INFAMOUS FIREARMS SERIES - The Gun that killed 20 million people

[Major 2]

It was the Browning FN 1910 that Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, used to shoot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie, as their motorcade passed through Sarajevo, killing both the date was June 28, 1914.
The terrorist act gave Austria-Hungary the excuse that it had sought for opening hostilities against Serbia and thus precipitated World War I.
With its compact design, it was a perfect assassin's weapon. A M1910 also claimed the lives of Paul Doumer, the president of France, in May 1932, and Huey Long, the governor of Louisiana, in September 1935.



(not this very one however, this one from my collection)

[Major 2]

The Revolver that tried to take on a Bull Moose !

On Oct. 14, 1912, John Flammang Schrank shot Theodore Roosevelt in Milwaukee, Wisconsin while Roosevelt was campaigning. Roosevelt was running for a third term as president at the head of his newly formed Progressive Party "Bull Moose". His opponents were Republican incumbent William Howard Taft and Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
As Roosevelt was leaving a dinner for supporters at the Gilpatrick Hotel, Schrank stepped forward and shot Roosevelt with a Colt revolver chambered in .38 S&W Police Positive not unlike this one. (M2 Collection)
The .38-caliber slug struck Roosevelt in the chest, passing through his steel glasses case and a folded copy of the speech he was about to give.
Roosevelt, after coughing and seeing no blood, decided to continue to the Milwaukee Auditorium. He delivered the planned speech rightly believing Schrank's bullet had not punctured his heart or lungs and his life was not in immediate danger.

"Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. But fortunately, I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet — there is where the bullet went through — and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best."

EDIT  Griff's addition of TR's undershirt is very cool, here then is TR's glasses Case that along with the folded speech saved his life.

[Coal Creek Griff]

The undershirt that TR was wearing when his was shot is on display at the TR National Park visitor center in Medora, ND.  The bullet hole is indicated by the circle in the card on the left.

As a side note, I was not familiar with the off-center buttons in a shirt like this.  I wonder if it had a purpose (making a tie or cravat more comfortable?) or was just a style.  I think that it looks kind of cool...

Griff

[Major 2]

A champion of non-violent resistance

Mahatma Gandhi became the leader of the movement for Indian independence from British rule. On Jan. 30, 1948, he was assassinated in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi's acceptance of Muslims.
The gun a Beretta M1934 semi-automatic pistol like this one. (from M2 Collection)

[Major 2]

The Mayor of San Francisco

San Francisco mayor George Moscone, and Harvey Milk a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors were both assassinated Nov. 27, 1978.
The murderer, Dan White, himself a former member of the Board of Supervisors used a Model 36 S&W in 38 Special.
White reportedly targeted the two after not being reappointed to the city board and because of opposition to their police violence and abuse.

The gun shown, a Mod.36 Chiefs Special in my collection.

[Major 2]

A quick disclaimer some of the guns depicted in this series are not the actual firearms.
They are however the same models.   

[Major 2]

.44 caliber Philadelphia Derringer

On the evening of April 14, 1865, Good Friday, President Abraham Lincoln attended a stage production of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. Towards the end of the performance, John Wilkes Booth, a slavery advocate and supporter of the Southern cause, entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln in the back of the head at point blank range. The president was pronounced dead the following day.

(M2 collection)

[Major 2]

Simo Häyhä
was a Finnish military sniper in World War II during the 1939–1940 Winter War against the Soviet Union.
He used a iron sighted Finnish M/28-30, a variant of the Mosin–Nagant rifle.
Häyhä shot an estimated 500 Soviet soldiers with open sights.
He did not use a scope, in the Winter War.

[Major 2]

"Public Enemy No. 1."

By the summer of 1934, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover named John Dillinger as America's very first "Public Enemy No. 1."

Two of Dillinger's actual guns a Colt 1903 hammerless and his Full Auto 1911.

[Major 2]

Bonnie & Clyde

Six well-armed men, including Frank Hamer, ambushed their car on Highway 154 between Gibsland and Sailes in Louisiana.
Hamer was carrying a semi-auto Remington Model 8 rifle. He fired the first shot, which went through the windshield of the couple's car and hit Clyde in the head.

[Major 2]

Imagine"... Imagine all the people Living life in peace " > A dream you dream together is reality.."

Mark David Chapman murdered musician, former Beatle John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. Chapman fired five shots at the musician from a few yards away with a Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special revolver.

[Major 2]

Mr. Howard

Jesse James was shot to death by fellow gang member Robert Ford.
His gun was a S&W new model #3
Bob Ford had arranged with Missouri's governor to take down Jesse in exchange for a reward.
After Ford announced to authorities he'd killed the infamous outlaw, he and his brother Charlie were convicted of murder and sentenced to hang; however, the governor quickly pardoned them.
Coward That Shot Mr. Howard in the back, was himself shot to death in 1894 in a Colorado saloon.

[Major 2]

Aces and eights

Wild Bill Hickok made famous with his 1851 Colt Navys was carrying this S&W #1 when... 
Jack McCall entered the bar and shot Wild Bill in the back of the head at point-blank range.
McCall claimed that he was avenging the death of his brother, whom he claimed Hickok killed long before he moved to Deadwood. A claim never proven to be true.
McCall's first trial in Deadwood, a jury found him not guilty after just two hours.

In a second trial McCall was found guilty and was hanged on the first of March 1877, buried with the noose still around his neck.

It is said the gun Jack McCall used kill Wild Bill Hickok was a 7 1/2-inch Colt SAA 45LC Serial # 2079

[Major 2]

The gun that killed a monster

On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Third Reich, killed himself with a 7.65-millimeter Walther PPK pistol.
Terrified of falling into the hands of the Soviets, who were fighting their way through Berlin, Hitler first swallowed a hydrogen-cyanide capsule and then, at 3:30 P.M., shot himself firing a round from beneath his chin.
He was found alongside his new wife Eva Braun, who had also swallowed a cyanide capsule. They were slumped on a sofa.

It is believed that Hitler owned several PP & PPKs, This is but one
but the pistol he used on April 30 is long lost, possibly taken as a trophy by a Soviet soldier or kept and hidden by one of the last people to leave the Fuhrerbunker before the surrender of Berlin and the final collapse of the Third Reich on May 7.

[Major 2]

The golden gun of notorious Nazi Hermann Göring

Göring was an ace fighter pilot for Germany during World War I who became one of the most powerful Nazi leaders in World War II and a close friend of Hitler. He was in charge of the Luftwaffe, the German air force, which pummeled London during the Blitz and other European cities throughout the war.
The man with the golden gun liked to surround himself with the trappings of wealth and luxury and was infamous for looting the treasures of Jews during the Holocaust.

Göring was convicted of war crimes at Nuremberg but committed suicide before his scheduled execution.

[Major 2]

Pat Garrett's Colt

The gun used to kill notorious Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid has been sold for a record-breaking $6.03 Million Dollars according to American auction company Bonham.

[Johnny McCrae]

On one of my annual trips to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, I passed through Cody, Wyoming and visited the Buffalo Bill Museum. I was fortunate enough to see one of Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Navy Revolvers.
https://centerofthewest.org/2019/12/20/treasures-wild-bill-hickok-revolver/

[Major 2]

James Garfield

Less than four months after taking office, President James Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau.
Three months later, after improper medical examinations, Garfield died from the injuries he sustained during the assassination attempt on September 19, 1881.
The Gun was a Webley British Bulldog.442 revolver.

William McKinley

On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot twice by polis anarchist Leon Czolgosz while attending musical event in Buffalo, New York. The first bullet failed to cause any injury, but the second shot enter his stomach. McKinley died 8 days later on September 14, 1901.
The assassin's revolver was an Iver Johnson 32.

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[Major 2]

The end of Camelot 

Many of us can recall where we were that day, November 22, 1963
The alleged rifle was a 6.5×52mm Carcano Model 38 infantry carbine.

[Major 2]

Tom Horn

Legendary Indian fighter and allegedly killer of Willie Nickell, (well he was hanged for the mis-deed.)
This is his rifle he used the last few years of his life, an 1894 Winchester rifle serial #82,667