I believe the snub nose revolver will be one of the most popular models ever brought out for police and protective use and I feel that I have been very instrumental in bringing thhis about.
John Henry Fitz Gerald
we use guns because they provide lethal force in a very portable package
and if youre carrying it every day you want the smallest package possible
sometimes you just have to have a little gun
this is the colt detective special
from the 20s to the 90s it was one of the premier handguns for serious use
and its story is deeply entwined with a man named fitz
lets use the clam machine to go back to the late 1800s
woogawoogawooga
so fitz was playing with guns since he was like 10
stole his daddys pistol and accidentally shot his friends toe off
this kid wasted no time
he progressed to taking guns apart and building duplicate parts
invented forensic ballistic study
its pretty clear this kid has moxy
so he made friends with cops
became a state trooper
got hired by iver johnson
then hired by colt
hed done so much tinkering its unbelievable
and he was a huge proponent of armed citizenry
im reading his book and he might be my hero
so around 1925 he started making custom colts for the knowledgable dudes of the roaring 20s
like charles limbergh and clyde barrow
the guns were called fitz specials
and they were uh
unorthodox lol
he started with a regular revolver like a colt police special
cut the barrel to 2 inches
rounded the butt
chopped the hammer
dehorned everything
tuned the springs
oh and cut the friggin trigger guard off lol
but everything was specifically to make this the best gun for someone to snatch from a pocket and ventilate a crook
specific advantages of a short barrel according to fitz
-
less leverage for the wise guy to snatch your gun out
-
less chance for a squib to get stuck in the barrel
-
and obviously a faster draw
well it got so popular that by 1927 colt started selling a revolver with a shortened barrel called the detective special
detectives dont have holsters on their hips and were major fans of the design
it was so popular like a million and a half were made
and it lasted until the 90s when colt itself went bankrupt
but the concept didnt die with colt
go to your local gun store and i bet you a box of .38 youll see a half dozen different makers of snubnoses
even in a world with polymer autoloaders the snubnose is going strong
one advantage of the colt over its competitors is it holds six rounds just like its bigger brothers
by comparison a smith and wesson snubby only holds five
and they didnt even start making snubbies until the 50s lol
so what if you dont want any of the copies
what if you need a colt
well with well over a million made i bet you could find one
and i have good news too
colt recently started making revolvers again
and one even has a factory bobbed hammer
it turns out there are certain realities of self defense that transcend time
and the snubnose lives on
pew pew
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CultureOfCritique ago
Funny, I just watched a Gun Jesus (Forgotten Weapons) video on a Fitz Special revolver and he explained how it was the progenitor to all the snubnoses of today. Good writeup as always, now I want one and God knows I don't need another gun...
clamhurt_legbeard ago
haaaaaa
dude id watched that video a while back
but i highly recommend reading the book by fitz i linked to
its free and very interesting historically
CultureOfCritique ago
Thanks, I'll check it out.