Colt New Service Fitz Special

[Spots]

So this gun has some unknown history, I bought it off Armslist a couple years ago, having an interest in all things Colt and old fashioned. Its not an orginal fitz as far as I know, but it does seem to be a very well built period copy of one. Pretty neat piece of history that i wanted to share here. A

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Spots

[Spots]

[Ronald_55]

Nice gun! Personally the Fitz cut guns just make me sad. They feel Bubba'd to me. Lots of people like them though. 

[Spots]

Its not something Id pay a gunsmith to do to one of mine, but it is a part of history and lead to the first factory snubs. This one being a big bore in .45 acp makes it an extremely fun shooter and conversation piece as well. 

 

 

 

[KahrMan]

That’s pretty cool. If you are in any Colt Facebook groups look up a guy named Winston Wolfe. He has several originals Fritz’s and know a lot about their history. He usually know a lot about the copies of Fitz’s. He may be able to give you more info about yours. 

[Grayfox54]

This was the "tacti-cool" of the 1930s.  The Colt New Service is a big gun to start with. Chopping it down made this big bore blaster a bit more concealable and user friendly.  However, it never became more than a specialized niche gun with a limited following. 

I noticed that rather unusual cut to the bottom of the frame just ahead of the trigger.  Most copy cats didn't do that.  This just may indicate that this is in fact an original Colt Fitz Special. Its certainly worth contacting Colt and asking. 

[gregintenn]

Looks to be in pretty good condition for what it is and what they were used for. That’s some serious old school conceal carry gear.

[Jamie Jackson]

That's an awesome revolver @Spots. Congrats!

I've been a reader of Col.Rex Applegate since 1967-68. iirc he knew Fitz and had a Special made.

There's a lot of thought and reasoning put into these and they were truly remarkable for their time. A lot of revolver knowledge is sliding into history, sadly.

When I lived outside Kansas City back in the 1980's I used to shoot bowling pin matches and befriended a local PD Detective. Great guy and even better shooter. He carried a similar cut down 45 acp revolver in a shoulder rig. Man he was fast on his reloads using full moon clips. Impressed the heck out of this newbie shooter back then. Still does thinking back on it.

 

Thanks for posting the pics!

Jamie

[Enzo Rules]

Nice looking revolver. If you find any history on it please share the information 

[Choatecav]

I did a google search on these revolvers and found it quite fascinating.  A piece of firearm history that I had not known about before.