Justice is served

[Hardcase]

George Washington Rains' Spiller and Burr revolver is back in the museum where it belongs.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/18/tennessee.civil.war.revolver/index.html

Here's an interesting story about the "Bomb Brothers".

 

[pohill]

Does anyone know what the serial number was?

 

[sewerman]

happy ending
as a kid i had a whitey (sp) .36 cal revolver but thought it worthless since the only pictures i ever saw in the books were of colts 1851 & 1860.....it was pretty beat up and painted silver but would like to have it now just for history sake...traded for a stevens rolling block .22rifle in not much better shape.
oh well, win & lose life goes on..........
s.n.

 

[arcticap]

There were a significant number of Colt Collection guns stolen and illegally traded by an employee of the CT State Library around 1980. When it was discovered it was big news because it was a trusted state employee and it took such a long time to uncover.

For example in the photo below, there's 2 experimental Colt guns listed as having been illegally traded, #8 & #10. There were many others too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctarchives/5075295224/

 

[Hardcase]

There were a significant number of Colt Collection guns stolen and illegally traded by an employee of the CT State Library around 1980.

Thievery of any kind really gets my goat, but that sort of stealing breaks my heart. The custodians of our history have a special trust and virtually all of them are top notch people who do what they do for the love of the job. But that tiny, tiny percentage who take advantage of their position don't just break that trust. Beyond the physical value of the artifacts that are lost and beyond the intangible value of the lost history, the museum must divert precious funds to additional security or, perhaps, just limit access to those artifacts that remain.

Many years ago, thieves broke into the Idaho State Historical Society and stole the silver set from the battleship USS Idaho. It was a gorgeous, priceless piece of our history and it was probably melted down for a few dollars an ounce. It still gets me wound up.

 

[darwins]

I grew up in the same town where the John M. Browning Firearms museum is. About 15 years ago, if memory serves, somebody walked in off the street while the museum was open, went into the display where all the machine guns are set up, unbolted an M1919 from the floor, and carried it out over his shoulder. Nobody even batted an eye. Now there is a glass case around the exhibit. As far as I know the machinegun was never recovered and they sorely miss it from their exhibit. That was a very sad day.