Quote:
Originally Posted by Polydamas
Have you found any famous crimes where the criminals used pistols with stocks? I think there was just one or two in the gangster arsenals you have posted under Gangster Gats.
I guess its tricky because in the 1920s and 1930s the Mauser C96 and Luger P08/LP08 were almost the only handguns from reputable manufacturers with ten or more rounds in a military calibre. I suppose the Browning Hi-Power came out in 1935 but I get the impression that in the beginning its customers were mostly military.
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The Browning GP was not available commercially in the USA --
Raiders of the Lost Ark notwithstanding.
Mausers were used occasionally. Lugers with 32-round drums were extremely widespread. Very, very many instances of "machine guns" being used by bank robbers, killers, or other lawless folks were actually Lugers (commercial American Eagles, wartime P.08, P.04 or l.P.08 samples, or any others) with drums. The stocks were not always present, but the drums were. For you see, Lugers were much more numerous than Thompsons even in the USA, and they were lighter and easier to conceal, and they were
way cheaper. While a second-hand Thompson on the grey market (1930-1934) or the black market (1934-) cost upwards of $300 ($225 new to those eligible), a used Luger could be had for $15 and a drum for $10 ... One famous user was Wilbur "Tri-State Terror" Underhill, who supposedly went down with
two Lugers in his hands (unlikely -- the FBI was prone to exaggeration at the time). Others were the Flathead Mob, Gray Glove Gang, Korney Gang, Long Beach Gang, Purple Gang, Parente Syndicate, Rothstein Gang, Sutton Gang, etc, etc.
Cheers
HANS