Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
I'm not much into folk gangster worship, but on the Colt forum someone brought up the relatively famous photo of B & C playing with some firearms, and specifically the question which handgun Clyde had tucked in his belt (see pic. 1).
A group effort to which I was able to contribute a bit of research produced another photo of the gun hanging on the hood ornament of a car, fully, if blurry, visible, and the story behind it. It was news to me, and since it fits here, I thought I'd share it. If the story is known, sorry; I haven't come across it in my years on the forum.
The gun was taken by Clyde from Officer Thomas Persell, Springfield, MO, PD, when the latter was kidnapped during a traffic stop in January 1933. The officer was later released unharmed (see his 1989 obit, pic. 3), and his gun was recovered after the July 1933 shootout where Clyde's brother was wounded (and later died).
Various sources including the obit describe the gun as a "Russian" gun, but the picture quite clearly shows a Triplelock and the confusion (journalists back then not knowing more about guns than today) may have misunderstood a reference to the .44 Russian caliber in some way. Who knows. Other info confirms the identity, with jigged bone grips, which matches the photos. According to one forum member, the gun ended up in the possession of a Des Moines PD officer.
A group effort to which I was able to contribute a bit of research produced another photo of the gun hanging on the hood ornament of a car, fully, if blurry, visible, and the story behind it. It was news to me, and since it fits here, I thought I'd share it. If the story is known, sorry; I haven't come across it in my years on the forum.
The gun was taken by Clyde from Officer Thomas Persell, Springfield, MO, PD, when the latter was kidnapped during a traffic stop in January 1933. The officer was later released unharmed (see his 1989 obit, pic. 3), and his gun was recovered after the July 1933 shootout where Clyde's brother was wounded (and later died).
Various sources including the obit describe the gun as a "Russian" gun, but the picture quite clearly shows a Triplelock and the confusion (journalists back then not knowing more about guns than today) may have misunderstood a reference to the .44 Russian caliber in some way. Who knows. Other info confirms the identity, with jigged bone grips, which matches the photos. According to one forum member, the gun ended up in the possession of a Des Moines PD officer.
. To give credit, assuming lawandorder has the same user name on the Colt forum, his info is part of my initial post.
