In one of the sequels, I forget which, Indy’s military service during WW1 is mentioned.
I’ve got to wonder if that’s where his penchant for the 1917 S&W came from, or if a war surplus revolver was simply a more affordable purchase on a professor’s salary?
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I don’t think Dr. Jones was hurting for cash. He seemed to travel in style and his field wear was tops notch for the time (and now). Alden handmade boots and a handmade fedora did not come cheap back then and definitely not today.
I think it was more of a personal like for the 1917 platform probably because it was his service weapon. But his, like mine, was not a straight surplus gun, which back then could be had for a peanuts.
This gun was modified and the barrel was cut down to 4” and a way more usable front sight was installed. It was also converted to shoot .45 ACP since his and mine were basically British models originally chambered in .455 Wesley with identical marks on the barrel.
But Indy was not married to the one platform. I believe the iconic 1917 was “lost” in the original film and in later films he use other British handguns, 1911 and and even a Broomhandle.
32 ACP FMJ is under 50 cents a round online. I only use European loaded FMJ in my P32. It is hotter than American and has a beveled rim which reduces the possibility of rim lock.
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UP date on the Charter Arms ‘‘Boxer’’
got it back today [finally] the repair list was long
they replaced the guts’ and a new hammer
they sent a bag of 12 spent cases from the test fire at the repair shop
so we will see how it holds up.
the sad thing is comparing to the S&W Mod. 19 I purchased back in 1983
used from the Flint Mi. Police Dept.
still going strong and a tack driver
never seen a gunsmith sense I bought it.
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There’s a good reason the old Smith & Wessons are so collectable. Theyre built to a standard that is hard to find today. Hang on to that M19. It’ll out last you and you can pass it on to your kids.
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Before my dad first met my mom, she was a young teen age farm girl working a 20 acre vineyard with her widowed , blind mother and older brother.
Her brother got sick and tired of farming, and left the vineyard to become a stunt man in silent films, but sent his sister (my mom) a 1920 commercial Luger to keep under her pillow for protection and to dispatch the occasional dried up milk cow for meat or lame draft horse (they didn’t have a tractor.) The closest police were over ten miles away on dirt roads and there were no radios.
At night if the police were called, the switchboard operator would switch on a red lightbulb on the town’s water tower, and any citizen who saw it was responsible for alerting any officer out patrolling the streets to return to the station and answer the telephone.
Thats how things worked back then.
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I have a .38 sp. S&W that I bought in 1963. It is a tack driver. I don’t know if you consider that old but this year I have owned it 50 years. It is not the first handgun I would choose if I knew I were going into a firefight but I would never consider myself unarmed with it and would use it in an instant if it were closest to hand. I can still put 47 out of 50 shots in the black at 25 yards slow fire. And do respectably well with rapid fire at the same distance. As long as I do my part it is consistently outstandingly accurate. I also have my father’s H&R in .32 S&W long. It is better than a sharp stick, but I would pick one of my ten shot .22 autos before I would take that as my choice for a self-defense weapon. As a matter of choice, I would rather pick a machete over the .32 S&W long cartridge.
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