S&W Hand Ejector Indy's True Sidearm

micsteam

New member
I just read in theraider.net articles " The Webley Revolver " by Michael French. I agree with Mr. French that the Webley in all its MKs makes sense as an adveturer's sidearm/revolver due to its history and availability and rugedness, the MK VI is a beast I love it though !! However lets not forget Indy's first piece the Smith and Wesson Hand Ejector from Raiders of The Lost Ark. This revolver debuted originally just before the turn of the century, I believe around 1899 if I am not mistaken. The Hand Ejector came in caliburs .32, .38, .44 S&W, and .45 LC (possibly more but I am going just from memory here). These typically came in 3", 5", 6" and sometimes 8" barrel lengths. The guns Harrison Ford uses in ROTLA are both cut down 4" barrel WWI era S&W Hand Ejector 2nd models one in .455 Ely (early war British/Canadian service issue they would later receive their HEs in .45 ACP(Automatic Colt Pistol) with use of half moon clips and earlier models would be converted/machined to accept the .45 ACP w/clips as well) and the other in .45 LC (may have been converted to the .45ACP although production, handlers, techno junkies make no mention of this detail). I have a passion/interest for 1850's to 1920 large calibur revolvers and pistols and I'm a bit of a history nut so I went the extra length and purchased (after considerable searching) a real WWI British service issue .45 cal S&W HE 2nd model w/6" barrel, most British/Canadian service issue HEs came in 6" barrel lengths as U.S. issue pieces were issued in 5", it is inexcellent condition and worth every penny. To me, in my opinion, I like the S&W best for Indy, it's the first gun he had in the movie series ( it was used in TOD in the car chase sequence leaving Lao Che's, so possibly two movies) but the Webley is an extremely nice piece as well. There are also many other hand guns available at the time and Indy is an adventurer possibly losing hand guns on any adventure so I think it is a loseable item that is replaced with the best of what's available. Also, for those of you who are thinking about this, the Colt .45 automatic was cutting edge at the time and probably was considerably more than an old service issue revolver. Here's one for you, how about Blanca's Remington 1875 Army at the begining of ROTLA in Peru, there's a neat piece !! or Mauser C96 Broomhandle from Last Crusade in the Library in Venice !!:gun:
 

p10anniv

New member
The gun he used leaving Lao Che's was an Official Police 38 Special revolver. I have a real 1930 model in excellent condition that I just picked up a couple of weeks ago at a local gun shop that specializes in antique guns. I went to the firing range this past Saturday and had a lot of fun. It looks very much like the S&W.
 
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p10anniv

New member
Forgot to mention that the make of the revolver is a COLT. I think the Colt or the S&W could be considered Indy's true side arm.
 
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Montana Smith

Active member
p10anniv said:
Forgot to mention that the make of the revolver is a COLT. I think the Colt or the S&W could be considered Indy's true side arm.

Envious of your 1930 Colt!

This thread needs pictures. ;)

So in the meantime, here's the rubber Colt dropped by Willie in Temple of Doom

ToD-rubber2.jpg


IndyGear.com writes:

The Colt New Service M1917

Indiana Jones loses his pistol early on in his second screen adventure, thanks to Willie dropping it out of the window of the getaway car in the opening chase. Most people would think the same gun was used for all the scenes filmed when there are actually two guns on screen, and one of them is the second “dummy” in the scene, Willie being the first.

When Indiana Jones opens up on the pursuit car leaving Club Obi Wan, the pistol he fires is none other than one of the .455 Eley Hand Ejector 2's from Raiders of the Lost Ark. However, the gun Willie drops, which smacks into the running board of the vehicle is not a Smith & Wesson, but is said to have been a rubber stunt dummy of a Colt New Service Revolver! In order to not damage the hero revolver, the prop department is given the task of creating a rubber stunt version for hard use. This is very common in the film industry, one of which the average moviegoer is most likely not aware. As the story goes, the prop department did not have a rubber Smith & Wesson but did have a rubber Colt, which could easily double for the Smith & Wesson for the two seconds of screen time it would have.

In the film industry scenes are sometimes filmed out of sequence and for various reasons different props may be used for filming different takes. What may only be seconds apart on screen may have actually been filmed days or even weeks apart by a different crew and perhaps in different locations. In the case of the Indiana Jones films, most of the shots where the principle actors were not on screen were filmed by a second or third unit crew. It was this crew that most likely shot the Colt revolver falling from the car.

IMFDB writes:

It had been thought that the Temple of Doom gun was the Colt New Service M1917 Revolver or possibly one of the cut down S&W's from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but new information and research has led to the discovery that it is a 4 inch Colt Official Police .38.
 

p10anniv

New member
Yes, my pistol looks just like the one in Temple. The Official Colt Police 38 , was made from 1927 to 1977 and looked the same from year to year. I love the fact that although brief, my pistol is one of the revolvers used in the series. I will try to post some pics soon.
 
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p10anniv

New member
Photo of my Colt 38 Special Im trying to post a photo but unable to do so. What is the procedure ?
 
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Montana Smith

Active member
p10anniv said:
Photo of my Colt 38 Special Im trying to post a photo but unable to do so. What is the procedure ?

You need to host the photo on a third party site - such as Photobucket etc.

Then copy the address and paste it here, making sure that it has the code
at the end.
 
Loved the S&W and the 1911, remember picking up cap gun replicas as a child from the be all end all company Edison Giocattoli.

The "jaguarmatic" had a clip which held to interlocking lengths of supermatic caps. Twenty four shots.

The coolest feature was how the gun would actually EJECT the spent cap! SO COOL!

If you drilled out the red plug in the front of the barrel you would even get flame bursts!

Still have a couple including a luger.(y)

Montana Smith said:
You need to host the photo on a third party site - such as Photobucket etc.
You could even upload it to Facebook and copy the code over...
 

WillKill4Food

New member
Montana Smith said:
You need to host the photo on a third party site - such as Photobucket etc.

Then copy the address and paste it here, making sure that it has the code
at the end.
For convenience sake, imgur lets you do it with no signup.
 
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