The Roaring 20's

Dump1567 · #1 01-18-2018, 06:46 PM

I keep ending-up with guns from the 20's. Here's what I got so far.

1926 New Service .38 WCF
1926 New Serivce .45 acp
1926 Colt 1908 Hammerless
1924? Ortgies 6.35mm
Bottle of Templeton Rye Whiskey signed by Deirdre Marie Capone, grandniece of Al Capone (a buddy gave this to me a few years ago).

Let's see yours.

Walter Rego · #2 01-18-2018, 09:38 PM

Here are some choices for pocket carry that were available in the early 1920's and would likely have been available at any well stocked hardware or sporting goods store.

billwill · #3 01-18-2018, 09:42 PM

Colt 1908 Hammerless...............best gun ever made....IMHO

Valmet · #4 01-18-2018, 09:43 PM

Awesome group of guns there! Thanks for sharing

DWalt · #5 01-18-2018, 11:12 PM

What was the best US pocket pistol of that era is a matter of opinion. Mine is that the Remington Model 51 is the clear leader of the pack. I once had a .32 Ortgies, a very neat gun. Like the Model 51, it has no screws.

Some years ago I had a fairly complete collection of early US .32 and .380 pocket pistols, missing just a few rare ones. I sold most of them off but kept a few - Two Model 51s (both .380), a 1907 Savage (a .32, also an excellent gun), a Davis-Warner .32 (which most have never heard of) and a FN-Browning M1900 (which is Belgian, not American, just because I like it). All do duty as house guns, except for the Davis-Warner.

Wyatt Burp · #6 01-18-2018, 11:38 PM

Great layout of fine classic guns. Three Colts and an illegal alien. In the 1970s Guns & Ammo book “Guns And The Gunfighters” it has a section about 1920s guns and features an Ortgies. The first time I ever heard of them. Those guns are in excellent condition.

shouldazagged · #7 01-19-2018, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walter Rego

Here are some choices for pocket carry that were available in the early 1920's and would likely have been available at any well stocked hardware or sporting goods store.

I would love to have any of those, but especially the little Colt.

Absalom · #8 01-19-2018, 01:17 AM

Here are two of my guns that definitely experienced the interesting side of the “Roaring 20s”:

1. Colt Police Positive, shipped 1915, carried by NYPD officer William Kavanagh. He was still with the department as a detective in 1937, so this gun must have patrolled some part of New York City all through the 20s. Exciting times: Prohibition, speakeasies, the early Mafia wars.

2. Smith & Wesson M&P, shipped 1923, carried by WW I Navy veteran and Minneapolis police officer Paul B. Green. The upper Midwest was a hotbed of illicit distilling, but MPD apparently wasn’t very effective and had issues with corruption and professionalism; not until 1929 was training required for officers! Mr. Green’s military background likely came in handy. Later, during the “public enemy” era, some famous gangsters liked to hang out in the area; Dillinger associate Homer Van Meter was killed in neighboring St. Paul in 1934.

chief38 · #9 01-19-2018, 03:10 AM

I've got examples of the Colt Pocket Pistols in all 3 calibers and I absolutely think they are the cat's meow! I would not carry one for SD as they make me nervous carrying one with a round in the Chamber with its easily inadvertently moved safety switch. I'm also not confident in the small calibers, but for sheer "cool" and nostalgia I love those old Colts!

Absalom · #10 01-19-2018, 03:27 AM

And speaking of the pocket pistols, I don't know whether any of you watched the HBO show "Boardwalk Empire" a few years back, but it was actually what got me into the early pocket autos. Set in Atlantic City, plus Chicago and New York, it basically tells the story of the 1920s.

The character Jimmy in the first two seasons carries a Colt 1903, so I found me one. Then, in preparation for the big shootout at the end of season 3, the character Richard Harrow gets out a box with one of each, Remington, Savage, and Colt, so I got those, too.

jeeps · #11 01-19-2018, 08:11 AM

1910 Browning to another classic pocket auto. It started WW1.

03hemi · #12 01-19-2018, 09:29 AM

WARNING: Beat to death photo being posted, but I thought it would be fun here.

jmace57 · #13 01-19-2018, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shouldazagged

I would love to have any of those, but especially the little Colt.

The 1903/1098 Colt Model M's are really affordable (comparatively). You can still get a really nice .32 for probably $5-600 and a .380 for maybe $800.

Kurusu · #14 01-19-2018, 11:27 AM

Want to play too.

Pockets and vest pockets.
FN 1900
FN 1906
FN 1910
Savage 1907

It's hard to get a good condition 1903 Colt around here.

I Have a larger Husqvarna made from the same patent.

Kurusu · #15 01-19-2018, 11:28 AM

If pockets are not a problem.

Absalom · #16 01-19-2018, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurusu

It's hard to get a good condition 1903 Colt around here.

I Have a larger Husqvarna made from the same patent.

What’s REALLY hard to find these days is the original FN 1903 in 9mm Browning. The Husqvarna 1907, a licensed copy, and usually converted to .380 after import here, is the only form in which that one can be found, it seems.

The differently dimensioned Colt version is much more plentiful, although getting pricey in good condition. After I bought the one pictured above for $249 at Cabela’s, the folks on the Colt forum told me just the original two-tone magazine was worth half that price.

Dump1567 · #17 01-19-2018, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wyatt Burp

Great layout of fine classic guns. Three Colts and an illegal alien. In the 1970s Guns & Ammo book “Guns And The Gunfighters” it has a section about 1920s guns and features an Ortgies. The first time I ever heard of them. Those guns are in excellent condition.

Thanks. I'm going to pick-up a copy.

I didn't even know what an Ortgies was (although I'd seen them in the past). A local Pawn shop had it. After some research, I decided to make it mine. Plus I already had some .25 acp ammo, so why not buy a gun to shoot it through.

Kurusu · #18 01-19-2018, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Absalom

What’s REALLY hard to find these days is the original FN 1903 in 9mm Browning. The Husqvarna 1907, a licensed copy, and usually converted to .380 after import here, is the only form in which that one can be found, it seems.

The differently dimensioned Colt version is much more plentiful, although getting pricey in good condition. After I bought the one pictured above for $249 at Cabela’s, the folks on the Colt forum told me just the original two-tone magazine was worth half that price.

I settled with a first year production Husqvarna, it's from 1917.

SA1911 · #19 01-19-2018, 12:07 PM

I didn't see a flapper girl in that pic. You need one to balance out the other cool stuff you have. Check Criag's List. Someone's gotta have a flapper girl for sale.

billwill · #20 01-19-2018, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chief38

I've got examples of the Colt Pocket Pistols in all 3 calibers and I absolutely think they are the cat's meow! I would not carry one for SD as they make me nervous carrying one with a round in the Chamber with its easily inadvertently moved safety switch. I'm also not confident in the small calibers, but for sheer "cool" and nostalgia I love those old Colts!

Chief38
Thought it was just two .32, .380, what is the 3rd??

Dump1567 · #21 01-19-2018, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billwill

Chief38
Thought it was just two .32, .380, what is the 3rd??

I think the Model 1908 Vest Pocket .25 acp qualifies.

Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket - Wikipedia

Absalom · #22 01-19-2018, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurusu

I settled with a first year production Husqvarna, it's from 1917.

The story is interesting, there are apparently Swedish M1907s that were actually made at FN prior to 1914, although I've never seen one. Then after the war cut off imports Husqvarna set up production, and ended up continuing making the same pistol until WW II, decades after FN had moved on to other models.

Kurusu · #23 01-19-2018, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Absalom

The story is interesting, there are apparently Swedish M1907s that were actually made at FN prior to 1914, although I've never seen one. Then after the war cut off imports Husqvarna set up production, and ended up continuing making the same pistol until WW II, decades after FN had moved on to other models.

The Swedish M/1907 is the FN 1903. 1907 is only the adoption year in Sweeden. The contract went to FN. During WWI when Belgian was occupied by Germany the Sweedes wanted a new contract. That being impossible, they decided to produce them themselves. The FN "license" was a bit shady. first Husqvarna production started only in 1917. Curiously when a South American Country (I forget wich one right now) contacted FN for a contract of 1903 type pistols FN wrote back that production had ended and referred them to Husqvarna.

hardknocks · #24 01-19-2018, 10:41 PM

Sauer & Sohn 32. 1925 ish
H&R 1920 ish
Colt PP 1928

CZU · #25 01-20-2018, 10:49 AM

7.65mm(30cal.)Luger '20 DWM made around 1921. These used to be known as '23 Commercial. Someone was a little overzealous with the Germany stamp as you can see by the dent in the sideplate.

Kurusu · #26 01-21-2018, 10:24 AM

And. From one of my favouriite movies about the era (may overshoot the 20s by a a couple of years ☆

) heavily based in Dashiel Hammett's Glass Key.

We have this:

☆Edit. But that is a technicality only.