If you are unable to own an original Model 1917 revolver due to financial or legal reasons, yet you REALLY need an Indy-style revolver, the following may be an option for you. Remember, Indy had a S&W 1917 revolver with a 4-inch barrel, so if you get a real S&W 1917 you have to either get a new barrel right away and swap it with the original 5.5-inch barrel or cut down the original to get Indy's style of wheel gun. Another option is to get something close in looks to the 1917 with a stock 4-inch barrel. That's where this thread comes in.
In February/March 2008 I purchased an Airsoft FBI Issue .38 Special Gas Revolver in black finish from Shorty USA. (http://www.shortyusa.com/airsoft.html?h ... 7&CA=&RID=) As of this writing, Shorty is sold out, but another vendor does have the same revolver in stock and ready to ship. According to what I found, Kapowee can supply you the same revolver. (http://www.kapowwe.com/Merchant2/mercha ... ore_Code=R)
I'm going to say it up front, these airsoft revolvers are based on a K-frame revolver, not the N-frame that comprised the 1917s (so its dimensions are slightly smaller), and their barrel and grips are wrong, but if you can swallow those bitter pills, you can have a pretty-dang good Indy-looking pistol right from the box. But if the grips and barrel on the airsoft revolvers are too inaccurate for you, then there is an option: Cut. If you possess some simple modeling skills, and the intestinal fortitude to try them out, with an afternoon's worth of work you can have an even closer Indy-looking pistol.
Here's what a little work with a saw and file, some filler material and some modeling paint can achieve:
However, once you get a revolver, and it's to your liking, you're going to need something to carry it in. The waistband of one's trousers is an option, but not one I'd advocate. In this case I'd recommend a Raider's holster from Todd's Costumes. That's what I use to carry my airsoft revolver. You may say, "Well, Todd's holster might be fine for a K-frame-based airsoft revolver, how would it work with my 4-inch barreled N-frame revolver?" I think I've got your answer there too. Included in the flickr set I've linked below I show my original Brazilian-contract 1917 in a side-by-side comparison with one of these airsoft revolvers. I also show how each works with a 2008-purchased Raider's holster from Todd's Costumes. The N-frame is dimensionally slightly larger, but not so much larger that it wouldn't work if it had a shorter barrel.
Will a Todd's Raider's holster work with a stock S&W 1917 with its 5.5-inch barrel? No.
Will a Todd's Raider's holster work with an original S&W 1917 fitted with a 4-inch barrel? I think I make the case that yes it would.
Link to my flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28642132@N ... 050267415/
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the set and the results. Hopefully this information will be useful to someone.
