and best buys I've ever made, not just firearms, were found in pawn shops. Back in the days of 35mm photography I was able to amass a selection of excellent lenses for a small percentage of what new would cost. All but one were purchased at pawn shops.