Sunday, July 05, 2009

In Honor of "Public Enemies"

As a salute to the film "Public Enemies" I took my Colt Pocket Hammerless Model 1908 .380 ACP out of the safe and sent a box of very expensive Mag Tech JHPs down range at 7 yards. The .380 ACP Model 1908 is supposedly the pistol that John Dillenger was packing when J. Edgar's G-Men and the East Chicago, Indiana police detectives gunned him down around the corner from the Biograph Theatre on N. Clark Street in Chicago. I was impresses with the firearms research done for the film. They got it right with all firearms used being correct for the period. I was less impressed with the historical license they took as they showed some things out of chronological order and just plain made-up other stuff in the movie.
I love the Model 1903 .32 ACP and Model 1908 .380 ACP Pocket Hammerless pistols. They show a standard of workmanship that would be too expensive to replicate in a mass produced pistol these days. I have written about the model 1908 pistol shown above before so if you want more information on it use the search function in the sidebar to the right.

6 comments:

Z@X said...

Whoa! Nice looking piece!

tawcat said...

Joe as always you do one heck of a review.

Would you ever consider doing a review on maybe a Kel Tec P11 or PF 9?

Thanks for all you post, I really enjoy reading them.

Average Joe's Handgun Reviews said...

Tawcat, the PF9 was reviewed on Sunday, February 10, 2008. Go back and you'll find what you are looking for.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed all the Thompson action in that movie about John Dillinger and it all looked pretty correct with one exception: Melvin Purvis seemed to have a Thompson with a thirty round magazine at one point. I thought the 30 was a WWII era innovation.

Steve C said...

I have a 1903 I'd like to get the same work done on. Does the gunsmith Mike still work at Impact Guns?
Thanks

Average Joe's Handgun Reviews said...

Steve C.

It is my understanding that he no longer works there and last I heard he was trouble shooting computers instead of firearms. Any competent gunsmith should be able to help you out. Ask for recommendations at local gunshops in your area.