Model 27 .357

[jimmyj]

In my circle the Model 27 with 3.5" barrel was referred to as "FBI Model".
From what I have read the Model 27 with five inch barrel was the barrel length the more famous Agents used.
Opinions ??

 

[s&wchad]

It's probably because of Jelly Bryce...

https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/the-legend-of-jelly-bryce/

 

[Retired W4]

Great article. Bryce's 4" Wolff & Klar was pretty hot. I'm thinking, due to the time line, his 3 1/2" 357 was either a registered magnum of a non-registered magnum. As accurate as he was with a revolver he could have gotten by with a 32 or a 38. 5 head shots?!?

 

[Riposte1]

I am not sure just when Jelly Bryce switched over from the .44 Spl. but the gun in the picture sure does look like a Registered (or non-registered) Magnum. I suspect it was around the time the FBI "drafted" him.

There is a bio, I think it might have been authored by Ron Owens? I've read it but it has been a while.

Legendary Lawman: The Story of Quick Draw Jelly Bryce: Owens, Ron: 9781596527577: Amazon.com: Books

Legendary Lawman: The Story of Quick Draw Jelly Bryce [Owens, Ron] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Legendary Lawman: The Story of Quick Draw Jelly Bryce

www.amazon.com

Riposte

 

[quinn]

In the photo from 1941 Popular Mechanics "FBI Quick Draw Clock" article I posted recently, it appears to me that the gun he's photographed with is a 4"...

 

[Retired W4]

In the photo from 1941 Popular Mechanics "FBI Quick Draw Clock" article I posted recently, it appears to me that the gun he's photographed with is a 4"...

I agree. 4" in that photo.

 

[jimmyj]

In my "Younger Days" the ."357 Magnum" (later the Model 27) the barrel lengths were 3.5", 5", 6", and 8 3/8". Retail 120.00

 

[Bruceboy]

In my circle the Model 27 with 3.5" barrel was referred to as "FBI Model".
From what I have read the Model 27 with five inch barrel was the barrel length the more famous Agents used.
Opinions ??

This post made my day. Never heard of "Jelly Bryce" before. Thanks for adding the link to the article. Bryce was certainly a special kind of LEO.

Al

 

[quinn]

In my very limited research, the FBI agent purchase/owned Rms and NRNs were a mix of 3.5 and 4 inches.

Jerry Campbell's gun posted in other threadss was 3.4

The 3 pictured below are in my collection:

Fred McGeary's RM 3.5", shipped blue factory renickeled, Quick Draw front sight added;

Frank Baughman's RM prototype, shipped 5", later retuned to the factory and barrel cut to 4" and QD front sight added;

Arlin Jones NRM (ordered for him by Baughman at the FBI Academy) shipped 4" blue later factory renickeled.

 

[Rusty parrot]

Quinn,
Well you certainly added a drool factor to this posting, Thank you for sharing.
Question, are the Ropers original or a product of some of our current grip makers?
Thanks.

 

[quinn]

Quinn,
Well you certainly added a drool factor to this posting, Thank you for sharing.
Question, are the Ropers original or a product of some of our current grip makers?
Thanks.

Those Ropers are "chisel cut" I am told rather than done with a checkering tool. They are contemporary with the gun but I don't know if they were oriiginal to the gun. Tthey are original Ropers.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

In my "Younger Days" the ."357 Magnum" (later the Model 27) the barrel lengths were 3.5", 5", 6", and 8 3/8". Retail 120.00

I liked the four inch when they came out.

 

[Jim Kuykendall]

Can you tell us about the holster behind the nickel RM? Age, markings fit to holster and what 's on the back side. It appears not to have been carried much. Many that I've viewed also have dog ears since agents wore suits and those hammers cut the linings of the jacket.

 

[quinn]

Can you tell us about the holster behind the nickel RM? Age, markings fit to holster and what 's on the back side. It appears not to have been carried much. Many that I've viewed also have dog ears since agents wore suits and those hammers cut the linings of the jacket.

I did not intend to mislead anyone. The holster did not come with the Aarlin Jones RM. Actually, it was a Christmas gift from my son and I picked it for the photo as I thought it was typical o the carry in the late 30s or 41s. It is a carved S.D. Myres (El Pas0 and has not other marks. I think the dog eared holster came later but we should ask Turnerriver on that.

The only photo I have of Jones was taken when he arrested Tokyo Rose in Japan after the war. He is turned so that you can't see the holster but the belt is at waist level for a high carry.

One of the things that FBI agents did to protect their suit jackets was to shave the lower end of the grips.

 

[Rubone]

The FBI commemorative model is 5"...

 

[quinn]

IIRC, the FBI ordered some 150 RMs in 5". I'm not sure what happened to them or if they were ever issued. . A handfull were seen at the FBI range at Quantico years later. I believe the database indicates that the rest were destroyed. Also, "Doc" White carried a 5" that he purchased over the counter at a gun store in San Antonio... he did not order it and he may have purchased it before he went into the FBI. This particular gun has been covered in several threads here.

 

[Riposte1]

I recall when G. G. Liddy had a radio show he said his first FBI gun was a 5" .357 (he did not call it by any model #).

I had an uncle who was a cop in Bourder CO, he carried a 5" N-frame but I don't know if it was a Pre-27 or what - he was killed by a drunk driver in 1963 and I was only 12 - I handled it once when he visited - all his guns were stolen after he died

At any rate that is the reason I always wanted a 5" 27, to remember him.

Riposte

 

[Claymore33]

My friend G. Gordon Liddy had a piece of sailcloth sewed into the inside of his suit coat to keep trigger from rubbing holes in his fine English goods. In his book "WILL ", He shows both Model 15 and Model 27.

 

[Sebago Son]

One of my Registereds is a Treasury Dept RM from 1 1939 shipment of 12. This gun looks like it was splattered with blood.