DILLINGER DEMENTIA
Scroll down a bit, and you’ll find that a while back we commented on the Leslie Hindman auction in Chicago of what they’re calling “The Gun That Killed Dillinger.” Only trouble is, it belonged to an East Chicago lawman who was across the street from the Biograph Theater on the sweltering 1934 night when three Federal agents shot down Public Enemy Number One. Captain Timothy O’Neal, by all official accounts, never fired his gun that night.
We got some interesting comments on it (see that entry, below), including a polite response from the auction house itself.
Well, proving that P.T. Barnum was right about a sucker being born every minute, O’Neal’s gun went under the auctioneer’s hammer for a whopping $36,400 yesterday. This LINK from the Chicago Sun-Times indicated that reporters in the Windy City apparently don’t research their stories much, either.
The popular Johnny Depp movie has apparently stirred a huge interest in Dillinger 75 years after his death. A few days ago, a gun that documentably actually WAS possessed by John Dillinger went for over 96 grand in an auction elsewhere. It was a double-barrel .41 caliber Remington derringer, a frontier-style pocket pistol that was obsolete even then, but still popular in the Thirties for pocket carry because it spat large caliber bullets, if only two of them. It was taken from Dillinger during one of his arrests. He had been carrying it tucked in his sock as a backup gun.
In the auction of the O’Neal Colt, a letter written by Dillinger to his niece from jail went to a private collector for what the Sun-Times called “a shocking $60,400 winning bid.”
Well, heck, I just can’t be an old curmudgeon about this stuff anymore. It’s time I got into the spirit of things.
So, tell ya what: I’ll auction off a Colt Army Special almost exactly like Captain O’Neal’s, out of my own collection. We can start the bidding at, oh, a mere $30,000. His had a five-inch barrel, and mine is a four-inch and looks to be in better shape. And they have at least three things in common.
They’re both original Colt Army Special revolvers correct to their period, right down to the gutta percha grips.
They’re both chambered for the .38 Special cartridge. (And mine’s still in perfect working order, and surprisingly accurate.)
And, to the best of my knowledge, neither one was ever fired at John Dillinger.
Yet another Colt Army Special that didn’t kill John Dillinger
July 29th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
LOL. Careful, Mas. The GunDudes and I might start a bidding war just to have a gun that was owned by you! (You know a certain thread on GRRN this could wind up in…hehe!)
July 29th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Mas, if I had a job these days, I would take you up on your offer ! To me, owning a gun with provenance to you would be an honor. That in my eyes would be worth a couple grand for sure.
July 29th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Mas,
As others have noted, not only is that a gun that wasn’t fired at John Dillinger, it’s a gun that YOU didn’t fire at John Dillinger.
In fact, many individuals prominent for many reasons haven’t fired that gun at John Dillinger. Barack Obama, Jeff Cooper, and John Moses Browning are just a few among money who never used that gun to shoot Dillinger.
I’m getting all hot in the wallet just thinking about it.
When’s the auction?
July 29th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Mas, because I already spent my “stimulus” money on ammo the most I can afford is $100.00. If you will include a handwritten letter explaining how you didn’t shoot Dillinger with this gun I might tap into the grocery money for an extra $25.00. Thanks for your consideration in this matter.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Gol-dang, Dustin, I never thought of it that way…
It’s obviously more historical and valuable than I thought!
Well, that’s it, then…reserve price on the auction just went up to $40,000!
July 29th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Well, Fred, for $125 I can fix you up with a broken H&R top-break and a Post-It note that says I didn’t shoot JFK with it, either.
For the Colt, though, Dustin has me convinced. If a Colt Army Special that wasn’t used to shoot Dillinger can go for 36K plus, a nicer specimen that didn’t shoot him either needs at LEAST a 40K reserve.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I would rather have the souped up Ruger GP100 I have seen him shoot. It did not kill Dillinger either but it sure cleaned my clock in Stock Service revolver.
In fact that Ruger did not exist back then so the guarantee letter it did not shoot Dillinger would be more easily verified. That Army Special of his might be old enough to have been there and part of the activities. That would throw a little bit of fog on the claim it did not participate.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Mas,
Let me know how this works out for ya. Hell we these in every now and again at the store. I could pick em up, drop em off with ya, you auction em for $30-$40K and will split the profit. Hell, if we get 10 guns a year we could probably retire.
July 31st, 2009 at 10:23 am
Damn, I just gotta love this. Best chuckle I’ve had for a while.
July 31st, 2009 at 11:19 am
Mas, I gotta thank you for saving my bacon. I have a safe full of guns that didn’t kill Dillinger, or either of the Kennedys, or anybody else, for that matter. Not only that, but they haven’t been handled by Roy, Gene, or Hoppy, either.
When I auction these off our finacial future will be secure. Thanks again.
August 1st, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Would be cheaper just to buy the new 1911 with your scrawling on it, that’s less than 3k…. LOL
I only have two old guns, both belonged to my grandfather. Wouldn’t think of selling or getting rid of either.
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I have a Glock 34 that I barely can hit the IDPA targets with, that must make it worth a small fortune! (It hasn’t killed anyone, but has made me a humble man on occasion).
Please keep up the Dillinger related posts Mas, Even my wife is reading your blog!
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Mitch,
I’ll give you $50 for that Glock, Bring it to Tulsa in Sept.
Gail
August 5th, 2009 at 5:24 am
Take a gander at John Dillinger’s photo in the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dillinger. Dillinger was only 31 years old when the FBI gunned him down. In his photo, he appears to be at least 15 years older than that. A couple of days ago, I attended the swearing-in ceremony of a 32-year-old friend being promoted to lieutenant commander in the Navy. He appeared to be about half of Dillinger’s age in the photo. That is the difference between clean living and a life of crime and prison.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Thanks for the generous offer Gail, but I’m not able to make it to Tulsa.
Lost too many vacation days this year… But I will be at the North Carolina shoot in October at that place “which must not be named.”
I even signed up for the Side BUG gun Match and Shotgun match on Saturday (Which is amusing as I really don’t know how to shoot a shotgun).
So if you need a good laugh, please stop by. (I’ll be safe, but in the words of W.T. Jones, you’ll get to watch “a very amusing shooter”).