Peace Officer Pistols
The Driving Force In Custom Pistols Has
Traditionally Been The Men Who Use Them Most
This Colt Model of 1877 .38 Lightning has been professionally modified to make it easier to conceal and faster into action.
It is interesting how images we see, especially in our early life, can stay with us and actually affect our life in some ways. For example in the 1955 edition of Elmer Keith’s book Sixguns there is a picture of a Smith & Wesson Target Model 1926 in .44 Special along with an expanded bullet. I literally lusted over that picture for decades. It would be more than 55 years before I ever would even see one and by then the price tag was $10,000 or at least one more zero than I could afford. For more than a half-century I’ve shot about every .44 Special there is, including the Standard Model 1926, however the Target Model remains elusive.
Then in the 1962 issue of Chic Gaylord’s Handgunner’s Guide we see a highly modified revolver belonging to one Detective Ganio. It started life as a .45 ACP Model 1917 Colt, the cylinder was replaced with a .45 Colt New Service cylinder, the barrel was shortened to 2-1/2 inches, the butt was also shortened and Gaylord says: “This deadly weapon fires a hot load of 10 grains of Unique behind a 280-grain semi-wadcutter bullet.” This was a working police officer’s big-bore special and modified to suit him personally. Over the years we often find old guns similarly modified and often our first thought is, “If only it could speak.” It’s a well-worn cliché but will have to do until a better one comes along.
Today we call them law enforcement officers, however I liked it better when they were called peace officers. Taking care of the peace sounds better than enforcing the law, and actually in these days of so many radicals and so-called leaders stirring up animosity against the police, it would certainly be better if they were looked upon as peace officers. In the past year I have stumbled upon three sixguns, any one of which—actually all three—could have been used by actual peace officers. In the first two cases we will never know for sure.
Colt brought out their first double-action revolver in the Model 1877 chambered in .38 Long Colt (Lightning) and the .41 Long Colt (Thunderer). Although these sixguns, which were somewhat smaller than the Colt Single Action, had double-action trigger mechanisms they still loaded and unloaded through a loading gate. Compared to the .45 Colt these were not very powerful but could be modified for easy concealment. They could be bought into action very quickly.
This modified 1917 Smith & Wesson has had the barrel shortened, the hammer modified, a trigger shoe installed,
and the smooth wood grips replaced by a more secure staghorn. This definitely was a peace officer’s sidearm.
A friend recently gave me a very unusual .38 Model 1877. She had received it some years earlier from a friend who had had it for many years. From the looks of its finish it’s been around quite a long time, the only question being how long? What makes this sixgun so interesting is the fact it is a perfect example of a Fitz Special. J. Henry FitzGerald was basically “Mr. Colt” between the two World Wars and he was known for modifying Colt’s double-action revolvers, especially the .45 New Service, into what he called Fitz Specials. The .38 Lightning barrel was shortened to 2-1/2 inches and a half-moon front sight installed. There is no provision for the ejector rod assembly on the right side of the frame, so I assume this Lightning was originally made as an ejectorless model. The hammer was bobbed so there is no chance of the hammer spur catching on clothing, however the top of the bobbed hammer has been checkered to allow the hammer to be started back with the trigger and then cocked with the thumb for more deliberate single action shooting. Just as on the Fitz Specials, the front of the triggerguard has been cut away and then rounded and polished so it will not catch on anything.
The grip frame of the original Lightning is an excellent design, small and compact with a hump at the top to prevent the gun from twisting down into the hand when fired rapidly. Whoever designed this original double-action grip frame knew what he was about and it is still being copied today on replica single actions and has been offered as an aftermarket add-on for Ruger single actions. Everything done to this .38 Lightning has definitely been accomplished very professionally.
Several questions come to mind. Who did this gun belong to? Was it a peace officer who had it made up as a backup gun? Who did the work? Was this actually done even before Fitz started making his Specials? Was it ever used in a gunfight? Yes, if it could only speak. Since it doesn’t, I will choose to believe this gun was made up by a very savvy peace officer and so long ago it preceded any sixgun chambered in .38 Special, which is definitely a more powerful and better round.
I found the second modified sixgun sitting up on the back shelf in a gun shop. Since it wasn’t in the glass case I assumed it was one of those guns arriving in the shop, which would have very little appeal to most shooters today, however it definitely appealed to me. When we entered WWI we could not manufacture .45 ACP 1911 Government Models quick enough to arm our troops. Someone came up with the excellent idea of chambering Smith & Wesson and Colt revolvers for the .45 ACP.
This conversion not only required chambering cylinders, they also had to come up with some way of easily ejecting spent cartridges. Since the .45 ACP is rimless there is nothing for the ejector star to catch on. Cartridges could be removed one at a time using a thumbnail or pushing them out from the front with a rod of some kind. In the heat of battle this is not a good idea.
Someone at Smith & Wesson came up with the idea of the half-moon clips, which would hold three cartridges. Two of these would fully reload the cylinder, and the star on the back the ejector rod would eject the clips.
More than a few soldiers returning from WWI would become peace officers during the 1920’s and beyond and it was natural for them to select a handgun they were familiar with, which in many cases was the 1917 Model. In the 1920’s Remington also came up with the .45 Auto Rim cartridge, which was nothing more than the .45 ACP fitted with “big shoes.” This allowed the .45 ACP sixguns to be used the normal way without resorting to clips. These guns were still selling for less than $30 when I started shooting in the 1950’s, making them a real bargain.
This otherwise large, clumsy Colt 1917 New Service has been made an easier handling arm with a shortened barrel.
The sixgun I found is a standard 1917 complete with lanyard loop in the butt and two changes from the standard. The very slippery smooth wooden grips were replaced by checkered hard rubber Colt grips which gave a more secure feeling when shooting. The other change was the barrel length. Standard Model 1917’s be they Colt or Smith & Wesson, had 5-1/2-inch barrels, however this one has been cut to 2-1/2 inches making it much easier to conceal and definitely faster into operation. Just as with the aforementioned .38 Lightning, the front sight is a half-moon, which has been shaped and installed in a most professional manner. I can easily see some peace officer carrying this in a small town or, even as did New York Detective Ganio, carrying it on plainclothes duty.
Neither one of these sixguns came with any provenance or information whatsoever, however, the third one actually does speak to us after a fashion. This is another Model 1917, but in this instance it is the S&W version. Several custom touches are evident including the barrel shortened to just beyond the ejector rod catch under the barrel. The front sight is half-round as the others but has been filed to bring the point of impact and point of aim in synch. The hammer appears to be a modified Smith & Wesson target hammer, however the spur rides lower, and the trigger has been fitted with a trigger shoe.
Grips are the standard pattern small non-magna style, however, in this case as with the previous Colt 1917, the smooth wood grips have been replaced with staghorn which give a little more secure feeling when firing double action. The holster with this gun is also quite interesting. It is a Tom Threepersons-style with a safety strap but it rides lower. There is no maker’s mark so it is possible this was either made up by the person who modified the revolver, or perhaps he had it custom made by some local leather shop. Whatever the case, it is very professionally done.
What is very interesting about this .45 is the fact it was given to a friend of mine by his grandfather who had it for over 60 years, and he got it from a former peace officer. Unfortunately, that’s as far as it goes as nothing was written down, grandfather is gone, and grandmother doesn’t remember. I have no hesitation at all in letting my imagination tell me this old .45 was used very effectively by a past peace officer.
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