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The Smoking Gun: 1923 | Shorpy Historic Photo Archive

This is a great old photo. Isn't that an old M&P?
The guy getting shot certainly has some balls!
He's even smiling a little

If it's a S&W, it's a M1899. (no barrel lug) otherwise it's probably a Colt of some ilk. Looks like they were also using a BP load.

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Looks like a 4" M&P to me. Could not see any medallions on the grips, probably a 1920's revolver?

I'd plank my money down on a 4" Military&Police.

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Dick

The extractor rod looks disproportionately too long, to me. Also the
cylinder release looks more like a Colt, than a S&W, although I can't
get enough clarity on that part of the picture.

Later, Mike Priwer

The profile is more S&W than Colt. I think I can see the thumbpiece.
I think the ejector rod looks about right. The camera is pretty far from the gun so it may seem a little distorted. I'm with Diamonback on this one

Here's another one. Click "full size view" on this one too. Can you spot the S&W?

http://www.shorpy.com/node/5004

There's also a colt 1903 or '08 pocket hammerless there. I don't know what the other automatic is.
I wish X-mas displays were still like this!!

Cool pic!!

I see the S&W revolver, the Colt 1903 and the semi-auto...

Could the semi be a S&W model 35, or maybe a Remington or a Savage??

Edited... not a Savage (they don't have a grip screw, they slide off), not a S&W 35 either, they have 2 screws).

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Linda
SWCA #1965, SWHF #245

Is that a Savage auto pistol under the S&W's grip?

Guys if you click on the pic it gets bigger and its easy to see its a S&W, it does have the barrel lug, you just cant really see the break between it and the ejector rod.... Looks like a 1905 square butt 4 inch .38....

The thumbpiece looks more like a Colt than a Smith, and the front sight looks like those on the very early Official Police revolvers.

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Vaya con Dios

Love that old storefront pic! Thanks!

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Misty

If that's a K-frame, this guy has a promising second career as a stride piano player. Look how far around the stocks his fingers come, and yet his thumb still manages to stretch forward past the back of the cylinder.

On the other hand, if that's a .32 Regulation Police...

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David Wilson

I'll take the train set - Could be worth retirement ... it could happ'n

I pulled out my 1905 with the same grips and my hand looks exactly the same as this guys hand in the same grip position....

I am wondering who the dumb s*** is standing there getting shot

The auto under the S&W's grip looks like a Mauser M1910.

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

They are both wearing vests, probably took turns shooting each other!

Then YOU have a future as a piano man!

Actually, now that I look at the shooter's left hand as well, it seems to me this guy just has big hands. Bigger than mine, to be sure. I have to grab an I-frame if I want my hand to engulf the grip the way this guy's hand does. No way I can do that with a K frame or larger.

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David Wilson

It does look like one of the Mauser auto pistols.
On the left end of the window display are an AH Fox shotgun plus another SxS partially hidden that looks like it also could be a Fox. Both guns non-ejector & probably Sterlingworth models.
The BB-gun in military garb is interesting. Is the bayonet a true part of it or just for the display?
On the other end is a Winchester 22 pump,,a 1906 model I think.

Looks like it'd been a real interesting place to spend some time and money in.

Thats a colt , look at the cylinder latch.

The Daisy with the bayonet and sling appears to be a Model 40. They are rather pricey antiques these days with excellent examples selling in the $500 range and the bayonet and sling almost doubling that price.

DaisyKing.com - Frequently Asked Questions

This pic made me think of a funny story. A few years ago, a pawn shop in Baton Rouge LA had a bullet proof vest for sale. Someone walked in & was interested in the vest, but was concerned that it wouldn't actually stop a bullet. The owner assured him that it would & to prove it, he strapped on the vest & had one of his employees shoot him from about 3 feet away with a 357 magnum. Oh it stopped the bullet, but they had to rush him to the hospital for a few broken ribs. I never did find out if the customer bought the vest.

Chris
S&WCA#2122

Twaits,

As you know, this photograph was made in Washington, D.C., in 1921 at 1303 F Street, N.W.

To my knowledge, even after the Heller victory, currently there are no gun stores in the Distrikt of Kolumbia, and only one FFL, who charges something like $125 per gun for transfers. Let us pray, and work, for the day when once again Smith & Wessons may be lawfully purchased from tax-paying store-front businesses on the streets of our nation's capital.



Bullseye

OK, now lets ID the shooter and target. I have loaned out my "Jelly" Bryce book (note to self: GET IT BACK!), but I think Jelly or one of his cohorts.

Bob

The other automatic is a Mauser M-1914 .32. The knife is probably a Marble's Ideal or a Remington copy, like the RH-36.

Can you imagine a store window display like that today? What does that say about the moral decline of our nation?

T-Star

The gun under the S&W is a Mauser 1914 .32 or a 1910 .25. Next to it is a Colt Pocket 1903 .32 in Holster. Don't forget the Winchester pump .22 ? 1902? I had never seen a BB gun such as the one with the bayonet. Neat.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I'm pretty sure it's a M1910 .25 Auto. The grip screw is central to the grip in the 1910 where it is offset a little in the M1914 .32 Auto.
I've got a 1910 in the safe somewhere. I'll try to dig it out and send a picture.

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

The individual who sponsored the Second Chance shoot in northern Michigan manufactured Kevlar bulletproof vests and reputedly used to demonstrate them personally until advised not to by his physician.

I'm seeing a S&W style latch there. The pictures pretty fuzzy though so it's hard to tell either way. The profile of the entire gun screams S&W M&P though.

...could be an '08 .380 though...

Look again, the latch looks to high to be S&W. Me thinks Colt!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../standardb.jpg

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here, but here's what I see.
It looks like his thumb is partially over the cylinder latch (the knurled part of the latch is sort of a dark shadow) and you can see the part where the screw to latch is (a little brighter where the light is reflecting off of it). Its right in front of his extended thumb.

First I see the ejector rod looks to long compared to the barrel to be a M&P and the latch on a M&P is below the center line of the cylinder. Colt on the other hand is on the center line. Now the truth is the ejector rods looks to long for a Colt soooo, it's a **** shoot. Actually my first impression was a Colt 1873 and we were seeing the ejector shroud, it's about the right proportions for a 5 1/2 in. barrel. But, on closer inspection, position of the trigger finger, apparent latch etc. and for some reason the grip is saying Colt DA?? One of the mysteries of the modern world.

D R

You guys must be blind or have 10 year old puter's.....On my screen its a Smith, no question.

The release has a big reflection on it, thats why some of you think it looks like a Colt, but if it was a Colt the release would be much closer to the cylinder.....I can see on my screen its a reflection off the S&W style release.

Also as mentioned before the ejector rod looks long because it blends in with the lug at the end of it, I can also see on my screen just a very slight break right where the rod ends and the lug would begin.....

The bottom of a Colt frame just looks diff than a S&W, this one looks like a smith as do the grips, and the rest of it....

S&W for sure.....

OK, here's another "vest test" photo from the same occasion. This time the shooter is a uniformed officer, and he is using a weapon that appears to be of different make from the first shooter's gun. Looks like a round butt.

Vest Test: 1923 | Shorpy Historic Photo Archive

EDIT: Adding this caption: September 13, 1923. Washington, D.C. "W.H. Murphy of the Protective Garment Corp. of New York stood less than ten feet from [Frederick County, Md.] Deputy Sheriff Charles W. Smith in police headquarters Wednesday and let the deputy fire a .38 caliber revolver straight at his chest. When the bullet hit, Murphy never batted an eye. Inventors ot the bulletproof vest, which weighs about 11 pounds, have put [it on] the market for the protection of police and other officers in emergency cases. The bullet which Deputy Smith fired into the vest Wednesday was presented to him for a souvenir."

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David Wilson

Top of the trigger guard says S&W to me.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

DC Wilson,

Nice, I didn't see that one on Shorpy. That second "vest test" I believe IS a Colt. The cylinder latch is in the right place on that one.
Its obviously a different gun than the first pic on Shorpy.
Now, maybe I should go stir things up on the Coltforum with this pic..hehe

yep the second pic has Colt all over it! The frame shape, the ejector rod, the cyl latch release, the front sight....The first one is a Smith and the second is a Colt.

the caption on that pic should read "how to tell if you're the one with the least amount of seniority".....