1062

FULLY TRANSFERABLE COLT THOMPSON MODEL 1921A

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:75,000.00 USD Estimated At:150,000.00 - 500,000.00 USD
FULLY TRANSFERABLE COLT THOMPSON MODEL 1921A
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[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2026 Aug 05 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
PREVIOUSLY ON DISPLAY AT THE SPRINGFIELD MISSOURI POLICE MUSEUM, AS CONNECTED TO BONNIE & CLYDE'S DEADLY RAID IN JOPLIN, MISSOURI IN APRIL, 1933. Recently uncovered article from the 1960s recounting the horrific kidnapping of Officer Thomas Purcell closely ties this Thompson to the notorious outlaws Bonnie & Clyde. This may be one of the most exciting Thompson Submachine Guns to ever hit the auction block. Let's follow the stories chronologically. This Thompson, serial number 4208, was initially shipped to J.W. Townsend of Federal Armored Truck Company at the Tulsa Hotel, in Tulsa Oklahoma in the early 1930s, the same period of time that Bonnie & Clyde were gaining traction, as pointed out on page 421 of the book "Colt Thompson Submachine Gun Serial Numbers & Histories" by Gorgon Herigstad. As well as owning an armored truck company, J.W. Townsend was also the Chief of Police in Tulsa, from 1292 to 1934. The Thompson was reported have been stolen shortly thereafter. At the time, the "Barrow's Gang" were considered small time murderers & thieves, but would rise to become the infamous duo we recognize today. According to a reported interview, on January 26, 1933, while searching for a new automobile to steal, they got the attention of police officer Thomas Persell in Springfield Missouri. He pulled over to question them as they were idling on the side of the road and immediately became their latest hostage. They drove around with him for some time, while Bonnie Parker threatened to shoot him with a Tommy Gun they she bragged about stealing previously in Ohio. In an April 23, 1968 interview in the Springfield Leader and Press, Percell recounts his kidnapping; "Put ‘em up, you… or I'll blow your damn head off," Barrow ordered Persell. Barrow took the heavy Russian-model revolver out of Percell's holster and handed it to the other man -youth, rather – later identified as W.D. Jones. In the back Bonnie cradled a Thompson submachine gun in her lap." Percell continued;" The car was well stocked with guns. There were two sawed off shotguns, a couple of rifles, pistols too numerous to count, and this Thompson submachine gun. They were damn proud of it – like kids with their first toy. Said they stole it up in Ohio somewhere." 6 hours later, Percell was eventually released, 12 miles Northwest of Joplin. It has been reported to have been confirmed through newspaper accounts that a Thompson, with serial number 4208 was indeed previously stolen in Ohio during that time. Fast forward to the beginning of April, 1933, where the Barrow Gang had rented a garage apartment in Joplin, Missouri to lay low and rest up, following their latest crime spree. After 13 days they appeared to become restless, and their vacation turned into one of their most infamous encounters to date. Following complaints from neighbors about drunken parties & automatic gun fire, the Joplin Police organized a raid of who they suspected were bootleggers, and 5 officers headed to the hideout. It was there they found Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, Buck Barrow, Blanch Barrow & W. D. Jones who met them in a hail of gun fire. When it was all over, the Barrow Gang had killed County Constable Wes Harryman and Joplin Police Officer Harry McGinnis before escaping. According to varying reports & Lairmore family history, In the haste of their departure, they left behind jewelry, undeveloped photographs & some guns, including the Thompson Model 1921, and a Winchester Model 1897 12 Gauge shotgun. The photos were developed by the Joplin Police Department and distributed to media outlets nationwide & have since become synonymous with the outlaws. They included the famous photo of Bonnie with a cigar in her mouth as she leaned on one of their getaway cars, holding a revolver, and another pointing a shotgun at Clyde's chest. Bonnie & Clyde continued their crime spree running between Minnesota & Texas, where they had a harder time evading law enforcement since they were finally so recognizable. This continued until they were killed in a police ambush near Sailes, Bienville Parish Louisiana on May 23, 1934. The jewelry recovered from the Joplin raid is still on display today at the Joplin History & Mineral Museum. The Lairmore family, from Springfield, MO claimed that the recovered Thompson was gifted to their great grandfather, Mark Lairmore, a legendary Tulsa police detective who had been wounded in the leg during the failed raid on Pretty Boy Floyd in Bixby, Oklahoma in 1932. Detective Lairmore was the captain of a Police Department pistol team and he was in charge of the department arsenal, when he received the Thompson Submachine Gun from an unnamed police officer who seized them after the Joplin raid. It was then registered during the amnesty in 1968 by Mark Lairmore in the name of "Lairmore Armored Car Company" & it remained owned by the Lairmore family, on loan while on display at the Springfield Missouri Police Museum, from 1973 until 2011. We were provided with a copy of a 1973 newspaper article announcing the loan of both the Thompson SMG, and a Winchester shotgun from Mark Milton Lairmore, to Springfield Police Chief Gordon Loveland to be used during Crime Prevention Month, and later put on display at the Police Museum, by current museum curator, Rob Schroeder. It had been loaned to the Museum several times. Included in this lot is a copy of a loan agreement signed by Melton Lairmore & Terry Knowles, the Springfield Chief of Police. In 2006 the museum reached out to Gordon Herigstad indicating that this Thompson allegedly came from one of the officers involved in the ambush of Bonnie & Clyde near Joplin, Missouri in April of 1933. In 2011 It was returned to, and sold by the surviving members of the Lairmore family at auction by The Mayo Auction & Reality Company of Kansas City, MO, in January, 2012, along with the Winchester shotgun to the same buyer, who paid $210,000 for them. It most recently was on display at the Shooters Outpost Military Museum Collection in Hooksett, New Hampshire, prior being offered in the Poulin Fall 2026 Premier Auction. Cal. 45 ACP. S# 4208. Bbl. 10.75" Designated Model 1921A, was the base model with a ribbed barrel for cooling and no muzzle compensator. MAGS: 1 steel 50 rd. "L" drum & 1 steel 20 rd. stick mag. (marked (WPS). UNATTACHED ACCESSORIES: Original "Claw" style handcuffs photographed w/ Melton Liarmore from his police duty days, purple lined, fitted hard case w/ 2 front latches & 1 locking latch as well as 2 side latches, brass cleaning rod & opened box of Remington Arms Union Metallic 45ACP cartridges w/ mixed headstamps. Several printed pages of photos & newspaper articles related to Bonnie & Clyde and their exploits as well as some photographs, copy of 2012 invoice from 2021 sale at Mayo Auction & Reality, copies of the 1934 & 1968 registration forms, loan letter from Melton Lairmore to Springfield Police Chief Terry Knowles. CONDITION: Overall good honest condition. The metal finish has mostly turned to an even brown patina with some minor handling marks one would expect from a gun with such rich history. The straight grain walnut stock set has hand wear with scattered handling marks. The vertical foregrip is cracked at the top left and again at the rear of the lower palm swell. The pistol grip is sound with a ding on the bottom left side. The shoulder stock has numerous scattered light dings, handling marks and terminated with a smooth steel buttplate with trapdoor. Matching numbered trigger frame. Bright bore w/ light rifling. Fire control mechanism appears to function correctly when cycled by hand. PROVENANCE: Military Museum Collection of Shooters Outpost, Hooksett NH. NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT MG REQUIRING BATF TRANSFER BEFORE TAKING POSSESSION. FULLY TRANSFERABLE. (03-2212/JZ). CURIO CLASS III. $150,000-500,000.