Vampire Gun

[Guest Verbal Kint]

In light of Halloween, I figured this would be a cool little piece to bring up. Not particularly my kind of thing, but the work that went into it is pretty cool.

Article : Guns And Ammo

Vampire Gun

The "Vampire Exterminator" Colt Detective Special was engraved by Colt master engraver Leonard Francolini and cased in a specially fabricated ebony casket.

That guns have been part of myths and mythology has been part of firearms history cannot be denied by anyone familiar with either genre.

Some time ago, a spectacular Colt Detective Special was offered up for auction at Butterfield & Butterfield in San Francisco, California, that more than proves the above aphorism.

The "Vampire Exterminator Gun," which was purchased as part of the Petersen Museum Collection, is one of the most spectacular—perhaps the most spectacular—examples of an embellished Detective Special extant.

As its name implies, its motif is in keeping with the legends of Dracula, himself. Engraved in 1975 by Colt master engraver Leonard Francolini, who claimed the gun was undertaken on the order of one Dr. Abraham van Helsing, the gun is entirely silver-plated. Decorations include elaborate scroll engraving that includes such designs as bats, dragons and tangled foliage of the type one might find on the weathered battlements of some Transylvanian fortress. The muzzle through which the bullet must pass is emblazoned with a cross, further strengthening its effect against the unholy undead. Even the traditional rampant colt is depicted as standing on a coffin. The smooth ebony grips are capped off by a silver band and lanyard ring and have two small bats inset into the lower left panel—presumably trophies of some successful anti-Nosferatu foray.

Clockwise from top left. 1)A dragon signifies the origin of the name Dracula-"Son of the Dragon." 2) Two small silver bats embellish the left grip panel. Two less vampires? 3) A sleeping bat nestles comfortably with the guns' cylinder flutes. 4) A cross at the muzzle sanctifies the bullet's travel to its unholy quarry.

The gun is cased in a scaled-down ebony casket by Jeffrey Brundege of Rogersville, Missouri. Its French-style, blood-red velvet lining has spaces for the revolver, a silver bottle engraved with "Holy Water" and an ebony cleaning rod that also serves as the handle for a supplied screw-on wooden stake. Too, there is a hidden mirror in the coffin lid used to identify the quarry—for as we all know, vampires cast no reflection.

At the small end of the container in the shape of a cross, are six .38 Special cartridges, the silver bullets of which are fashioned into meticulous likenesses of The Count.

The silver bullets have been fashioned into images of The Count. Included in the "kit" are a silver holy-water bottle and a combination cleaning rod and wooden stake.

Upon further examination of the box, we found two recovered spent bullets, which with the exception of the rifling engraving, were relatively pristine. We can only assume that these are the two bullets that accounted for the grip trophies.

Whether one believes in vampires or not, there is no question that this gun is one of the most evocative, mysterious and beautiful firearms creations of modern times.

[TGO David]

Weird!

[saintsfanbrian]

Vampires aren't killed with Silver Bullets - that's werewolves.

[Magiccarpetrides]

I think in some stories silver works too. The gun is beautiful.

[Guest eyebedam]

Its pretty neat.

[ShaunM]

yeah it's kinda cool, alot of work in it.

[Guest abailey362]

waaaaaaayyyy too much time on his hands. I wonder what it sold for at auction

[Guest eyebedam]

I like the detail on the bullets.

[fizik]

That's amazing. I would certainly like it if I had the money, that's a great presentation piece!

[Kano]

I saw one at Guns & leather about 11 Months ago ... if I hit the power ball might think about getting one

The Nighthawk Masters Edition looks like the same work...

Masters Edition The Masters Edition is not something new to Nighthawk Custom®, but we've never offered them publicly before. We have built a few for customers that wanted something that showcased the craftsmanship of our master gunsmiths. Since they were so well received, we decided to add them to our line.

The Masters Edition is completely hand built. The slide and frame are hand lapped. A match grade full-fit barrel is used, with each locking lug filed down by hand to get a lock up that is tight as a bank vault. Next comes the extractor, firing pin stop, safeties, etc. Each part is precision fit to make this gun a true work of art and form.

After the build process, we send it to a master engraver with over 20 years of experience in single action Colts. He applies a tasteful amount of hand engraving. Each one is signed by the engraver under the right grip panel. The gun is then sent off to have your choice of a hard chrome or a nickel finish applied, and when it returns, the engraving is inked in to really make it stand out. The grips are made from real elephant ivory tusks and the Nighthawk Custom® logo is laser engraved on each panel, or can be left blank if you prefer. After the weapon is completed, we put it in a dark green velvet lined mahogany locking case that is custom made for it.

[Guest flyfishtn]

Pretty neat.

[Guest voigts]

Those guns look too nice to fire and mess them up with carbon.

The vampire gun might as well use silver bullets so that you can take out the unwanted werewolf while you are at it. As we have seen in Van Helsing, if you see one, you may see the other.

[Guest wheelgunner100]

That gun pops up in magazine articles every 10 years or so. I know I've seen it at least twice. The detail is amazing, the bullets, the coffin shaped case, etc. I'd never shoot something like that but I would love to have it.

[Guest tlondon]

being a vampire and werewolf fan, I LOVE this gun. Its great!!!

[Guest canynracer]

I want one!

[MudBugjr]

I wish I could just engrave that well.

[Luckyforward]

wow . . .