A note about the FBI case being unbalanced: Saxophones are in themselves unbalanced, with a lot more weight towards the bottom. So having the case being unbalanced actually makes it much more authentic feeling. Source: I played saxophone
Yet, there's a difference between carrying a bent tube made out of thin brass and carrying a full-auto firearm made of steel and over 100 rounds of ammo
*Guy at the front patting everyone down (In 20s gangster voice): "Let me see that case...who are you?" Undercover Copper: "I'm the saxophone player." Gangster: "Say, what's the idea? This case is nice and balanced. Get him boys!" .... "Next. You who are you?" Undercover Fed: "I AM the saxophone player." Gangster (lifts the case): "Alright that's more like it. Let him through boys!"
Does the saxophone case lean to one end when you carry it? I'm wondering if this was done deliberately by the FBI so even the trained eye wouldn't notice
I love that purple police case, strong goth vibes. Put a cross inside and load those mags with silver bullets and it could have very well been a 1920's vampire hunter kit. - Sarge, another bank's been hit! - The National Bank? - No... the blood bank!
OMG I'm hurting from laughing!!!! I would pay good money to sit in a theater with a monster sized popcorn and watch "That"movie..... Filmed in a "newsreel style" B/W format, "Vampire Hunters of the '20's and '30's"....... About 130 minutes.... YEAH 👍!!! (Hollywood's studios need to get over themselves and make some decent funny movies. Again. )
Man, imagine finding one of these cases in an attic somewhere and then cracking it open expecting to find clothes or something but instead you find a pristine Thompson with a bunch of magazines. It would be like finding a treasure chest full of gold.
Just throw one of these in the trunk of the Oldsmobile with no seatbelts and get 6 mpg as you chain smoke on the way back from from your union job at the asbestos factory to your $50,000 4 bedroom 2 bath suburban home. The good old days.
Damn, my parents got quite the deal then...our first home: 3 bedroom, 2 bath, single car garage...$14,900. Those were the days. Even had a '57 Buick Roadmaster (with the 'Straight 8') as a backup set of wheels. 😁
I almost thought this was going to be like the briefcases for the MP5K and M10, where you could actually fire the weapon while it's contained. I was going to say, "I almost think carrying a Thompson would be more subtle than this!"
@@stevewilson6723, I've had people tell me, "The AR-15 is a weapon of mass destruction, and only the police and military should have them?" I always ask them, "Why would the police need weapons of mass destruction?"
If I had to guess, the reason the hard-sided cases weren't in the catalog is that keeping them in inventory would've required a good deal more warehouse space than the canvas cases. The hard-sided cases were likely made available for law enforcement purchases only because hard cases were a requirement for the FBI RFP since FBI agents were likely to do a bit of travel. Then other law enforcement agencies decided they wanted something like what the G-men were using, which likely explains why the police case is better balanced than the FBI case as it was designed/built later..
Not a violin case! A viola case. My M1A1 Thompson SMG, which I acquired in 1967 as a Patrolman on the Las Cruces (NM) Police Dept. for the princely sum of $87, with a waiver of the federal transfer fee, since I used it in my official duties. It fits perfectly in a viola case, without the mag inserted. A few years later, I went to work for El Paso PD and eventually retired after a total of 34 years in law enforcement. Carried the Thompson on many drug raids and high risk warrants.
Re: Violin cases. Many years ago I had the opportunity to inspect a violin case that had been modified to hold a cross-bow. Lined with red velvet of course and as I remember, it even had room for five bolts. But similar to these cases, it was just for transporting the weapon, not for any kind of "ready for action"-carry. My guess is the secret service wanted to have stackable boxes because they would most likely travel in larger numbers than say FBI agents, who on the other hand were perhaps more likely to travel by public/commercial transport where they would have to keep their gun with them at all time while still not making it too obvious that they were in fact heavily armed.
My sister had one for a clarinet when I was a kid. And I'll be damned, I can actually still remember the smell of the case now that you mention it. Just like the inside of my Grandma's old Buick Regal with gray velvet interior!
Very well done! However, I think you missed a point on the secret service case. The point of the 2 "pads" under the box magazines was to aid in pulling them out when they were loaded with ammo. A loaded magazine would no allow you to dig them out with your finger, so they put to risers under the central portion so you could press down at the top of the magazine which would lift the base of the magazine up and into the palm of your hand. This allows for quick access of the magazines, something you might need if you need the weapon in a rush. I also notice that with the flat orientation of the secret service case, it could easily store under the seat of a car and could be opened and assembled in your lap while riding in the car.
I really appreciate that all your videos have thorough subtitles. It's great for non-native speakers and people like me who just zone out sometimes while listening to someone talk. Great content as usual!
That was great Ian! I agree with you that accessories are sometimes just as much fun as the gun. You are right, the Secret Service case could easily pass for any old attache case.
You can see that the Secret Service had functionality in mind when they asked for a new case. No fluff on the inside, plus the ability to store the gun loaded.
In fairness I think you would have been able to do that with any of the cases with a bit more difficulty. The ss case with a loaded vertical foregrip gun probably be able to be pulled out 10 times easier in a hurry and shot without the stock
I do have to wonder, though, given the space that you can see on either end at 6:05, whether some enterprising SS agents might not have added framing to slot an additional pair of magazines at each end -- although I suppose that if the situation was such that you needed more than four magazines' worth of ammunition with the remainder of the detachment, you were much deeper in shit than four more magazines worth of ammo would get you out of. And four additional loaded magazines would be a noticeable weight addition to have to carry around.
Met a man who was a salesman for A-O many years ago. He had a similar case, blue interior, but it held 3 different size drums, 1 of each size stick mag, various tools, along with the separated firearm and buttstock.
As a woodworker, I was most intrigued by these cases. The police case, from a practical point, was over latched - that side latch really added no extra practical locking strength since you had basically 3 latches in the front. But that purple velvet! The FBI would of course be blue on the inside, fitting the practicality of a G-Man. The Secret Service case dispenses with all flash and dash and goes for straight up functionality. The corner guards on all the cases just keep the wood corners from making splinters (which would inevitably find their way into someone's hand). It looks like all these cases are made from plank wood, whereas today we'd be using a far more stable plywood construction. Other than that, both yesteryear and today, it' would be rabbet corner and panel joints, glued and nailed.
It brings to mind the old Jack Benny joke when he'd visit the White House during WW2. He'd be carrying a case and guards would ask him what was in it, he'd reply "a Tommy gun" and the guards would say "Oh good. We were afraid you were carrying a violin."
In re the Secret Service's corporate culture: back in the late '80s/early '90s, my high school vice-principal's brother was a Secret Service agent. Somehow he was convinced to come in and give a talk to my senior year American Government class, during which he spent a whole class period _not_ telling us about his job and _not_ answering questions. I didn't mind, because AG was first period and I was never really awake anyway, but I heard tell that there was some grumbling between that class's teacher and the vice-principal in the teachers' lounge that afternoon. :)
better be prepared for the price if they make them or we can reduce the human population so these things you want them to make would be cheaper. well, less demands!
@@hoppinggnomethe4154 Many of those sorts of product are already at very low demand, which actually contributes to the high expense. Low demand -> low production volume -> lower economy of scale -> higher unit price.
The first thing I thought of was the Thompson case in Road to Perdition. Although that one appears to be a modified leather suitcase with green velvet, and which required more disassembly of the gun (I pulled up the movie to see it again). It also didn't have a place for either box mags or a drum, which had to be carried separately.
These are very cool cases! They are all excellent "Luggage", even though they are Transit Cases by spec. As a 'Wood Working Hobbyist' I am going to re-tool my case for My M1A as an artisan walnut (plywood) case, lined with purple velvet, several spots for mags, cleaning kit, and whatnot. A Beastly weapon deserves matching luggage 🧐...!! And why not?! It's no wonder the Secret Service case has Spartan Elegance. They have nothing that is not purpose built for absolute function over form.
Thanks for sharing. I also like the Reising M50 case; it's very similar to the Secret Service case (lays flat). Mine still has an intact Federal Laboratories sticker on it.
the side latches would make me more confident in picking the thing up without those bottom latches popping off and dumping the whole thing. the secret service case makes a lot more sense than the other two for actual use, while the other 2 feel like they go on a shelf, then the back of a car then back on a shelf
Back about 1978, when I wa a paramedic, the city gas pump was at the police HQ, One day when I walked in to fill out the gas log, one of the police sergeants was doing a quarterly inventory of the odds and ends that was in the value and one of those odds and ends was a Reising SMG in a red velvet lined carrying case.
Those cases remind me of the Federal 37mm gas guns we used up until the 90's at my police department. They had cases like that. Extremely well thought-out and excellent construction. I want to ask what happened to them but I'm afraid someone might have thrown them out, which I'd rather not know about. The Thompsons we had up until the 80's when they were sold to a collector, but no cases for those.
Yours is the second comment I saw about Thompsons being in law enforcement service past WWII. Last post was in the 1960's. I never knew they were in service for that long. I thought everybody got rid of them after WWII
My Department had two Thompsons and a Reising, along with two 30-30 Winchesters, that were the only "heavy weapons" available, when I started there in 1984. They were sold off to collectors to pay for brand new MP-5s for the newly created swat team, sometime around the late eighties. I remember the Thompsons had a heavy canvas case, a couple stick mags and at least one drum. I got to fire a mag through one of them once. Good times. Old memory. ( Central Calif Coast)
one of the other potential advantages I see with the secret service case is that it can be carried with a magazine in the gun, allowing for faster engagement with threats in the case of presidential protection since you don't necessarily need the stock to fire the gun
Years ago, I was able to inspect a hardcase, not sure if it was police of FBI, but it was configured to hold two 20-rnd mags and the C-drum instead of the L-drum. I have no idea of its origins, but it wasn't a recent repro.
Really wish you would've talked about when the secret service used them, by the way you mention the catalog I can kinda infer sometime around the early half of the 1900's
Funny that you mention violin cases. My Gibson Les Paul sleeps in her case which has clasps, latches, handle and velvet padding that is identical to what you are showing here. There is even a compartment for cleaning material and spare strings.
I saw the cases at the start of the video and thought “Wow that looks a LOT like my case for my 1923 Beuscher C-Melody” glad to see my eye wasn’t wrong
Collecting gun cases has to be a seriously nerdy obsession. I bet there is (or was) a collector whose life would have been made temporarily perfect by the location of an authentic cleaning rod and parts kit to complete the police case. The history of how the Secret Service case came to be out would probably be fascinating, if it ever was revealed.
@@parrotraiser6541 The case (in this case) was more for compactness while traveling than for long term storage. 'Factory built' (Steyr) Mannlicher Schoenauer Take Down Models used the old Westley Richards system by which the entire barrelled 'action' lifts from the stock with removal of a forend pin and turn of a catch in front of trigger guard. It's a dandy bit of kit.
Me, an average guy: “Huh. These are actually pretty neat!” Also me, a child of a self-proclaimed professional paranoid, who also watches a TON of LockpickingLawyer and Deviant Ollam(sp?): “Why are the hinges on the OUTSIDE of the case instead of the INSIDE? Weren’t these folks aware that you could just knock the hinge-pins out and get to the gun? They HAD to have known!”
The case is for concealing the firearm, not for storing it securely. They had and still have armories for secure storage, and those are infinitely more secure than any case which can be pried open anyway (these wooden ones sure can, some steel cases would obviously be more resilient against destructive entry methods).The police, FBI and secret service aren't forgetting machine guns around (It'd be better than Christmas if they did though).
the secret service case is the best of the three i think , if i would make a case for a smg i don´t want it when it´s open it can fall over and hurt somebody or worse.
Obviously the secret service case is the best of the three, but even it still had a flawed design. Would have been cool if they had a magazine holder that swiveled and locked into place, or possibly two, one on each side.
Not sure about the other cases, but the secret service case would allow for a 20rd magazine to be fitted in the Thompson when in the case. So the case could be quickly opened, gun lifted clear, cocked and fired with just the fore grip and pistol grip in use without the buttstock for quick deployment!
'Road to Perdition' featured either an FBI or police case - I'd have to watch the movie again to tell which. An amazing amount of work went into that movie to make it period correct.
Cool! My father as policeman seized one a few decades ago that was illegally imported and fully functional.. he always mentioned a red velvet interior lining.. not sure if red really existed or he got confused with the violet one
I love it when this channel is Forgotten Weapons Accessories. I think a lot about the "gun culture", if you will, of the time can be said by what people are offering to put your guns in or your ammo in or in your guns or on your guns or whatever. Accessories like that can be honestly more interesting than the guns sometimes. SOMETIMES.
A note about the FBI case being unbalanced:
Saxophones are in themselves unbalanced, with a lot more weight towards the bottom. So having the case being unbalanced actually makes it much more authentic feeling.
Source: I played saxophone
Very cool
Yet, there's a difference between carrying a bent tube made out of thin brass and carrying a full-auto firearm made of steel and over 100 rounds of ammo
@@jackmcslay Balance, not weight
*Guy at the front patting everyone down (In 20s gangster voice): "Let me see that case...who are you?"
Undercover Copper: "I'm the saxophone player."
Gangster: "Say, what's the idea? This case is nice and balanced. Get him boys!"
....
"Next. You who are you?"
Undercover Fed: "I AM the saxophone player."
Gangster (lifts the case): "Alright that's more like it. Let him through boys!"
Does the saxophone case lean to one end when you carry it? I'm wondering if this was done deliberately by the FBI so even the trained eye wouldn't notice
I love that purple police case, strong goth vibes. Put a cross inside and load those mags with silver bullets and it could have very well been a 1920's vampire hunter kit.
- Sarge, another bank's been hit!
- The National Bank?
- No... the blood bank!
I could see that happening.
lol cool idea
"I kick arse - for the lord!"
@@flyingninja1234 i wana se a movie about it now
OMG I'm hurting from laughing!!!!
I would pay good money to sit in a theater with a monster sized popcorn and watch "That"movie.....
Filmed in a "newsreel style" B/W format, "Vampire Hunters of the '20's and '30's"....... About 130 minutes....
YEAH 👍!!!
(Hollywood's studios need to get over themselves and make some decent funny movies. Again. )
Man, imagine finding one of these cases in an attic somewhere and then cracking it open expecting to find clothes or something but instead you find a pristine Thompson with a bunch of magazines. It would be like finding a treasure chest full of gold.
Only with a potential "felony possession of unregistered machinegun" charge attached.
@@distalradius8146 spot the fed
@@johnh8212 Lol, How many dogs do you own?
@@distalradius8146 don’t ask….don’t tell 😏
Just throw one of these in the trunk of the Oldsmobile with no seatbelts and get 6 mpg as you chain smoke on the way back from from your union job at the asbestos factory to your $50,000 4 bedroom 2 bath suburban home. The good old days.
Don’t forget your non-beef hormone, battery farm/fed chicken for supper.
asbestos 😂
LoL 🇺🇸😁
I didn't realise Americans had discovered the technology to get 6 mpg to this day
Damn, my parents got quite the deal then...our first home: 3 bedroom, 2 bath, single car garage...$14,900. Those were the days.
Even had a '57 Buick Roadmaster (with the 'Straight 8') as a backup set of wheels. 😁
I almost thought this was going to be like the briefcases for the MP5K and M10, where you could actually fire the weapon while it's contained. I was going to say, "I almost think carrying a Thompson would be more subtle than this!"
lol...the Thompson is _many_ things, subtle is not one of them. 😉
Ectsactly same thoughts.😱🤣🤣🤣
Or the guitar-case(s) in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico".... looking for the trigger in the handle....
Like the idea - yay...
🙂😎👍
I was also thinking it would be like this haha.
I love that the Thompson was touted by government as a "gangster gun" while also issuing it to police, FBI, and Secret Service.
Just like today, THEY can have guns, even heavily armed private security escorting their children into a school, but YOU can't have a gun .
They are gangsters too just with the -ters part
Just like a semi-auto AR-15 is an assault rife but a full-auto SBR AR-15 is considered a PDW or a personal defense weapon.
The big-time alphabet gangsters didn't want competition from the freelance gangsters.
@@stevewilson6723, I've had people tell me, "The AR-15 is a weapon of mass destruction, and only the police and military should have them?"
I always ask them, "Why would the police need weapons of mass destruction?"
If I had to guess, the reason the hard-sided cases weren't in the catalog is that keeping them in inventory would've required a good deal more warehouse space than the canvas cases. The hard-sided cases were likely made available for law enforcement purchases only because hard cases were a requirement for the FBI RFP since FBI agents were likely to do a bit of travel. Then other law enforcement agencies decided they wanted something like what the G-men were using, which likely explains why the police case is better balanced than the FBI case as it was designed/built later..
Not a violin case! A viola case.
My M1A1 Thompson SMG, which I acquired in 1967 as a Patrolman on the Las Cruces (NM) Police Dept. for the princely sum of $87, with a waiver of the federal transfer fee, since I used it in my official duties. It fits perfectly in a viola case, without the mag inserted. A few years later, I went to work for El Paso PD and eventually retired after a total of 34 years in law enforcement. Carried the Thompson on many drug raids and high risk warrants.
Nice, I wonder if that ever happens today
@@firstnamegklsodascb4277 LEOs carrying their own firearms? yeah. it does.
Wow, back when the $200 tax stamp made any lick of sense. Now it’s just pure hassle
@@1rbdfl I'm talking about owning their own machine gun
What’d you have to do with it when you retired?
Re: Violin cases. Many years ago I had the opportunity to inspect a violin case that had been modified to hold a cross-bow. Lined with red velvet of course and as I remember, it even had room for five bolts. But similar to these cases, it was just for transporting the weapon, not for any kind of "ready for action"-carry.
My guess is the secret service wanted to have stackable boxes because they would most likely travel in larger numbers than say FBI agents, who on the other hand were perhaps more likely to travel by public/commercial transport where they would have to keep their gun with them at all time while still not making it too obvious that they were in fact heavily armed.
Some of the more fun videos you've done are on subjects like this. Please continue to cover the oddities of cases, hidden guns, and the like.
After a quarter-century as a musical instrument repairman, I can smell those cases from here.
I was thinking the same thing! Old band instrument cases and old guitar cases have "that" smell!
I was thinking the same thing! Old band instrument cases and old guitar cases have "that" smell!
My sister had one for a clarinet when I was a kid.
And I'll be damned, I can actually still remember the smell of the case now that you mention it.
Just like the inside of my Grandma's old Buick Regal with gray velvet interior!
@@smorrow Mimeograph ink smells purple, Pepto Bismol tastes pink.
Lots of cool guns and gear out there but a custom-cased Thompson with all its related kit raises the bar to a whole other level.
Very well done! However, I think you missed a point on the secret service case. The point of the 2 "pads" under the box magazines was to aid in pulling them out when they were loaded with ammo. A loaded magazine would no allow you to dig them out with your finger, so they put to risers under the central portion so you could press down at the top of the magazine which would lift the base of the magazine up and into the palm of your hand. This allows for quick access of the magazines, something you might need if you need the weapon in a rush.
I also notice that with the flat orientation of the secret service case, it could easily store under the seat of a car and could be opened and assembled in your lap while riding in the car.
I really appreciate that all your videos have thorough subtitles. It's great for non-native speakers and people like me who just zone out sometimes while listening to someone talk. Great content as usual!
it gets even better if you can truly understand what Ian is saying
That was great Ian! I agree with you that accessories are sometimes just as much fun as the gun. You are right, the Secret Service case could easily pass for any old attache case.
I love that police case, its gorgeous. Makes me want to make similar cases for all kinds of items around the house.
" baby have you seen the blender ?"
You can see that the Secret Service had functionality in mind when they asked for a new case. No fluff on the inside, plus the ability to store the gun loaded.
In fairness I think you would have been able to do that with any of the cases with a bit more difficulty. The ss case with a loaded vertical foregrip gun probably be able to be pulled out 10 times easier in a hurry and shot without the stock
I do have to wonder, though, given the space that you can see on either end at 6:05, whether some enterprising SS agents might not have added framing to slot an additional pair of magazines at each end -- although I suppose that if the situation was such that you needed more than four magazines' worth of ammunition with the remainder of the detachment, you were much deeper in shit than four more magazines worth of ammo would get you out of. And four additional loaded magazines would be a noticeable weight addition to have to carry around.
@@seanmalloy7249 wouldn’t surprise me if boxed ammo wasn’t stuff in those areas at one point or another
Met a man who was a salesman for A-O many years ago. He had a similar case, blue interior, but it held 3 different size drums, 1 of each size stick mag, various tools, along with the separated firearm and buttstock.
As a woodworker, I was most intrigued by these cases. The police case, from a practical point, was over latched - that side latch really added no extra practical locking strength since you had basically 3 latches in the front. But that purple velvet! The FBI would of course be blue on the inside, fitting the practicality of a G-Man. The Secret Service case dispenses with all flash and dash and goes for straight up functionality. The corner guards on all the cases just keep the wood corners from making splinters (which would inevitably find their way into someone's hand). It looks like all these cases are made from plank wood, whereas today we'd be using a far more stable plywood construction. Other than that, both yesteryear and today, it' would be rabbet corner and panel joints, glued and nailed.
“Saxophone, not that far off from a violin” made me lose it. Love the videos!
It brings to mind the old Jack Benny joke when he'd visit the White House during WW2. He'd be carrying a case and guards would ask him what was in it, he'd reply "a Tommy gun" and the guards would say "Oh good. We were afraid you were carrying a violin."
When your kid takes the wrong saxophone case to his band concert.😂
If you want to be totally cool, carry your violin around in a Thompson case.
In re the Secret Service's corporate culture: back in the late '80s/early '90s, my high school vice-principal's brother was a Secret Service agent. Somehow he was convinced to come in and give a talk to my senior year American Government class, during which he spent a whole class period _not_ telling us about his job and _not_ answering questions. I didn't mind, because AG was first period and I was never really awake anyway, but I heard tell that there was some grumbling between that class's teacher and the vice-principal in the teachers' lounge that afternoon. :)
“The Secret Service is not a big fan of its stuff being in the public eye” that would seem to include their text messages all these years later.
I wish modern companies made old fashioned steel and wood guns in wood and velvet cases. Now everything is plastic and cardboard...
better be prepared for the price if they make them
or we can reduce the human population so these things you want them to make would be cheaper. well, less demands!
@@hoppinggnomethe4154 Many of those sorts of product are already at very low demand, which actually contributes to the high expense.
Low demand -> low production volume -> lower economy of scale -> higher unit price.
@dimapez truly the joys of capitalism
@dimapez And it is the still the least bad system.
It's all about balance.
@dimapez Gotta love those industrial monopolies.
Looks like that Secret Service case also has room on each end for a box or two of .45ACP.
The first thing I thought of was the Thompson case in Road to Perdition. Although that one appears to be a modified leather suitcase with green velvet, and which required more disassembly of the gun (I pulled up the movie to see it again). It also didn't have a place for either box mags or a drum, which had to be carried separately.
I'm a big fan of sound gear cases. Ian's interest in how cases work is something I highly respect.
Being unbalanced does have one advantage, in a dark room you instantly know the orientation of the gun and where the catches will be
These are very cool cases! They are all excellent "Luggage", even though they are Transit Cases by spec.
As a 'Wood Working Hobbyist' I am going to re-tool my case for My M1A as an artisan walnut (plywood) case, lined with purple velvet, several spots for mags, cleaning kit, and whatnot. A Beastly weapon deserves matching luggage 🧐...!!
And why not?!
It's no wonder the Secret Service case has Spartan Elegance. They have nothing that is not purpose built for absolute function over form.
That velvet is typical of instrument cases, so a holdover from the Sax.
As the old saying goes, “Accessories make the man“, or in this case, the gun. Awesome video, Ian!
Now I really want to see how Ian plays a saxophone!
Get out of my face or taste the Thompson in this case!
My fav gun :D
Thompson SMG with drum mag
A saxophone case? I can almost see Homer Simpson trying to convince Lisa to carry this while singing "Saxamachinegun! Saxamachineguuuuuunnn!"
Now I want to build gun boxes out of Roadie Box components, "what's inside?", "my boss's amplifier"
Everyone was scared by how loud my saxophone compared to the other instruments at the theater.
Only Ian could make me sit through an entire video about literal boxes, and still not get bored
Thanks for sharing. I also like the Reising M50 case; it's very similar to the Secret Service case (lays flat). Mine still has an intact Federal Laboratories sticker on it.
I guess a drum mag sticking out the sides would make the gun pretty difficult to conceal under a coat.
The secret service case is the sort of case that makes you go "ooooo~" every time you open it
Very interesting information, thank you for your time posting this.
the side latches would make me more confident in picking the thing up without those bottom latches popping off and dumping the whole thing. the secret service case makes a lot more sense than the other two for actual use, while the other 2 feel like they go on a shelf, then the back of a car then back on a shelf
Back about 1978, when I wa a paramedic, the city gas pump was at the police HQ, One day when I walked in to fill out the gas log, one of the police sergeants was doing a quarterly inventory of the odds and ends that was in the value and one of those odds and ends was a Reising SMG in a red velvet lined carrying case.
Fascinating. Love all things Thompson. Thanks for sharing.
Those cases remind me of the Federal 37mm gas guns we used up until the 90's at my police department. They had cases like that. Extremely well thought-out and excellent construction. I want to ask what happened to them but I'm afraid someone might have thrown them out, which I'd rather not know about. The Thompsons we had up until the 80's when they were sold to a collector, but no cases for those.
Yours is the second comment I saw about Thompsons being in law enforcement service past WWII. Last post was in the 1960's.
I never knew they were in service for that long.
I thought everybody got rid of them after WWII
@@MrYfrank14 My dept had 30 of them until 1983
@@samuelcolt502 - I have heard from a lot of people like you. I am shocked to learn Thompsons were in service for that long.
My Department had two Thompsons and a Reising, along with two 30-30 Winchesters, that were the only "heavy weapons"
available, when I started there in 1984. They were sold off to collectors to pay for brand new MP-5s for the newly created
swat team, sometime around the late eighties. I remember the Thompsons had a heavy canvas case, a couple stick mags
and at least one drum. I got to fire a mag through one of them once. Good times. Old memory. ( Central Calif Coast)
Thank you for the info, always very interesting!
I actually like the Police one best.
one of the other potential advantages I see with the secret service case is that it can be carried with a magazine in the gun, allowing for faster engagement with threats in the case of presidential protection since you don't necessarily need the stock to fire the gun
Years ago, I was able to inspect a hardcase, not sure if it was police of FBI, but it was configured to hold two 20-rnd mags and the C-drum instead of the L-drum. I have no idea of its origins, but it wasn't a recent repro.
I wonder if the FBI was trying to move weight toward the muzzle end and away from the receiver. Cool to see these, I love cased guns of all kinds.
These FBI guys always drive in a fancy schmancy car, they will never have to carry that somewhere. Just open the trunk. /s
Always thought the secret service stuff was fascinating. Thanks for the vid! Maybe more in the future?
Man I can't resist a Thompson video
i've never seen the secret service model, so that was pretty cool.
Really wish you would've talked about when the secret service used them, by the way you mention the catalog I can kinda infer sometime around the early half of the 1900's
absolutely an awesome peek at all three setups.
If he doesn't mention violin cases I'll be disappointed...
(He did, I'm satisfied, should've known to trust Ian)
Exactly right!
Funny that you mention violin cases. My Gibson Les Paul sleeps in her case which has clasps, latches, handle and velvet padding that is identical to what you are showing here. There is even a compartment for cleaning material and spare strings.
These kinds of videos are really quite fun. Thanks!
Thank you , Ian .
🐺
I saw the cases at the start of the video and thought “Wow that looks a LOT like my case for my 1923 Beuscher C-Melody” glad to see my eye wasn’t wrong
I had a Beuscher C Sax decades ago.
Collecting gun cases has to be a seriously nerdy obsession. I bet there is (or was) a collector whose life would have been made temporarily perfect by the location of an authentic cleaning rod and parts kit to complete the police case. The history of how the Secret Service case came to be out would probably be fascinating, if it ever was revealed.
My M1910 Mannlicher Schoenauer Take Down Model has its original fitted case.
@@-oiiio-3993 For a nice civilian hunting rifle, storing it in a fitted case would be a sensible choice.
@@parrotraiser6541 The case (in this case) was more for compactness while traveling than for long term storage.
'Factory built' (Steyr) Mannlicher Schoenauer Take Down Models used the old Westley Richards system by which the entire barrelled 'action' lifts from the stock with removal of a forend pin and turn of a catch in front of trigger guard.
It's a dandy bit of kit.
Whenever I don't go to the end on your videos it's because you have already answered my questions.
It looks like the Secret Service case would work with a 20 round magazine in the gun. That would speed things up considerably.
I'm sort of surprised that the SS at least didn't have one that fired from inside the case like later versions for MP5s etc.
Looks like the FBI case will allow an inserted ready-to-go magazine too.
Was hoping this would be a another suitcase gun
Absolutely! I just love vintage accoutrements! The older, the better! Do a whole show on the subject!
It's well known that firearms enthusiasts are frequently into sax and violins.
Oh la la swanky. The best description of a velvet lined box ever
Briefcase guns!! I have to imagine somebody spent time trying to figure how to fire the gun from inside the case.
Yes tell us more about these sort of specialised items I love em.
Me, an average guy: “Huh. These are actually pretty neat!”
Also me, a child of a self-proclaimed professional paranoid, who also watches a TON of LockpickingLawyer and Deviant Ollam(sp?): “Why are the hinges on the OUTSIDE of the case instead of the INSIDE? Weren’t these folks aware that you could just knock the hinge-pins out and get to the gun? They HAD to have known!”
The case is for concealing the firearm, not for storing it securely. They had and still have armories for secure storage, and those are infinitely more secure than any case which can be pried open anyway (these wooden ones sure can, some steel cases would obviously be more resilient against destructive entry methods).The police, FBI and secret service aren't forgetting machine guns around (It'd be better than Christmas if they did though).
Note on the relative cost of the case - that's about a half ounce of gold.
So, my reproduction "FBI" case is actually a repro police case. Guess I should be happy since it balances the gear better.
I have a gun in a violin case. It's no Thompson, but it's fun all the same. Keeps it and related accessories all together in one place.
Thanks again Ian for finding us some more very interesting stuff, your doing a great job.
5:43 "These wood... " I'll see myself out...
Nice little bit of esoteric tomfoolery. Perfect for a Thursday. Cheers Ian.
"Swanky". Love it.
Those velvet lined cases are impossibly cool
I thought I saw a video once with a larger FBI case that had one of the 100 round drums and two 50 round drums plus the four 20 round mags.
the secret service case is the best of the three i think , if i would make a case for a smg i don´t want it when it´s open it can fall over and hurt somebody or worse.
Obviously the secret service case is the best of the three, but even it still had a flawed design. Would have been cool if they had a magazine holder that swiveled and locked into place, or possibly two, one on each side.
Ian’s next Three boxes match is sorted.
Now this is what makes the firearm hobby AWESOME! 😊
Not sure about the other cases, but the secret service case would allow for a 20rd magazine to be fitted in the Thompson when in the case.
So the case could be quickly opened, gun lifted clear, cocked and fired with just the fore grip and pistol grip in use without the buttstock for quick deployment!
'Road to Perdition' featured either an FBI or police case - I'd have to watch the movie again to tell which. An amazing amount of work went into that movie to make it period correct.
Man, wonder what the story behind the Secret Service Thompson SMG case ending up at Morphy's was.
🎶Tommy gun. You ain't happy unless you got one.🎶
(TV Commercial, 1962)
@@LD-Orbs that must have been where Joe Strummer got it from in 1978.
These cases are amazing!!! I'm planning to make a custom case for my C96 and the accessories I have for it.
A Saxophone Case for a Chicago Typewriter
It's Chicago, what'd you expect? 😀
Great video, thank you!
Cool!
My father as policeman seized one a few decades ago that was illegally imported and fully functional.. he always mentioned a red velvet interior lining.. not sure if red really existed or he got confused with the violet one
Might've been a custom job. According to movies, the coppers and G-men weren't the only ones hauling around Chicago typewriters.
They were probably lined with whatever color the factory had enough of on hand that day.
Gorgeous cases.
Good for the brass section in a jazz band...
I love it when this channel is Forgotten Weapons Accessories.
I think a lot about the "gun culture", if you will, of the time can be said by what people are offering to put your guns in or your ammo in or in your guns or on your guns or whatever.
Accessories like that can be honestly more interesting than the guns sometimes.
SOMETIMES.
Very cool, love this kind of stuff
Wow great video. Love going over accessories. More coming ? I hope so