Spitfire Pistol #0001 on Gunbroker

S

Skans

New member
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/622649357

All you collectors out there should be drooling over this one. It's the rarest CZ copy out there and Serial #1, a Spitfire made in England. Reasonable starting price too, and not a terrible Buy-it-now price. Condition??? I'll let y'all determine.

This is NOT my gun and I don't know the seller. Just saw this today. I decided to pass on it; will probably kick myself later for this, but wanted to let collectors here know about it.
 
Beautiful gun. I knew that at least one firm in Great Britain made "legal" copies of the CZ, and this seems to be a lot more than a "copy." Impressive kit!!
 
I have one of those:

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That one on GB is the third total I've seen for sale in the US. Extremely rare guns, and pretty cool because, I mean, how many modern British-made semi-auto pistols are even out there? Pretty sweet that it's the whole kit with the Holland & Holland packaging treatment but it's a bummer about that chicken scratch import mark all over the right side of the frame.

Whether it's worth that price, I'd say that while the Spitfire is certainly nicely made and shoots well, I wouldn't put it above a Sphinx AT2000 or some of the nicer CZ variants for range use. The trigger is decidedly "eh."
 
As a friend would say, how neat is THAT!

I subscribed to 'The Handgunner, Ltd.' back when a free Englishman might own a pistol, and read about the development of the Spitfire. Might have amounted to something if the Hungerford murders had not been used as a pretext to ban pistols and so many other guns in England.
 
I think $3500+ for Spitfire No 1 and all that stuff makes more sense than $3500 for an army surplus 1911 just like a million others except for a Way Kewl inspector's stamp.
 
The import mark and drilled holes for the aimpoint absolutely kills the gun for me.
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Both bothered me too - and that's the only reason its still for sale!:D Actually, the holes drilled in the frame bug me a tad more than the import mark. Still, #0001 and with all the goodies still has me thinking.
 
Import mark looks like someone's 8 year old kid got a hold of an engraver!!!!

I wonder who thought drilling the frame was a good idea?

Very cool gun, but man oh man do those 2 things hurt!!!
 
redlightrich said:
Import mark looks like someone's 8 year old kid got a hold of an engraver!!!!

I wonder who thought drilling the frame was a good idea?
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Especially on something as rare as a Spitfire, and especially serial number 1. :eek: It's clearly a pretty special thing. Only small consolation would be if John Slough did it himself since it was his personal gun and he wanted to.

(The importer engraving reminds me of a kindergartner's first lemonade stand.)
 
(The importer engraving reminds me of a kindergartner's first lemonade stand.)
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This actually intrigues me a little and, interestingly, doesn't pose that much of a detraction as far as my interest goes. I wish I had the back-story on the import mark.
 
Skans said:
I wish I had the back-story on the import mark.
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OK, I'll play. ;)

Rich playboy fond of the quote "fortune favors the bold" tries to bring it back from London, in his suitcase on Concorde, but Customs at JFK impounds it because he has no ATF paperwork nor an NYC pistol permit. He manages to pull a few strings with his legal connections to avoid getting arrested or charged, but the pistol languishes in Customs for months while his lawyers work things out. They arrange for an FFL importer to do his thing, but Customs won't release the pistol until the importer applies an appropriate import stamp—in a small and stuffy back room at the airport.

Customs first won't let him bring in a proper tool set, only a Dremel. Finally, things are apparently all worked out, but Customs discovers that they can't find the pistol because it got buried under an unusually large haul of contraband Canadian cigarettes in the storage room. They tell the importer that he has to wait for several hours while they dig it out.

To pass the time, the importer decides to relax in a nearby airport lounge and sip refreshing cocktails, of which he has several. When the pistol is finally ready, his hands are a little shaky. ;):D
 
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