As you know, I am a big fan of the Colt and Smith and Wesson 1917 .45 ACP revolvers and all their modern derivations. You’ve read my scribblings (or tappings?) here on the ExNotes blog about the virtually new 1917 Colt I scored a couple of years ago, and you know I’m not above bragging about a group or two I’ve shot with my Model 625 Smith. You can read all about that sort of thing on our Tales of the Gun page.
Anyway, to get back to the main attraction (which is the beautiful nickel-plated and engraved 1917 you see here), a few years ago I bought a very cool Marlin from Collectors Firearms in Houston, Texas. They are good people and as luck would have it, I had a secret mission in Houston a week ago. Hmmm, I thought. As long as I was headed to the Lone Star state it might be a good idea to stop in at Collectors, and before we left the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia I went online to see what Collectors had in stock. That’s when the revolver in these photos appeared.
Wow! My life suddenly somehow felt incomplete. I needed that revolver. Nickel plating. Engraving. Ivory grips. .45 ACP. An Army 1917. Want. Need. Gotta have. I was a dog in heat.
I studied the photos, of which there were many, and I noticed the following on the revolver’s frame:
General Rodolfo Fierro. Who the hell was he? So I Googled the name, and wow, what a mean bastard he was. Turns out old Rodolfo was Pancho Villa’s darker side, and he was the one who handled the dirty work for Villa. I won’t belabor all his dastardly deeds (you can Google the name yourself), but as dastardly bastards go, this guy was as bad as it gets.
But wow, the gun was a 1917 Colt (a favorite), it was highly engraved, it was advertised as being in good shape, and I wanted it. At $4950, the price was way out of my range. But the provenance…the provenance of this Colt was incredible. …
By any reasonable measure, Rodolfo Fierro was a world class SOB. I know it’s not nice to speak ill of the dead, but old Rodolfo shucked this mortal coil more than a hundred years ago and I’m going to take a chance. Bear with me.
As you know, I am a big fan of the Colt and Smith and Wesson 1917 .45 ACP revolvers and all their modern derivations. You’ve read my scribblings (or tappings?) here on the ExNotes blog about the virtually new 1917 Colt I scored a couple of years ago, and you know I’m not above bragging about a group or two I’ve shot with my Model 625 Smith. You can read all about that sort of thing on our Tales of the Gun page.
Anyway, to get back to the main attraction (which is the beautiful nickel-plated and engraved 1917 you see here), a few years ago I bought a very cool Marlin from Collectors Firearms in Houston, Texas. They are good people and as luck would have it, I had a secret mission in Houston a week ago. Hmmm, I thought. As long as I was headed to the Lone Star state it might be a good idea to stop in at Collectors, and before we left the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia I went online to see what Collectors had in stock. That’s when the revolver in these photos appeared.
Wow! My life suddenly somehow felt incomplete. I needed that revolver. Nickel plating. Engraving. Ivory grips. .45 ACP. An Army 1917. Want. Need. Gotta have. I was a dog in heat.
I studied the photos, of which there were many, and I noticed the following on the revolver’s frame:
General Rodolfo Fierro. Who the hell was he? So I Googled the name, and wow, what a mean bastard he was. Turns out old Rodolfo was Pancho Villa’s darker side, and he was the one who handled the dirty work for Villa. I won’t belabor all his dastardly deeds (you can Google the name yourself), but as dastardly bastards go, this guy was as bad as it gets.
But wow, the gun was a 1917 Colt (a favorite), it was highly engraved, it was advertised as being in good shape, and I wanted it. At $4950, the price was way out of my range. But the provenance…the provenance of this Colt was incredible.
Colt 1917 .45 ACP caliber revolver. Beautifully engraved and chiseled Colt .45 ACP revolver. This revolver is extensively engraved with traditional Colt style scroll work. The right-side of the frame has a relief chiseled figure of the Mexican Seal of an eagle and snake with cactus in the foreground. The left-side of frame is a relief chiseled figure of a puma braced on a rock. Bore is excellent. Action works perfectly. Barrel length is 5½”. The grips are of old mellow ivory. The backstrap is engraved “Gral Rodolfo Fierro” AKA “The Butcher.” Fierro was a known associate of Pancho Villa. Revolver has 100% of its nickel finish. Barrel has a relief chiseled figure of a longhorn steer. Very handsome and striking revolver!
Paul Glasco explains that they have really piled on the paperwork and special requirements to get one of the 100,000 1911s being released by the Army to the Civilian Marksmanship Program. All this foofaraw will add to your costs and artificially inflate the price of these pistols.
In my parents’ generations’ day, you could simply mail order surplus firearms from the CMP if you were an NRA member. My uncle had a stockpile of Springfield and 1917 Enfield actions he had purchased for peanuts stored in the floor joists of his basement ceiling to be made into sporters, one rifle at a time, by the gunsmith Al Compton of Ringtown when each of the boys in the family made it to hunting age.
WWII JAPANESE TYPE 99 ARISAKA RIFLE W/ MUM-MATCHING DUSTCOVER-MONOPOD-AA-CLEANING ROD
38 bids — Sold for $1,985.00
Described:
Good condition WWII Japanese Type 99 Arisaka rifle in 7.7mm caliber that has a full untouched mum on the receiver and was manufactured as part of the 31st Series by Toyo Kogyo. Rifle is NOT import marked and has all matching serial numbers including receiver, bolt body, extractor, safety, and firing pin. Gun is complete with original cleaning rod, anti-aircraft rear sight wings, monopod, and matching numbered dustcover. Metal finish is original blue showing some normal wear. Bore is bright and excellent with strong rifling. Stock has been sanded and refinished and has nice mellow finish. A classic T-99, hard to find with all matching numbers including dustcover.
Did some identify the ownership marks of Musashi Miyamoto on this thing somewhere? There used to be barrel-fulls of these for sale in Antique Stores for $15 a piece. Why would anybody pay that price for an Arisaka (especially one with a sanded stock?)
This very sad beater of a Mosin Nagant sold recently on Gun Broker for, count it, $1085.00 + $31.00 shipping.
The rifle was rusty, dusty, and thoroughly corroded, with a chipped and banged-up stock and a very worn bore. Why did a gun in such a miserable condition fetch such a fancy price? Historical association.
Its markings revealed that it was Izhvesk Arsenal-made Model 1907 Mosin Nagant carbine cut down from a former Cossack unit Ka3-marked rifle, and it could also be identified as a Model 1916 St. Petersburg Cavalry School carbine on the basis of the metal side-attached bayonet scabbard.
Not really a true Model 1907 carbine, the Model 1916 St. Petersburg Cavalry School carbine was converted from Model 1891 rifles. These have a unique design and only the rear sight is from the 1907 model. All the parts are from Model 91 rifles, except the bayonet scabbard and the barrel bands
Mosin collectors go mad for these rarities, even in vile condition.
Note the side-mounted bayonet scabbard. It is intended to keep the point of the bayonet from stabbing the horse or the rider. One would fit the bayonet backwards onto the muzzle and then slide the tip into the metal side piece.
S.P. Fjestad, the author and publisher of the Blue Book Of Gun Values, now in its 36th edition, in this month’s American Rifleman, discusses the current frenzy on the part of dealers and collectors to snap up out-of-print, post-WWII Colt Double-Action revolvers which is driving prices higher and higher to out-of-sight levels.
If they get any hotter, they’ll be on fire!†is the way one Colt collector put it after being asked what he thought about the current Colt “snake-gun†marketplace. Colt’s family of seven deadly serpents include the Python, Diamondback, Cobra, Anaconda, King Cobra, Boa and Viper. There haven’t been too many “lottery winners†during the last several years regarding major trademark collectible firearms, but Colt’s snake guns continue to pack potent venom for anyone who ventures too close to their poisonous attraction. …
Mint, original, 1950s standard-production Pythons with 6″ barrels, high polish, Royal bluing and matching-number boxes and paperwork that had an original $125 manufacturer’s suggested retail price are now selling in excess of $18,000.
Fjestad fears that the party is going to come to an ugly end before very long, when the current tulip-craze for post-WWII Colt Double Action Revolvers exhausts itself as supplies emerge to satisfy all real existing demand. I think he’s right, and I even have personal difficulty in identifying with the enthusiasm of this group of collectors.
I once handled a Python, admired its rich blue finish, and its smooth Swiss-watch action. The price was reasonable back then, but I already owned a .357. My preference had always been for Smith & Wessons rather than Colts, and I thought it was kind of Mickey Mouse that Colt had a special production line to produce pistols that operated as nicely as the typical S&W.
What killed the deal for me was that vent rib. I knew perfectly well that a ventilated rib on a 6″ revolver served no practical purpose whatsoever, and I decided that I’d be embarrassed to appear in public carrying a revolver with a useless vent barrel. People would think I was the kind of dumbass who didn’t know any better and thought a vent barrel was cool. I just couldn’t bring myself to own one. I guess all that proves that theories can cost a fellow a whole lot of money.
