Vintage Concealed Weapons

[DeaconKC]

Stearmen, I was looking at those the other day, and I have a question: How is the draw from them with the front sight on the Broomie? I have a Bolo that I am wanting to use in Zoot Shooting. Thanks

 

[Stearmen]

Stearmen, I was looking at those the other day, and I have a question: How is the draw from them with the front sight on the Broomie? I have a Bolo that I am wanting to use in Zoot Shooting. Thanks

Unfortunately, they do not belong to me! They caught my eye, because I have a 1913 Civilian model. There was no text to go with the photo, so I know as much as you!

 

[kiwilrdg]

all that survived in the family was the top flintlock and the top western holster, which he made from a Tandy kit.

The pistol has a percussion hammer and no frizzen. Was it converted from being a flintlock?

 

[texan]

Incredible photos, great stories. *Thanks* to everyone for sharing!

 

[Roving_Bohemian]

"More please?" "More?! You DARE to ask for more?!?!?!?!" "As a matter of fact, yes I do!" [huh]
Figured I'd give the thread a bump, see what's been found since 2013 rolled around...

 

[cpdv]

Stearmen, I was looking at those the other day, and I have a question: How is the draw from them with the front sight on the Broomie? I have a Bolo that I am wanting to use in Zoot Shooting. Thanks

I've got a bolo I want to carry as well. Can't get any classier than a C-96!

 

[Rathdown]

I've got a bolo I want to carry as well. Can't get any classier than a C-96!

Actually, bolos carry pretty well in a shoulder holster, and the Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu used to keep one up his sleeve. Not sure what sort of holster he had, but it musta been pretty damn clever.

 

[Roving_Bohemian]

Any pics of the bolo in a shoulder holster over a suit? I'd like to see how that looks.... sounds interesting!

 

[DesertDan]

Col. Rex Applegate carried a 2" S&W hammerless revolver in a unique upsidedown holster made by SD Myers. This would make it circa 1950

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHND11/?Page=67

 

[Oldsarge]

Yano, I really like that. After I've lived in Oregon long enough to acquire a CCW (just 'cause) I'm going to go looking for a saddle maker who can make me one, devoted wheelgun fella that I am.

 

[MikeKardec]

Col. Rex Applegate carried a 2" S&W hammerless revolver in a unique upsidedown holster made by SD Myers. This would make it circa 1950

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHND11/?Page=67

I believe that Karla at Purdey Gear could make you one like that -- http://www.purdygear.com/

 

[BlueTrain]

I don't know about the holsters but Colt has reintroduced the pre-war .32 automatic in the GI trim, meaning it's Parkerized. I haven't seen one in the flesh but I haven't looked either. Personally, I'd buy a .38 Super but I can't afford one of them, either, and I know where one is. But for a pre-war concealed handgun that is still available, sort of, the Colt .32 is the only choice.

During my time in the army, I was stationed with a division headquarters company in Germany and in the arms room were two Colt pocket autos for the generals. I don't know if they were .32 or .380 because I wasn't allowed to examine them. The M60s were a lot more interesting to me then, anyway. Much later on, however, I did acquire a .380 and the thing has a kick and it's not a lightweight gun, either. You saw them a lot in old movies but never the holsters, which I guess you weren't supposed to.

 

[MikeKardec]

I don't know about the holsters but Colt has reintroduced the pre-war .32 automatic in the GI trim, meaning it's Parkerized. I haven't seen one in the flesh but I haven't looked either. Personally, I'd buy a .38 Super but I can't afford one of them, either, and I know where one is. But for a pre-war concealed handgun that is still available, sort of, the Colt .32 is the only choice.

During my time in the army, I was stationed with a division headquarters company in Germany and in the arms room were two Colt pocket autos for the generals. I don't know if they were .32 or .380 because I wasn't allowed to examine them. The M60s were a lot more interesting to me then, anyway. Much later on, however, I did acquire a .380 and the thing has a kick and it's not a lightweight gun, either. You saw them a lot in old movies but never the holsters, which I guess you weren't supposed to.

I'm a great fan of the Remington 51, I always felt the Colt .380 pointed "down." The 51 is a bit hard to strip, but only compared to a post war, one lever and it comes apart, wunder nine.

 

[BlueTrain]

Although I have seen a Remington Model 51, I've not handled or fired one. It has nice lines, though, and is remarkably thin. I once owned a Savage .32, which was a fascinating little pistol (ten shots, too) but it had its drawbacks. I just remembered there are the Walthers, too. I guess the current production PPKs don't quite qualify as a pre-war gun still in production but used ones abound but the prices are high. Pre-war revolvers and later production of the same models, either Colt or S&W are around but expensive, if that's a factor, which it usually is.

 

[MikeKardec]

I've shot but I haven't owned any of these but my impression was that the Walther had a very heavy action which kind of balanced out the fact that it was built in a way that could make it very accurate. The Savage is just Buck Rogers cool but I have no memory of it's quirks. The Colt was VERY robust and beautiful but as I said, I thought it pointed "down" (in fact if you see the odd way actors sometimes hold the Colt in movies it bears this out ... I never realized that until I shot one). The Remington points like a DREAM but is hard to strip with lots of odd looking parts that go together in a mind blowing manner ... a 3D puzzle ... but I did it with a bit of help in a short amount of time. I have heard that the Remington had a soft firing pin problem, something easily fixed by a good gunsmith. They are THIN, a nearly forgotten quality!

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

I'm late to this party and it looks like there's been a lot of interesting entries but hardly any of the pics are still accessible. Could people reload them for those of us who missed them on first try?

 

[BlueTrain]

Posting photos is above my pay grade and anyway, I do not presently own any of those old things. But they are all interesting in their own ways.

A friend who was in my wedding surprised me one day by showing me his Ortiges patent .32 ACP. I don't know if I'm spelling it correctly or not. The Savage had a simple and clever way of disassembly but the trigger was not so good and the one I had was not what I would call easy to shoot. But it was plenty good enough for what it was meant for.

The Walthers were and still are wonderful little pistols but still had a few drawbacks. They did not exactly have smooth triggers as they came from the factory for the first shot but that was something you got used to. No Colt DA revolver was ever any better either. My hands on experience with either of them (Walther and Colt) is limited to about a half-dozen examples of each. The S&W revolvers were always better, which reminds me of something appropriate to this forum.

Once upon a time, S&W revolvers had what was called a long action. That is, that's what it was called after S&W introduced sometime in the late 1940s their new short action. Then all the magazine gunslingers proclaimed that the new S&W revolvers were inferior to the old ones, creating a heightened demand for the older long-action models. I owned both, even to include a pre-war Registered .357 Magnum, and I honestly couldn't tell the difference, probably because I wasn't a highly trained pistolero. My own opinions are usually such that I'm better off not sharing them anyway.

The rule of thumb generally appears to be, the older the better. There is presumably some point beyond which they were still making progress towards perfection but there doesn't seem to be any way to otherwise determine when that might have been in any particular instance.

 

[TPD166]

Let's pump some life back into this thread.

Vintage 1960s S&W Model 10 in a well-made copy of an A.W. Brill holster.

 

[TPD166]

Shrouded 1960s Colt Cobra with Tyler t-grip in a vintage Lewis Police Special cross-draw holster.

 

[TPD166]

Vintage 1948 S&W M&P 2” with Pachmyer grip-adapter in a 1940s Geo. F. Cake speed holster.