Vol. VIII No. 2

American ‘Gangster Gats’: Illicit Automatic Conversions of the Winchester Model 07 Self-loading Rifle in the 1930s

Hans-Christian Vortisch

Abstract

In the 1930s, one or several ‘gangland armourers’ converted Winchester Model 07 semi-automatic rifles into automatic carbines or sub-machine guns. The former used the original .351 Winchester cartridge, extended box magazines, and commercial compensators; whilst the latter made use of the 9 × 19 mm Parabellum cartridge, modified Luger T.M.08 drum magazines, and commercial sound suppressors. These converted automatic firearms were seized from several gangs and individual armed robbers in the United States throughout the decade. The author illuminates the history of these unusual gangland weapons by tracing the technical aspects of the conversions, their origins, and their criminal use and seizure by law enforcement agencies.

Issue: Vol. VIII No. 2
Published: 31 December 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52357/armax41181
Peer-reviewed?: Yes

Keywords: Winchester, sub-machine guns, sub-machine guns, automatic weapons, automatic conversions, suppressors, criminal use of firearms

Bibliographic Information

Hans-Christian Vortisch, ‘American ‘Gangster Gats’: Illicit Automatic Conversions of the Winchester Model 07 Self-loading Rifle in the 1930s’, Armax: The Journal of Contemporary Arms, Vol. VIII № 2 (2022), pp. 25–54, <https://doi.org/10.52357/armax41181>.

About the Author

Hans-Christian Vortisch is a German researcher specialising in firearms and their use in the interwar period, firearms used by criminals, and tracking official inventories. He holds a Master’s degree in English and Scandinavian Studies from the Freie Universität in Berlin. He is currently trying to trace all sub-machine gun use by American criminals in the years between 1921 and 1939.