JOHN DILLINGER'S PARKER

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by Steve Huffman

I would not think this gun would be legal to have in person

-- Ditto the 20 gauge Ithaca auto-burglar, a NID with a unusual stock that gave a nasty recoil effect- and short no-choke barrels.

Just re-read the 1961 edition of "The American Gun' and besides covering some of the rifles and tactics involved in: The War between The States, The Boer War and WW1- they also had a full feature on the preferred weapons of the 1920's-1930's gangster and bootlegging element that the ill-advised Volstead Act of 1919 brought on the American scene (not just Chicago)

The sawed-off 12 gauge was very common, and the 1911-A-1 Colt .45 and the 1921 Thompson SMG were used a great deal- the "Tommy Gun" because so many were made and never employed in the trench warfare of WW1- so they sat in storage- you could legally buy on in `1932 $200 with detachable buttstock, magazines, cleaner and oiler for the Blish system-

But Dillinger, Bonnie Parker (did she have a VH 12?) and her partner Clyde Barrow, and others involved in the bank heist-high speed getaway scenario- preferred the great BAR- removing the front bipod, Dillinger even shortened the barrel from 24" on one he "borrowed" from an Indiana NG Armory, to better fit into his V-8 Ford--at CQC range, the .45 ACP is unexcelled, but the BAR in 30-Gov't-06 with AP loads would stop a pursuing police vehicle- and when Bonnie & Clyde died in the ambush set up by Texas Ranger Fred Hamer- many of the men were carrying BARs's--

How Dillinger got the VH 12?? Great area for research indeed.