$350,000 Bid Wins Gun Fatal to Jesse James

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | November 12, 2003 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Scenic Sounds]

ANAHEIM – The gun that killed outlaw Jesse James sold at auction for $350,000.

The .44-caliber Smith & Wesson was purchased Monday by an out-of-state absentee bidder who requested anonymity, said Brian Maize, spokesman for Little John's Antique Arms Inc., which organized the auction.

The gun attracted more than 20 bidders.

Maize said the top bid was a record for a Western history firearm. The previous high was the $240,000 paid in 1998 for a pistol used by outlaw "Blackjack" Ketchum.

Bob Ford, a late recruit to James' gang of bank, train and stagecoach robbers, killed James April 3, 1882, in St. Joseph, Mo. The nickel-finished revolver was made about 1875.

[45Auto]

New Model Smith and Wesson .44 Russian (replica from navy Arms)

[45Auto]

The 1875 Smith and Wesson Schofield was cahmbered in .44-40., among other calibers.

[45Auto]

Nickel plated Smith and Wesson Model 2 with a shortened barrel from 1875.

[Inyo-Mono]

I believe the Schofield was only chambered in .45 S&W caliber.

[Inyo-Mono]

Robert Ford used a .44 caliber Colt SAA "Peacemaker" revolver...

I think you're right. I have a book at home that shows Ford holding a Colt "Frontier Model" (as they were originaly called) and the caption says that it was the revolvwer used to kill James.

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

Robert Ford used a .44 caliber Colt SAA "Peacemaker" revolver... I think you're right. I have a book at home that shows Ford holding a Colt "Frontier Model" (as they were originaly called) and the caption says that it was the revolvwer used to kill James.

It's the Time Life series on the Old West. It shows Robert Ford holding a SAA Colt in his left hand (he's sitting in the photo). THAT book claims that he was posing with the gun he used to pop Jesse James in the back of the head. The book could be wrong (it's Time Life, after all), but it does claim that that's the gun. In any event, I'd want documented proof, before I paid big $$$$ for anything like that.

I own a Remmington Pepperbox .32 derringer that was made in the early 1870s. MAN, if only it could talk!!! The damn thing still fires .32 rimfire rounds that have not been made since the 1920s. I have a box of .32 rimfire "shorts".

[Inyo-Mono]

I own a Remmington Pepperbox .32 derringer that was made in the early 1870s. MAN, if only it could talk!!! The damn thing still fires .32 rimfire rounds that have not been made since the 1920s. I have a box of .32 rimfire "shorts".

Whatever you do, don't fire smokeless rounds in it, it will come apart. I used to have an old Smith & Wesson No.2 Army form 1868 that fired .32 rimfire.

[Yardstick]

Oddly worded headline. I wonder if the San Diego Union-Tribune has some sort of prohibition against putting the word "killed" in headlines. The first sentence in the article's body says "the gun that killed Jesse James" which would be the more natural way of putting it. On the other hand, saying that a gun killed someone is an anthropomorphism along the lines of those SUV stories that Rush likes to point out.

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

Whatever you do, don't fire smokeless rounds in it, it will come apart. I used to have an old Smith & Wesson No.2 Army form 1868 that fired .32 rimfire.

I made the gun dealer test fire it with .32 rimfire shorts (it worked fine). They sold it as a shooter thinking that I couldn't find .32 rimfire rounds (idiots). It's actually chambered for .32 rimrire "longs" (black powder, of course). I have 10 rounds of .32 rimfire "longs" and about 100 .32 rimfire "shorts". I was thinking of having a friend re-load them with black powder, so I could fire the short rounds, while keeping the longs.

In any event, an antique gun that can be proven to fire is worth more than a mere relic. I kept the 4 spent .32 rimfire "short" casings.

[Scenic Sounds]

You're right, it is a little awkward. Maybe they have a policy that headlines never use the word "killed" immediately following the word "gun." It's a pretty conservative paper. ;-)

[wardaddy]

"They did it for Dixie and nothing else"

...well besides the money that is.

[wardaddy]

LOL...very good..

[Yardstick]

Maybe they have a policy that headlines never use the word "killed" immediately following the word "gun".

I'll bet that's what it is. Besides being a grammar goof, saying "a gun killed" feeds into the notion that gun crime is a "things" issue rather than a "people" issue, and conservatives know this isn't the case. So kudos to them for their policy (...if that's what it is).

[wardaddy]

http://slickaz.tripod.com/amopist.htm

for old cartridges for old (no ATF bullshite required) firearms...courtesy of Inyo Mono a few months back.

[Inyo-Mono]

You are right about antiques. I have an 1897 Iver Johnson .38 in near mint condition. Works perfectly and I fire it often (with black powder rounds). Plus if a gun is 1898 or older it is not considered a "firearm" by the Feds; no paperwork!

[Swordmaker]

For Jesse James, death came at the hand of one of his own gang members in 1882. Jesse had laid his pistol and cartridge belt to one side and then decided a picture on the wall needed to be straightened. While Jesse stood on a stool and adjusted the picture, Bob Ford pulled his .45 from under his coat and shot Jesse.  As he swayed and toppled from the stool, Bob Ford must have realized that his life would be worth nothing if Jesse were to live, so he pumped four more shots into him. Jesse fell, gripping his back and his chest in the agony of death as the .45s tore into his body.

It is alleged that a new model No. 3 Smith & Wesson .44 Cal. Russian was the weapon used by Robert Ford to kill Jesse James. According to Joseph Rosa in Guns of the American West, a sworn affidavit by Robert Ford indicated that he used a single action .45 Colt Peacemaker, SN 50432.

[familiars]

I agree because I’m the great great nephew of Robert ford and I am trying to find this gun so help find this gun