The Prohibition Era

[.357magger]

I've always been fascinated by firearms from the 1920s and 30s, gangster tales, the Motor Bandits, birth of the FBI...

So here are a few from my modest collection of that era...models known to have been used by both the good guys...and the bad.

First the "Heater's "

Colt 1918 Black Army
Colt Model M's (1917 & 1924)
Savage 1917 from 1917

Anyone else want to share their "gats"?

 

[.357magger]

And next up are the Roscoe's, all Commercial Models.

S&W 1917 circa 1924
S&W 1905 circa 1920
Colt New Service 45 Colt circa 1923

All of these get shot occasionally, and I LOVE to bring them out for younger shooters.

"Gangster for a Day" (or Junior G-Man) is a lot of fun.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Dad was a big fan of the Colt M 1903 in 32 ACP, he had 3 of them and about 12 magazines! The small town he lived in got the bank robbed by The Purple Gang when he was little. It was Still the talk of the town when I visited in 1967!

Ivan

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have a 38 Safety Hammerless first model ca, 1896. A 1902 no change 32-20 ca 1902, a Regulation Police 38 S&W ca, 1921 and a Colt Police Positive Special 32-20 ca. 1919. On the larger side a Winchester 1897 ca. 1904 (sawed off to 18"), and a small mountain of WWI rifles.

Ivan

I would be happy with any Thompson but a 1921 would really excite me! The local Class III dealer has two for sale, they are now marked P.O.R., before that they were $50 grand each!

 

[DR505]

FWIW: The "Bureau of Investigation" was started in 1908 under Teddy Roosevelt...it later changed its name to the FBI, and Congress authorized them to carry firearms in 1934. So technically the FBI was born in 1908.

 

[Goony]

My favorite from this era, an early snubnose M&P, circa 1934 or '35. Whether it was owned by a cop, crook, or citizen remains unknown.

 

[.357magger]

My favorite from this era, an early snubnose M&P, circa 1934 or '35. Whether it was owned by a cop, crook, or citizen remains unknown.

Outstanding round butt M&P.

Thanks for sharing it.

 

[.357magger]

FWIW: The "Bureau of Investigation" was started in 1908 under Teddy Roosevelt...it later changed its name to the FBI, and Congress authorized them to carry firearms in 1934. So technically the FBI was born in 1908.

True but...the Bureau of Investigation was a super cronyism agency that many sought to eliminate due to abuse.

Most credit Hoover (and his press) and his efforts at power and expansion after the death of Frank Nash, 2 FBI Agents, and Police Officers, at the Kansas City Massacre at really birthing the FBI.

That, plus Dillinger and then the Barker Gang and Alvin Karpis cemented the FBI into the national conciousness. Karpis being captured here in New Orleans, really by Gus Winstead (who shot Dillinger) ,but Hoover was given the accolades for his personal arrest in the press. That's according to Karpis' memoir, who lived in Spain until the 1970s (after 34 years in Alcatraz).

What always fascinated me is ALL of this was occurring at the same time, 1933-35.

Machine Gun Kelly, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson (plus Dillinger, Karpis, et al)..all working at the same moment in history. And all with FBI, state and local officers on the lookout for them.

Not to mention Bonnie and Clyde, even though the FBI refused that manhunt.

 

[CH4]

Make mine a BAR.

 

[.357magger]

I have a 38 Safety Hammerless first model ca, 1896. A 1902 no change 32-20 ca 1902, a Regulation Police 38 S&W ca, 1921 and a Colt Police Positive Special 32-20 ca. 1919. On the larger side a Winchester 1897 ca. 1904 (sawed off to 18"), and a small mountain of WWI rifles.

Ivan

I would be happy with any Thompson but a 1921 would really excite me! The local Class III dealer has two for sale, they are now marked P.O.R., before that they were $50 grand each!

Myself, and others, would love to see them.

Pics, Baby, Pics...

 

[Goony]

Make mine a BAR.

Clyde Barrow's weapon of choice.

See: The Infamous Guns of Bonnie and Clyde | MeatEater Hunting

 

[Wyatt Burp]

It was a great eras for guns and an excellent collection.. Here's my Remington Model 81 and engraved Colt .45 with Boessenecker's Frank Hamer bio. I sent him this picture and the 81 is as close as I could get to Hamer's Model 8. The Colt is very close to Old Lucky, tho. A most likely factory nickel 1930 Colt New Service .45 Colt with wrong grips. And a 1920 vintage snub 1917 Colt along with a cut down Colt PP .38 with police markings on the butt.

 

[waffles]

Early colt autos are really some of the most aesthetically pleasing guns out there. Really wish I'd gotten in on them years ago.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

What always fascinated me is ALL of this was occurring at the same time, 1933-35.

I'm not so sure that it's any different today, just different names with people doing the same nasty s***!

Bloods
Crips
MS-13
Sinaloa cartel
Los Zetas
Aryan Brotherhood


Heck, that was off the top of my head. Then I decided to look it up :

This is a fairly current list:

10 Most Dangerous Gangs in The United States - Criminal Data Check - Find Criminal, Arrest, & Court Records Online


© 2019 Criminaldatacheck.com

Names and faces change. Criminal activity continues.

 

[BKLooney]

It was a great eras for guns and an excellent collection.. Here's my Remington Model 81 and engraved Colt .45 with Boessenecker's Frank Hamer bio. I sent him this picture and the 81 is as close as I could get to Hamer's Model 8. The Colt is very close to Old Lucky, tho. A most likely factory nickel 1930 Colt New Service .45 Colt with wrong grips. And a 1920 vintage snub 1917 Colt along with a cut down Colt PP .38 with police markings on the butt.

That book is a great read, one of my favorites!

 

[Ol' Drover]

This shortened Colt Police Positive Special is engraved with the name of Lt. Chris Hughes.

Christopher J. Hughes was a Detective Lieutenant with the Chicago Police Dept. From 1915, when the Colt was delivered to Hibbard, Spencer, and Bartlett Co. in Chicago, until he retired in 1944, he was involved in at least five shootings.

He was wounded twice in major gun battles with robbery gangs. Once in 1923 when he and three other officers shot it out with four hi-jackers in a dark alley and again in 1927 in a running gunbattle after the robbery of a Brinks armored car.

He's shown with one of the Thompsons the department bought to even up the arms race with the gangsters.

 

[mikerjf]

My Westernfield 30 is as used by both Clyde Barrow, and purportedly at the St Valentine's Day massacre.

 

[.357magger]

It was a great eras for guns and an excellent collection.. Here's my Remington Model 81 and engraved Colt .45 with Boessenecker's Frank Hamer bio. I sent him this picture and the 81 is as close as I could get to Hamer's Model 8. The Colt is very close to Old Lucky, tho. A most likely factory nickel 1930 Colt New Service .45 Colt with wrong grips. And a 1920 vintage snub 1917 Colt along with a cut down Colt PP .38 with police markings on the butt.

Nice grouping. Your "Old Lucky " is especially delightful. I'm equally jealous of the New Service too.

And Boesseneckers book is an outstanding read I agree. I've almost worn the cover off of mine.

 

[DR505]

True but...the Bureau of Investigation was a super cronyism agency that many sought to eliminate due to abuse.

Most credit Hoover (and his press) and his efforts at power and expansion after the death of Frank Nash, 2 FBI Agents, and Police Officers, at the Kansas City Massacre at really birthing the FBI.

That, plus Dillinger and then the Barker Gang and Alvin Karpis cemented the FBI into the national conciousness. Karpis being captured here in New Orleans, really by Gus Winstead (who shot Dillinger) ,but Hoover was given the accolades for his personal arrest in the press. That's according to Karpis' memoir, who lived in Spain until the 1970s (after 34 years in Alcatraz).

What always fascinated me is ALL of this was occurring at the same time, 1933-35.

Machine Gun Kelly, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson (plus Dillinger, Karpis, et al)..all working at the same moment in history. And all with FBI, state and local officers on the lookout for them.

Not to mention Bonnie and Clyde, even though the FBI refused that manhunt.

True enough. I recall when I was working alongside a Secret Service agent he boasted that out of the first 50 agents when the Bureau of Investigation was established in 1908, 25 of them came from the ranks of the Secret Service.

 

[.357magger]

I'm not so sure that it's any different today, just different names with people doing the same nasty s***!

Bloods
Crips
MS-13
Sinaloa cartel
Los Zetas
Aryan Brotherhood


Heck, that was off the top of my head. Then I decided to look it up :

This is a fairly current list:

10 Most Dangerous Gangs in The United States - Criminal Data Check - Find Criminal, Arrest, & Court Records Online


© 2019 Criminaldatacheck.com

Names and faces change. Criminal activity continues.

While I will somewhat concede the point...what was different was the introduction of the automobile, and no federal jurisdiction (at least at the beginning).

The country had never seen anything like those "Yeggs".

And the press LOVED it, and told the stories nationwide. There were wholesale callouts of state militias, massive misinformation, journalists and LOTS of local law enforcement on gangsters payrolls, and whole cities (Milwaukee, WI, Cicero, IL, Hot Springs, AR, and others) that functioned as gangster havens. Not to mention that, at least initially, the gangsters had widespread public support due to the unpopularity of banks.

And many of the most famous from time to time collaborated with each other.

So yes, gangs are still with us, but these Motor Bandits were somewhat unique, and during a unique time.