Gun Horror Story--no, really

[cnorman18]

Not what you're expecting.

It's worse.

Many years ago, a friend of mine--the owner of our local gun shop in central Texas--was standing at the counter of his shop when a friend, a police officer, came in carrying a brown paper bag. "I want to show you something," he said, "but I want to warn you--it might make you cry." then he pulled an object from the bag. It was a sawed-off shotgun.

My friend was puzzled. Then he looked closely. And sure enough, tears came to his eyes.

It was a custom-made, fully engraved sidelock double from James Purdey & Sons of London. Or used to be.

(For those who don't know, Purdey & Sons have been handcrafting arms for over 200 years. Every gun they make is handmade from scratch. You might say they have a waiting list: if you bring in your newborn son and pay a substantial deposit--their plain-Jane guns start at around $50,000--they will guarantee delivery by his 40th birthday. The only customer who gets faster service is the Queen.)

This gun cost a minimum of $125K and probably took five years to build, by the greatest gunmakers in the world--and some punk stole it, and took a hacksaw to those perfect rust-blued barrels that looked like midnight-blue glass, and to that hand-rubbed curly maple stock that looked like it grew around the gun, and cut it down to rob 7-Elevens for chump change.

(sob)

I told you...

 

[supraneurotoxin]

I sure would like to know what came of afore-mentioned punk, I hope he got his comeuppence.
my heart did a little twist when I read this story. no kidding.

 

[larry_minn]

Dang. Once I saw where it was going I wished I had not clicked on this thread.

My hope is POS punk stuck it in his bagy pants and it went off and removed his ability to procreate.

 

[torpid]

Not to be too big a jerk, but I have to ask how the heck did it end up being stolen by someone who robs 7-11s?!!!

For a minimum 5-year wait and a $125k lighter wallet, you'd need to be a classy British cat burglar from a 1930's movie to expertly lift it from my Bond-villain laser-shark patrolled security system!

 

[El Tejon]

Maybe he could only afford agitated sea bass after dropping 125K on the shotgun? The sharks take permits and red tape, Dr. E.

 

[Cougfan2]

Not as bad as this one, but my boneheaded cousin traded a nice old Winchester pump action .22 of my Uncle's for a case of beer at a party.

 

[CWL]

cnorman18,
do you know what ever happened to this shotgun? Something so valuable would definitely have been reported to police and insurance claimed against the loss.

This SG could have been returned to Purdy for replacement of stock & barrels -not that I'd have any clue what that would have cost.

 

[Ghost Tracker]

Purdey & Sons shotguns almost bring a tear to my eye when they're in pristine condition! I don't know that my old heart could stand seeing one mutulated like that. It's like using a Aston Martin as a Manure Spreader.

 

[Technosavant]

Oh.

My.

Word.

I bet that punk had no idea what he had done. It's like stealing a Bentley for use in a demolition derby or wiping your rear with the Mona Lisa. Sure, it will work, but you'd be better off just selling the thing.

 

[FourTeeFive]

Might be a bit of an urban legend

This sounds like a twist on a documented case from the UK. Some thieves broke into a very high-end auction house and stole a number of things, including a shotgun similar to the one mentioned in this story. They sold the gun to some other thieves who ended up cutting it down to use for an armed robbery.

In that context the story makes much more sense, since weapons are relatively hard to find in the UK to be able to steal.

 

[ROMAK IV]

Well, not quite as bad, but I saw someone turn in a Humpback Browning automatic shotgun into a church gun turn in for $50. Hopefully, it was purloined from the church bfore being cut up.

 

[MrTuffPaws]

I once saw pictures of an original 1897 trench gun that someone put ghost ring sights and a pistol grip on. I think they also did something like put a nickel finish or something equally ghastly as well. I wished I saved the photos.

 

[Il Duca]

(Sniffle) Why? (Sniffle)

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Am I a sissy for sheding a tear?

 

[cnorman18]

That's all I know.

I wish I could answer your questions, guys, but that's all I know about it. I can tell you it's not an "urban legend", though, because I got it from the gun shop owner himself a few days after it happened. He was still P.O.ed about it, too.

Urban legends usually have an "appropriate" ending, anyway--like if the punk had test-fired the gun and a picture of Teddy Roosevelt fell off the wall and killed him. Would that it were so...

 

[xsquidgator]

The sad sequel to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels!

 

[alucard0822]

not too different from the line of old widows at the gun buybacks with their late husbands WWII treasures and memorabilia, Garands, lugers, the occasional broomhandle mauser, and some idiot handing out sneakers, or gift cards, gleefully melting down tangible history, "for the childeren". That is a real situation that keeps happening, I think it is more of a tragedy that rapidly deplenishing historical arms are destroyed, by threatening their owners on a fixed income to turn in firearms unknown to them to be worth thousands. I don't think the guy who allegedly lost the purdley would be out much more than a higher estate insurance premium. He knew what he had, and let it get away from him. Basically the owner of the purdley was wronged by a single criminal, the old ladies at the gun buybacks are repeatedly wronged by a system full of them.

 

[10 Ring Tao]

This makes me a sad panda.

 

[glockman19]

Sad very sad.

The stupid criminal could have just sold the classic to someone and probably made more than his entire take with it.

 

[Nolo]

Oh, man...
As much as I like sawed-off shotguns...
That's just...
Wrong.
Wrong on so many levels. Like using the Mona Lisa for scratch paper or blowing you nose on the original Declaration of Independence or turning an original 16th-century cabinet into a doghouse...
*tear*
*tear**tear*tear*
*sobs*
*wailing*
*flooding from the enormous amounts of tears shed*
*dialing emergency services for all the flooding*
*drowning noises*
*silence*

 

[Fred Fuller]

In Angola in the 1970's, Greek mercenary Costas Georgiou (aka "Colonel Callan") was reported to have hacksawed the barrels down on a Purdey (IIRC) and used it to execute at least one of his own 'soldiers.' Crimes compounded by crimes, is all I can say... but it does happen.

lpl/nc

 

[Husker1911]

Reminds me of the old story of a crook performing armed robberies with a stolen Singer 1911A1, worth tens of thousands of dollars. Don't know if it's true, but makes for a great "dumb crook" story.

 

[Hoppy590]

reminds me of "Lock Stock and two smoking barrels"

 

[Tokugawa]

I heard a similar story about a guy bringing in a Holland double and asking the gunsmith school to cut it down for a defense weapon. Obviously, they refused.

 

[Gunnerpalace]

I was just talking with my father over this along the lines of "I am sure some drug dealer bought a Holland & Holland and sawed it down" well just more evidence that for a criminal nothing is valuable including expensive items and life, Sad.