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Leonid Brezhnev & His Guns

jag312

jag312

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I just saw this photograph of Leonid Brezhnev. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union. He is on a hunting trip, not too different from most of us. He has what seems to be a very nice single shot hunting rifle......but what is that on his right hip? From the shape of the grip, I would say that is a Colt Single Action, with a 7 1/2 barrel judging from the size of the holster. That's something you don't see everyday. I just wonder if it is in .45 Colt or in .44 Russian? What do you think?
 

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I remember reading somewhere(here, I think) that Brezhnev and Chuck Conners were friends and old Leonid was a huge Rifleman fan. Conners gifted him the (I think) Colt SAA and it became one of his most cherished possessions.
 
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jag312 said:
I just saw this photograph of Leonid Brezhnev. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union. He is on a hunting trip, not too different from most of us. He has what seems to be a very nice single shot hunting rifle......but what is that on his right hip? From the shape of the grip, I would say that is a Colt Single Action, with a 7 1/2 barrel judging from the size of the holster. That's something you don't see everyday. I just wonder if it is in .45 Colt or in .44 Russian? What do you think?
Click to expand...

Could be......read this!

'The Rifleman' Star Chuck Connors Once Gifted a Dignitary Six-Shooters
 
A picture exists of Brezhnev admiring one of
two Colt .45s with Connors looming over
him grinning. The Russian is wearng a
Western or cowboy style hat. The six-guns
were 7.5-inch barreled models.
 
jag312 said:
I just saw this photograph of Leonid Brezhnev. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union. He is on a hunting trip, not too different from most of us. He has what seems to be a very nice single shot hunting rifle......but what is that on his right hip? From the shape of the grip, I would say that is a Colt Single Action, with a 7 1/2 barrel judging from the size of the holster. That's something you don't see everyday. I just wonder if it is in .45 Colt or in .44 Russian? What do you think?
Click to expand...

Nope. It's a double rifle. You can see the 2 triggers.
 
All these photos appear to be from the same 1973 hunting trip with the Yugoslavian leader Tito in Ukraine.


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The picture posted by the OP is almost certainly posed; other variations with coat were also shot. Brezhnev also has the fresh evergreen twig in his hatband indicating he already shot a major game animal.


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As for the revolver, the Chuck Connor story does seem plausible, especially since it is about the same time period.

Notice all the bottles, undoubtedly containing fruit juice, on the table … ;)


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Who will ever guess about this? I´m surprised.....but as my grand dad used to say: Politics is the art of eating "****" without making faces about it. Once again, my oldman was right!
 
On the other hand....it was a very common practice, back in the day, for top politicians to exchange gifts or presents with their counterparts. And guns as presents were more less the normal rule.

I remember that President Reagan gave Mexican President López Portillo a Winchester bolt action as a present in a meeting they had in Can Cun back in 1978 or 1979......

I have a 2" pre model 10, that as the family story says, belonged to a US Secret Service agent. The agent gave it to a Mexican Air force Captain in the early 60's. The event took place in a meeting between President Kennedy and President López Mateos, and both delegations exchange guns as presents.
 
The Red in the Gray Flannel Suit. I still wonder who was really in charge of the Soviet Union in the last years of his life.
 
It was rather amusing to watch how eagerly the “egalitarian” leaders of the East European proletariat after WW II embraced the aristocratic hunting extravaganzas of their monarchic predecessors.


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The East German Communist leader Erich Honecker (above, right) also fancied himself a great huntsman and hunted estates reserved for the party elite, also inviting Breshnev ….


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…… although they were not quite as prolific as the Tsar and the Kaiser, here seen together before 1914 after a hunt ;)


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With respect to the Chuck Conners Colt revolvers presented to Brezhnev , I recall the pair had been fitted extra long grips to accommodate Conners large hands.
 
In the #1 post photo I think I see an adjustable rear sight? If so, it would
not be a SAA. Unless a New Frontier model. Or it could be S&W .44
Russian.
 
153 said:
With respect to the Chuck Conners Colt revolvers presented to Brezhnev , I recall the pair had been fitted extra long grips to accommodate Conners large hands.
Click to expand...

So it is the Chuck Conners revolver. In the first picture one can see it has oversize grips.
 
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The universal Western:

In my readings, including this thread,
I've come across Western movies made
in several foreign lands including Russia.

Bela Lugosi of Dracula fame was even in one
made in Germany and I've heard of them
being made in Japan and Hungary. And
of course, can't forget the spaghetti Westerns.

In the British mystery/comedy series
Midsomer Murders an entire episode
was devoted to the American old west
and "the code of the West."


At one time I owned a set of cowboys and
Indians toys made in pre-WWII Germany.
 
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[/QUOTE]

Looks like the dear Leader is warning someone at the table who just joked that the holster and belt looks like something Dale Evans would wear.
'Ya know,,People die all the time in hunting accidents'
 
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