You are dead right sir, it was associated with a lot of difficulties getting it back, kept for 2,5 years I almost gave up. Sometimes hard to control my temper when I was just fed BS-replies that really were no replies. I even threatened to involve my association The Swedish Gun Owners Association, like our NRA but much much smaller. Luckily the detective in question was a very nice guy, just doing his job. Thanks for enjoying the story.
Highway Patrolman with interesting crime history
- Thread starter reuters
- Start date
You are dead right sir, it was associated with a lot of difficulties getting it back, kept for 2,5 years I almost gave up. Sometimes hard to control my temper when I was just fed BS-replies that really were no replies. I even threatened to involve my association The Swedish Gun Owners Association, like our NRA but much much smaller. Luckily the detective in question was a very nice guy, just doing his job. Thanks for enjoying the story.
Thanks sir for your very nice reply. Yes it's a small world, here I am happening to unintentionally be the owner of the most (in)famous revolver ever heard of in Sweden, sharing this story with all the good old gentlemen on the S&W Forum. I'm happy to be a member among all this good people. Too bad only that I live in such an anti gun country where a lot of people view gun collectors as gun nuts.
Thank you sir, yes I guess I got my ten minutes in the lime light here.
You are perfectly right here sir. This was also considered at the police/chief attorney press release, extensive firing could have smoothed out the tool marks of the rifling. However my gun was fired very limited, just a very slight drag mark on the cylinder and the ejector rod showed no bluing wear. The oil was so dried out that the cylinder could not be spinned. My estimate was that it was not fired for decades. Glad to hear that you liked the story.
Crimed used guns are indeed scarce over here too. The only reason that I got it back was that it could not be determined with enough margin that this was the gun even if the investigators were pretty certain about it, this also led to the shutting down of the investigation.Will consider your idea about auction, I'm terrible at making business, so for the moment I just keep a low profile and watch my radar screen. Thank sir for reading the story.
Thanks sir for enjoying the story of my gun adventure. The auction firms are definitely an option. However as I earlier said in on reply, for the moment I just keep a low profile, watching the radar screen and waiting for a person with deep pockets. I like the gun a lot and as we say over here it's not eating any bread from me if kept.
Thanks sir. Good point, it's in fact the gun I like more than the history. I very much like all older N-frames, can not tell why but I especially like the HP/ M28 with the dull finish and lack of whistles and bells.
Thanks sir, I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I understand that you are experienced in this business. This suits me just fine since I'm a bit lazy. Business I regard as love, too eager and you are blowing it, sorry just me sense of humor. For the moment I just keep a low profile and let it sit in the safe, watching the radar screen for incoming potential customer. Thanks again sir very good pice of advice you provided.
tenntex32
Member
Unfortunately if your name is now publicly associated with this revolver anyone that can read will know who owns it. It isn't rocket science locating someone's personal info/address on the internet nowadays.
It truly has a prominent place in Sweden's history, no matter how morbid and dark it may be to many people. I guess were I am going with this is by "let it sit in the safe" I hope you mean a reputable bank's highly secure safety deposit box and not a typical personal safe/gun safe in your home.
And don't forget about properly insuring it for the amount you or any professional appraisers there in Sweden may feel it is now worth. (It would probably be a very good idea to have it professionally appraised by more than one elite level appraiser there for documentation purposes...…...just be sure it never leaves your control when doing so.)
If you truly want to get top dollar when selling it you may want to contact a reputable auction house that has the ability to properly promote the upcoming sale on an international level amongst deep pocket gun collectors. Just because it was used in Sweden for the murder doesn't necessarily mean it will command the most money from a Swedish citizen. You can always set the reserve or minimum sales price at a level you want and if it does not meet that at auction then you can continue setting on it.
Something tells me you are going to do much better than your initial SEK 4,400 ($472 USD) initial investment.
Best of luck and thanks for sharing the history with us.
Dale
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Very interesting story and a nice piece!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks glad to hear that you enjoyed it sir.
Thanks Dale good thoughts and I will reallykeep them in mind, appreciate that you gave me a lot of good input and strategics. BTW I was already offered 3 times my price, however, no way I let her go fot that, Expect something muuuch better. I'll keep you posted if something comes up meanwhile I keep my ear to the ground.
tenntex32
Member
I would expect something many many many times more than 3 times what you paid for it.
Many many times. In fact it may not be easy to comprehend just how much it will truly bring until advertised properly for public international auction.
Dale
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Lady Smith
Member
Very fun story. BUT I have to ask, since the .38 S&W Special and the .357 Magnum use the exact same bullets and any .38 S&W Special cartridge can be chambered and fired from a .357 Magnum revolver, why did the investigators not test fire BOTH .38 S&W Special and .357 Magnum revolvers? It seems odd to me.
Anyway, thanks for sharing - interesting story and nice looking revolver.
I think because they were looking for a .357 magnum, and so they only looked at revolvers registered As .357mag in their files.
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28WheelGirl
Member
Wow. Very interesting story. I love Highway Patrolmen. I have a pre-28 from 1954-55 S/N S114XXX that I just love. It's not as pretty as the ones posted in this thread, but it has 'lots of character (in my opinion). Although I would buy a pre-28 any day (whatever its history), just to buy it because it was in an assassination I think is eerie.
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The pictures are from after the confiscation. The gun now got a couple of tiny scratches on the side of the barrel, perhaps from bouncing into the sides of the window to the test chamber upon firing, also some dents at the bottom of the stocks. And a slightly bent ejector rod, probably due to slamming the cylinder shut, a practice only applied by incompetent gun handlers. At one position the cylinder face now slightly rubs against the barrel. It was also very fouled, many patches of Hoppes #9 until not green any longer, all chambers fouled too. So extensively test fired. Thanks for liking the story
I remember my shock and disbelief when I heard the news about the Palme assassination. It astonished me that a national leader could be murdered in a close encounter on a public street with no protective detail around him while he was out for an evening with his wife -- the whole thing just challenged my notions of the limits of the credible and the possible. In my perception of the last several decades, close-up assassins are usually apprehended immediately, though long-gun assassins may escape for a period of time -- or maybe even entirely. The fact that the perpetrator in this case walked up to Palme, shot him at close range, fired also at his wife (but without seriously injuring her), and then melted away into the night in seconds just seemed totally incredible.
For those who are interested, Stieg Larsson did indeed look into the Palme murder before his death, and his notes came into the possession of journalist Jan Stocklassa, who two years ago published a long study of the murder. The English version is called "The Man Who Played with Fire," and it is available on Amazon. The Kindle (e-book) version is dirt cheap. I actually have it waiting on my reader right now. I learned of it last weekend and bought it on the off chance I might be able to squeeze it into my reading list. With this extremely interesting post from forum member reuters, I'm pretty sure I will read Stocklassa's book at this point, but I won't know if I consider it credible until I am fairly far into it.
An American print reviewer described Stocklassa's book as "creative nonfiction," which I optimistically take to mean "fiction-like in its narrative characteristics, but absolutely true to known facts." There will probably be room to argue about how known the facts really are and whether they are correctly interpreted, but that always happens.
The question of the possible value of this revolver was raised but only generally addressed. I would not myself be a buyer at any price because I have no interest in owning murder weapons. My guess is that a few collectors might be interested in acquiring it for a price in the low five figures (US dollars), but much above that and I suspect interest would decline. But all it takes to drive the price to significantly higher levels is two deep-pockets collectors going face-to-face with each other at an auction.
For those who are interested, Stieg Larsson did indeed look into the Palme murder before his death, and his notes came into the possession of journalist Jan Stocklassa, who two years ago published a long study of the murder. The English version is called "The Man Who Played with Fire," and it is available on Amazon. The Kindle (e-book) version is dirt cheap. I actually have it waiting on my reader right now. I learned of it last weekend and bought it on the off chance I might be able to squeeze it into my reading list. With this extremely interesting post from forum member reuters, I'm pretty sure I will read Stocklassa's book at this point, but I won't know if I consider it credible until I am fairly far into it.
An American print reviewer described Stocklassa's book as "creative nonfiction," which I optimistically take to mean "fiction-like in its narrative characteristics, but absolutely true to known facts." There will probably be room to argue about how known the facts really are and whether they are correctly interpreted, but that always happens.
The question of the possible value of this revolver was raised but only generally addressed. I would not myself be a buyer at any price because I have no interest in owning murder weapons. My guess is that a few collectors might be interested in acquiring it for a price in the low five figures (US dollars), but much above that and I suspect interest would decline. But all it takes to drive the price to significantly higher levels is two deep-pockets collectors going face-to-face with each other at an auction.
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Stieg Larsson (now deceased) was the author of a series of three murder-mystery books which I have read, beginning with "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". The book was made into a movie both in Sweden and in the USA. I have seen both and each has its merits. The following two books were also made into films in Sweden but I have not seen them.
The Palme murder was referenced in the first book. It's been quite a few years since I've read it but the firearm used was described as "a cowboy gun" and the ammunition had "gold tipped explosive bullets" or some such. I guess to someone who doesn't know anything about guns, any revolver looks like a cowboy gun and gold tipped ammunition sounds sinister. Somewhat comical really.
Still, pimping the connection to "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" books could be a way of making the gun more desirable to some buyers.
What an amazing story, thanks for sharing.
I don't know how familiar you are with the American Old West or if you know the name Wyatt Earp (if you've seen the movie "Tombstone" from the early 90s, he's basically the main character). Earlier this year, the shotgun that Wyatt Earp used to kill the man who murdered Earp's brother, Morgan, was auctioned and sold for $375,000.
Wyatt Earp: An Amazingly Documented 10-Gauge Shotgun Used by Him to | Lot #43400 | Heritage Auctions
Not saying you'll get that kind of money, but there would seem to be a strong market for weapons used in famous murders. I can't imagine they come up for sale very often.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
I don't know how familiar you are with the American Old West or if you know the name Wyatt Earp (if you've seen the movie "Tombstone" from the early 90s, he's basically the main character). Earlier this year, the shotgun that Wyatt Earp used to kill the man who murdered Earp's brother, Morgan, was auctioned and sold for $375,000.
Wyatt Earp: An Amazingly Documented 10-Gauge Shotgun Used by Him to | Lot #43400 | Heritage Auctions
Not saying you'll get that kind of money, but there would seem to be a strong market for weapons used in famous murders. I can't imagine they come up for sale very often.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
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