The Banker's Special is an odd and interesting piece of handgun, revolver history. Made only in the first half of the 20th century, it is now highly collectible with most of the original inventory having been destroyed.
The RMS PO marked Banker’s Specials are highly coveted and collected -not to mention pricey. The build quality is the reason many old Colts are so collectible. It’s nice to see younger people interested in old firearms and their history.
Just sold one of these today chambered in .22 LR from my deceased father’s collection. Was worth as much as my 2.5 inch .357 colt python with both fetching a solid grand. Still, very cool though was really happy to find out this was a nice gun that my dad may have used when he was a cop in the 50’s
@@ObjectHistory he didn't say anything about a black jack but he did talk about this vise grip thing they used that he called "the claw" that would go around someone's wrist and he talked about almost breaking someone's arm with it. he worked for the new jersey state police, the whole department seemed kinda sketch to me. but hey that's the past for you
@@vksasdgaming9472 that’s all relative to what one finds important or “good”. In my case it truly was the good ole’ days. Modern society is a slow burning dumpster fire. 👍🏼
@@SHOT_GUNNER I don't think lead poisoning, lung cancer, rampant alcoholism, racism and abuse combined with general lawlessness and violence were "good ole' days".
@@ObjectHistory I've never seen one in the flesh, only photos and reproductions. They also made a Sheriff's model which may have been the same gun in larger calibers.
Maybe not all bankers, sir. A retired commercial banker here and I still love shooting my small collection of 38 Special snub nose revolvers occasionally.
@@noahbianchi1920 Nice to know you like snub nose revolvers, too. My favorite is my vintage Smith Model 60 in 38 Special only. Enjoy yours. Happy New Year!
@@scooterbob4432 Revolvers have become my favorite again. I was taught on revolvers by old men, including lawmen that carried 38 specials the first couple decades of their service. I recently bought an old Rossi copy of a S&W model 30 in 32 s&w long, to appeal to the banker side of me. I have plans to get a 38 special and possibly a bull dog 44 special in the next few months. Happy New Year to you too!
@@noahbianchi1920 I used to have a S & W J-frame 38 S & W but sold it as ammo was hard to find and expensive in my area. I bought a Charter Arms Undercover 38 last year to add to my small collection. The bull dog 44 will, of course, have a louder bark. Get both and enjoy them.
this is not a revamped or renamed DS. this is built on the same shorter frame that the Police Positive is. which is the predecessor of the Police Positive Special, which uses a longer frame to house the 38 special round ( which gave birth to the Detective Special ). the bankers special is a short barrel Police Positive . some people preferred the slightly smaller and lighter frame to the longer PPS. eventually the longer framed DS won out and this model was discontinued.
Your videos and book have led me to come up with a hypothesis - that more reliable pocket sized firearms spurred the development of fist sized impact weapons. In the historical record, we don't see many pocket sized impact weapons (knuckledusters, blackjacks, etc) in common usage until pistols become reliable and common enough to be pocket sized and carried. This is because any pocket sized pistol can outreach the longest sword or spear, and it is better to be within his reach and continue to deal potentially lethal blows. Hell, brass knuckles basically got their start in the American civil war. Saps, blackjacks, brass knuckles - all of them are capable of crushing bones and dealing a potentially instantly fatal blow to the head at grappling distance, to shut down a firearm.
Very interesting thought. I do think small firearms becoming common made it less likely to carry a larger weapon like you say. The biggest part to me though is the coming of the modern world. There was a time before that when it was socially acceptable to wear a sword with your street clothes. For instance the rapier famously started as the espada ropera (sword your wear with regular clothes, not a uniform of war). Or the cinquedea in Northern Italy would be another example. Once that change happened with weapons overall, not just swords, pocket weapons of all kinds like knuckles, saps and small knives exploded in popularity. As you know, with saps in particular, sandbags had been used by street criminals since well before handguns were common. They wanted something that could put someone to sleep for mugging purposes but be carried in a pocket. Sailor slungshots I think it’s clear were also commonly carried before the time handguns were a real player on the street. But more modern saps and jacks do seem to become popular right in line with this kind of firearm. A lot of people seemed to have carried them in combination… here’s my very lethal pocket tool and here’s my non-lethal one.
@@ObjectHistory I essentially agree with everything that you say, social changes towards concealed carry were a huge influence. But what’s interesting to me, is that saps and knuckles were used in open war where weapons are not concealed. Why would paratroopers need brass knuckles and saps when a longer melee weapon would do? I propose, in the age of firearms, these weapons are a kind of “anti-reach” weapons, wherein they get inside the measure of a mans pistol arm / bayonet. It’s very difficult to wrestle with a man and draw a shorter weapon when he’s crushing your bones with strike after strike.
Robber comes to bank and every clerk is also armed. So they offer him a job in bank. Eventually every person working in Bankrobber's Bank is bankrobber who tried to rob Bankrobber's Bank. Thus company dress code demands every employee to wear nylon stocking on their head. No-one has successfully robbed Bankrobber's Bank. Seems bit of strange that Colt rebranded already successful revolver for new market as it really isn't that interesting weapon. Seems more like weird labeling choice for same product. Bank robbery has more or less become a joke and even before rise of electronic banking it was simply stupid crime to do. Odds of getting caught were big, plausible loot was quite small and many robbers were nothing short of bumbling fools.
@@tshannon237 It's a relative term I guess. 35,000 were made but across different caliber types so the .38 only had so many made over a 20 year period that ended with WWII. Not very rare but not easily had either I'd say.
