What would you carry in 1933?

[Nightcrawler]

Let's go back in time some seventy years. What guns would you have in your personal collection given what was available at the time?

Anything that you can't get today that you'd really want?

Anything made today that you'd really miss?

For me...let me think.

A 1911A1 in .45ACP would be in there. As would be either a Colt or a S&W 1917 in .45ACP.

A Smith & Wesson or Colt revolver in .45 Colt (if I could find a smokeless powder loading for .45 Colt that met or beat the blackpowder load a 250 grain bullet at 900+ fps ).

Shotguns? That's easy. A Winchester 97 Trench Gun.

Rifles?

A Winchester 1886 lever rifle in .45-70. A Winchester 1895 in .30-06.

And, just for those days when I felt like lugging around a twenty pound machine rifle, a Browning Automatic Rifle, M1918.

And, of course, the ubiquous 1928 Thompson Submachine Gun, .45ACP.

 

[c_yeager]

What 1933 arsenal is complete without a first generation Colt Detective Special? Oh and put me down for one of those Winchester model 97's too. I want mine in "trench gun" garb.

 

[Lone Star]

Why 1933? Go a few years along, and you can add the .357 Magnum (1935) and the Winchester M70 rifle. (1937)

I discussed the guns seen in TV's syndicated series, "The Lost World" on that program's forum site a few times. If it goes to a fourth season, which is looking more likely, I'll probably try to interact wth the creative consultants and do a gun story for a shooting magazine. www.lostworldtv.net Check the forum archive pages. (Click on "Message Boards" when you get the main site display.) I post there as Explorer. We've had several gun discussions. Check local TV listings for the program, or catch it every weekday morning on TNT cable channel at 6:00AM Central time. Wonderful sci-fi adventure show, with basically authentic guns for the period!

I speculated which guns I'd take to a remote plateau in the Amazon circa 1920, and they included a Colt .45 SAA or two, a Rigby .275 (7X57mm) or Westley Richards .318 (7mm might be banned as a military caliber), and a S&W .44/40 Hand Ejector. The last was to get a wider case rim than on the .45 Colt, and the .44/40 was loaded hotter than the .44 Special, and could be used also in a Winchester M92. Also, I knew from Sasha Siemel's jaguar hunting books that .44/40 ammo would be available. I'd like a .500 Nitro Express by H&H for the larger dinosaurs found on the Plateau.


1933 would allow for S&W's .38/44 Heavy Duty revolver, and their classic M&P .38 would have better heat treating than in older examples.

Lone Star

 

[Greg L]

I would carry a wad of cash to buy a whole bunch of classics that weren't recognized as such and put them in a crate for my future grandson. He could then use them to pay off the house instead of hanging out online on a Saturday morning pretending to work.

Greg

 

[cool45auto]

Pretending to work also.

I'd definetly want a 1911 Colt and a BAR.

 

[El Tejon]

The Colt Monitor by greatgrandfather used against the Klan.

For a pistol, a 1911 is my choice, then as now.

 

[Chris Rhines]

Carry? In order, a Sauer M38 in .380, a Savage 1907 .32, or a Remington PA51 in .32ACP.

There would be a S&W .44-40 HE in my collection, along with a .44-40 Double Action Frontier model and a 1911A1 or three.

Lots of Winchester leverguns, a Sharps .45-110, another Sharps target rifle in .30/38-72 (a jacketed .30 caliber bullet in a necked-down .38-72 case.) A Thompson or two. Maybe a BAR to carry around in the trunk of my fliver.

I'd have fun.

- Chris

 

[webley455]

1911 in 38Super, Det Spec .38 special, Winchester in 30.06,Browning auto in 12 and a S&W 1917

 

[Sven]

1911

 

[Boats]

The choice is as easy then as it is now: The Model 1911A1. On the 1933 model I'd have some better sights welded onto it.

The grips on most of those "old timey" double action revolvers reveal their single action roots and positively suck. Exhibit A would be the ergos on a Colt M1917 I recently had the opportunity to shoot. Yeech.

 

[Kharn]

A good, Ol' French ChauChat. Nobody would mess with me cause they would either think I was totally friggen nuts, or actually got the thing to work and was thus on the level of JMB.
I'd also have a 1911 IWB just in case somebody doesnt know what a Chauchat is.

Kharn

 

[Crimper-D]

Broomhandle Mauser with holster stock

Probably a C96 or a Red 9, but I wouldn't turn down a FA one with detachable mags.
An NRA Springfield Model 1922 target .22 and a few Ainsley Fox sxs's in 12, 16 and 20ga would be really nice, and of course a Sedgley customized Springfield 03 in 30-06 with a Litschert scope mounted

 

[Justin]

Hmm, easily a couple of 1911's, a Colt 1908, a couple of .38 revolvers.
Maybe a Webley Mk.6.
Probably a Webley-Fosbery Auto-Revolver.
Definately a Thompson.

Some sort of shotgun, maybe the aforementioned trench gun, but with a twist: This being 1933 I'd send that badboy to a smith and have him chop the barrel back to 14 inches and reattach the bayonet lugs.

That's assuming I had no foreknowledge of what was to come.
If I did, you can bet that the number of Thompsons would be multiplied, and there would be a BAR or three as well.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Very simple...

Smith & Wesson Military & Police in .38 Spl., or perhaps a Heavy Duty in .38/44.

Shotgun? Probably an 1893 or a Model 12, but there were quite a few other choices, such as the Browning Auto 5.

Rifle? Savage 99.

 

[Tommy Gunn]

Two Colt 1911 .45 pistols and a 1928A1 Thompsen .45 caliber SMG.

 

[Erik Jensen]

what year did the NFA go into effect?

 

[Jason Demond]

Beretta92F: 1934

Colt 1911A1
BAR
Tommygun

 

[Pawcatch]

Ithaca Auto/Burglar gun
Maybe a H&R Young American as a pocket gun
1911 as a primary sidearm,of course.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I'd want a bunch of High Standards and Colt Woodsmen to bring back to the future.

 

[cobb]

I would be carrying a 1911 in 45 acp, a 1895 in 45-70, and a A5 or possibly a model 97 12 ga.
When did the 1911 get chambered in .38 super, I may opt for that instead of .45 acp in the 1911.

 

[mgjohn]

1911
BAR
Thompson
Winchester Model 12
1917 S&W/Colt revolver

 

[ambidextrous1]

A great thread!

I got here too late; I agree with what you guys said!

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

1911 (none of them newfangled a1's, either)

auto-5

a 1903 with reciever sights

 

[JoshM]

Brno ZB26

1911 or 12ga Coach gun

Captured German Bergmann M 18, would be very cool

In 1933 New Zealand it was a case of .303 Empire builder or nothing in regards to rifle ammunition. Exotic rifle calibers were normally imported and very pricey.

 

[Archie]

1933?

Colt Government Model in 45 ACP; maybe one in Super 38.
S&W Triple Lock in 44 Special. Colt SAA in 44 Special.
Pair of S&W M&Ps in 38 Special. Probably two inchers (but I don't remember when they came out... not that hack saws weren't already invented.)
A Colt Woodsman, or whatever it was called in those days.

Winchester 1892 in .44 WCF for a carbine. Possibly a Remington Model 8 in .35 Remington. Maybe a Winchester Self loader in .351 WSL.

Savage 99 in .300 Savage for a rifle.

Probably a large bore black powder cartridge gun for any really large critters.

If'n I could afford it, a .375 H&H caliber bolt gun of some kind.

For a shotgun, probably an L. C. Smith double. In 12, of course.