Official Belly Gun Pic Thread

[Charles Graff]

There comes a time when a man needs to carry a Belly Gun. Since 1964 I have had one or more Smith and Wesson Chief's Specials. I now carry this 1954 Flat Latch in a pocket holster from time to time. My load is a full charge 38 Special wadcutter with said flat nose bullet over 3.5/Bulleye. The problem with one of these is getting ahold of it and keeping ahold of it. These stocks are quite large, but don't not interfere with a pocket carry. They kick the muzzle up a bit for dead on short range point shooting and absorb the recoil well for a quick second shot. The size held keep the handgun in my hand should a wrestling match occur for it's possession. All in all, a thoroughly worthy Belly Gun.

 

[Rick]

Charles, did you make the grips? I sure do like a nicely finished hunk of lumber on a revolver.

 

[Charles Graff]

I was told they are Herrett grips, but I am not certain. Whoever made them really put some thought into their design. They were made decades ago, when folks took revolvers seriously and not just a nostalgia item from the past.

 

[KHornet]

I bought the wife a 380 LCP Ruger. She doesn't like it, so it is my belly gun. With 90 or 102 blts, cast soft (10-11bh) it suits me fine. Only thing I don't like about it, is that it throws brass every which way but Sunday. A decent shooter out to 7 yards of so as well. Beyond that is more than the little gun is expected to do by me anyhow.

 

[RicinYakima]

I bought this Cobra when I graduated from Ohio's Peace Officer Academy in 1970. Before speed loaders, we used the New York reload, a backup gun. My family and I shot 38 target loads by the three pound coffee can, and this one had its share. Only failure was when the crystalize firing pin finally broke about 1995. Gunsmith said the firing pin was cracked when the rivet was driven into the hammer to hold it. I still carry and shot my old partner.

 

[Winelover]

S&W Model 60
I made the grips from black & yellow linen micarta.
Patterned after the Bianchi rubber shrouded hammer design.

 

[Charles Graff]

Oh my gosh! Those grips are wonderful. I like them allot!

 

[Paul105]

New member here. Before I post a couple of pictures, I just wanted to say what a great site this is. I'm not an active caster (have all the equipment and supplies, just no space at the moment), but I've already ordered some Johnson's liquid floor wax to treat some problem commercial bullets.

S&W M340
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Freedom Arms M97 .45 Colt/ACP -- 3 1/2" Round Butt
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Probably outside the intent of this thread, but what the heck -- Ruger Alaskan .480.
.

Paul

 

[358156hp]

Nah, we love snubbys!

 

[Ben]

As a general rule, I'm not a big fan of Taurus Revolvers. However recently, I stopped in my favorite gun shop in Birmingham and spotted this revolver in the display case.

It indexed perfectly, locked up tightly, was VERY smooth in double action and had a super nice single action trigger pull.

My thoughts were if I shot mild loads ( and most likely very few would ever be shot in a " belly gun " like this one ) that the revolver might work out well for a short range self defense piece.

Well......it followed me home.

I'm thinking that out on a lonely road at night that it might be a good friend to help get me home safely.

Ben

My IDEAL 431215 HP's. Should be just the ticket in this revolver.

 

[Outpost75]

Frank Marshall approved pocket pistol, if ya got a BIG pocket !

 

[358156hp]

My British is a bit fuzzy at times... Is that a MKIV RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) model? If so, it's the first one I've seen outside of file pictures.

 

[Outpost75]

It started life as a .455 MkIV, from the Boer War era, and somewhere along the line went to Australia, being surplussed to the Queensland Police, and finally imported into the US in the 1950s, during which time it was "shaved" to use .45 ACP with moon clips. I would have preferred it had been in the original .455 caliber, but if it hadn't been butchered, I would not have gotten it so cheap!

 

[Mikey]

You can't get up on the wrong side of the bed in my house...



The Lady Smith was a present to my wife one Christmas. We were apparently both thinking protection; I gave her the Smith, she gave me a sterling silver St. Christopher. She gets tired of me "borrowing" it, so...

... I bought the Dick Special from Onceabull last year. There are some lovely, pristine pieces out there commanding steep prices. This is not one of them; it's purely a shooter. It has a lot of honest wear on both sides from being carried. A lot. It had awful homemade laminated grips on it when I bought it, but I eventually found a set of honestly worn, but not worn out, period correct originals for it. It's tight, shoots great, and I leave it stoked with cup-forward HBWCs, just the way Dean Grennell intended it.

mike

 

[smokeywolf]

Have always liked the little Detective Special. Carried one identical to that as a backup when I worked in uniform back in the mid to late '70s. With light to moderate loads they're nothing but fun to shoot and accurate out to distances that would truly surprise most.

 

[Charles Graff]

My first experience with the Colt D frame sixguns came in the mid-60s while a law school student. A shooting buddy had a Cobra and I found it to be avery good shooting pistol. The next time the Houston Gun Show came around I bought a 2" Cobra. Over the years I have owned a 4" Cobra and an Agent. About 7 years ago I found this 3" Detective Special at a gun show in Corpus Christi and it came home with it. It is here to stay!

 

[Charles Graff]

I would be hard pressed to choose between the Colt D frame and S &W J frame revolvers. The J frame is a smidge smaller, but it gives up one round in the cylinder as a price for the slim down. One thing is for certain and that is I prefer the 3 inch version of each unless it is going in the pants pocket where the 2 inch wins the prize. The 3 inch versions give velocities closer to a 4 inch service revolver than a 2 inch snub. The extra barrel length allows a longer ejector rod throw which enables the fired cases to come out without pointing the muzzle toward the heavens. Here is a 1957 S &W Chief's Special that is a very fine little pistol.

 

[Charles Graff]

A Belly Gun from another time is the Smith & Wesson 32 Hand Ejector. This little popper in 32 S &W Long is before WWII. I have never handloaded for the 32, but now have dies and cases and will get with the program shortly.

 

[JohnK454]

 

[David Johnson]

Not sure if there is a hard and fast definition on what a belly gun is but here's mine:
I carry this Rossi .357 in a concealed holster:


And I just got this one for my birthday last January. It's Bond Arms' .45Colt: