Infamous Assassination Weapons from History

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 11/1/2017 | M Rothschild

[w1n1]

Famous weapons used in assassinations and attempted assassinations often become lodged in pop culture lore. Firearms like the Carcano rifle used to kill John F. Kennedy or the pocket Derringer that shot and killed Abraham Lincoln are well-known, infamous, and can be identified by almost anyone.

But many other assassination weapons aren’t especially familiar. For example, the pistol that started World War I might be the most famous individual firearm in history, yet almost nobody knows what it is.

Likewise, the rifle that felled Martin Luther King Jr. is a common hunting rifle with millions of copies sold – but do you know what it actually is? What about the guns that have killed other presidents, prime ministers, and historical figures?

Here are 10 of the most famous weapons used in assassinations and attempted killings in the past 100+ years. Before that, assassins mostly made due with knives, swords, and poison. The invention of small handguns changed the world and created the most common means of assassination.

1. Single-Shot .44 Caliber Philadelphia Derringer
   
   Despite being less than six inches long, the Derringer used by John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Abraham Lincoln was a hugely powerful weapon, known as a “pocket cannon.” Booth was able to hide it in his pocket until the fateful moment where he shot Lincoln in the head.
2. Webley British Bulldog .442 Revolver
   
   Deranged lawyer and office-seeker Charles Guiteau shot and killed President James Garfield on July 2, 1881 with a Webley British Bulldog .442 revolver.
3. FN Model 1910
   
   Designed by John Browning and made in Belgium, the 9 millimeter FN Model 1910 was the pistol used by Serbian national Gavrilo Princip to shoot and kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand, kicking off the complex chain of events that lead to World War I.
4. 6.5 mm Carcano Model 91/38 Carbine
   
   Likely history’s most famous individual weapon, the Carcano rifle used by Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President John F. Kennedy was made in Italy in 1940. Read the rest of the infamous assassination weapons from history here.

[MrEdd]

Poorly done. Or at the very least poorly titled.

[bgill]

Rental trucks and commercial airplanes.

[Haiku Guy]

Squeaky Fromme, who attempted to assassinate Gerald Ford, was a follower of Charles Manson, not Patty Hearst.

[kearnyirish2]

What about the ice pick used on Trotsky?

[Bonemaker]

“Squeaky Fromme, who attempted to assassinate Gerald Ford, was a follower of Charles Manson, not Patty Hearst.”

I think she used an M1911.

[Bonemaker]

“What about the ice pick used on Trotsky?”

An alpen stock.

[kearnyirish2]

It was much smaller than that.

[Geronimo]

My grandfather had a Webley revolver from WWII, it was the first handgun I ever held...it had a break barrel design instead of a side wheel...one of my uncles got it when grandpa passed...

[Bonemaker]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pistol_used_by_%22Squeaky%22_Fromme.JPG

[elcid1970]

Much dispute over what model pistol was used by Gavrilo Prinzip to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in 1914. For years it was said to be a .32 cal. Browning 1900, now a model 1910 in .380 is believed to have been used.

That said, it was eerie to watch the 100th anniversary observance of the assassinations in Sarajevo in 2014. Modern Serbs dedicated a statue to Prinzip then watched as a reenactor walked through the city square in a 1914 style suit and fired two shots into the air. The crowd cheered as though the four years of horrific warfare that followed Prinzip’s act hardly mattered.

[DanielRedfoot]

Willful ignorance and a voting booth...

[nonsporting]

Cain used a rock in the first assassination.