John Dillinger robbed banks with a Thompson submachine gun and carried Colt pistols, including full-auto 1911s built by the same Texas gunsmith who armed Baby Face Nelson. He broke out of an “escape-proof” jail with a fake pistol carved from wood, hid a Remington .41 derringer in his sock, and his gang stocked up by raiding police arsenals for machine guns and bulletproof vests. On the night the FBI killed him outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater, he reached for a small Colt pocket pistol and never got it out.
Some of those guns have since sold for more than $95,000. Here’s every one of them, the story behind each, and what their modern equivalents cost.
Table of Contents
John Dillinger’s Guns at a Glance
| Gun | Where it turns up | What happened to it |
|---|---|---|
| Thompson submachine gun | East Chicago robbery, Crown Point escape, St. Paul shootout | Three seized in Tucson in 1934 |
| Lebman full-auto Colt 1911 | Bought from Hyman Lebman in San Antonio | Two of his were recovered in 1934: in St. Paul and at Little Bohemia |
| The wooden gun | Crown Point jail escape, March 3, 1934 | Three claimants; one sold for $40,625 in 2019 |
| Remington .41 double derringer | In his sock at his Tucson arrest | Sold for $95,600 in 2009 |
| Colt .380 automatic | His right trouser pocket at the Biograph | He reached for it and never fired; the FBI kept it |
| Bulletproof vests | Stolen from police stations in Indiana | Stopped four bullets at East Chicago |
The Gang’s Arsenal: Robbing the Police
Dillinger was paroled from the Indiana State Prison in May 1933 after about eight and a half years for a small-town grocery robbery, and a month later he robbed his first bank. The men he’d met in prison broke out soon after with guns he’d arranged to have smuggled in, and together they became the first Dillinger gang.
John Dillinger’s gang got most of its guns by stealing them from the police. According to the FBI, the gang “plundered the police arsenals at Auburn, Indiana and Peru, Indiana, stealing several machine guns, rifles, and revolvers, a quantity of ammunition, and several bulletproof vests.” In April 1934 Dillinger and Homer Van Meter took a Warsaw, Indiana, police officer hostage, marched him into his own station at gunpoint, and walked out with more guns and more vests. The police were, in effect, the gang’s armorer.
Dillinger’s Thompson Submachine Gun
The Thompson was Dillinger’s bank gun. At the First National Bank of East Chicago, Indiana, on January 15, 1934, he walked in with a leather case, took out a Thompson and told the room, “This is a stickup.” When a police officer came in, Dillinger took his pistol, emptied it and handed it back. “You oughtn’t be afraid of this thing,” he said of the Thompson. “I ain’t even sure it’ll shoot.”
It did. As Dillinger left using hostages as shields, Patrolman William O’Malley fired four times at him from about 20 feet. The bullets bounced off Dillinger’s bulletproof vest, according to accounts of the Dillinger Gang. Dillinger was said to have shoved his hostage aside and fired back, and O’Malley fell dead, though the FBI says only that Dillinger “may have killed” a police officer and the identity of the killer is still debated. It was the only murder Dillinger was ever charged with, and he never stood trial for it.
When Tucson police caught the gang in January 1934, they seized three Thompsons, two Winchester rifles converted to fire as machine guns, five bulletproof vests and more than $25,000 in cash. Real Thompsons from that era are registered machine guns now, but Auto-Ordnance still builds the semi-automatic 1927A-1 on the same pattern. Our guide to buying a Tommy gun explains your options, and the Prohibition gangster guns guide covers the whole era.
The Remington Derringer in His Sock
When Tucson police arrested him, Dillinger had a Remington .41-caliber double derringer hidden in his sock, a tiny two-shot over-and-under pistol first made in the 1860s. It’s one of the few Dillinger guns with a public price: it sold at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas in July 2009 for $95,600, more than double its estimate, to a Los Angeles-area collector.
Bond Arms builds the modern version: a stainless two-shot derringer in calibers from 9mm to .45 Colt and .410 shotshells. Our best derringers guide ranks them, and for a deep-concealment backup gun with more than two shots, see the best pocket pistols.
The Wooden Gun: Dillinger’s Crown Point Escape
Dillinger was flown back to the Lake County jail in Crown Point, Indiana, to stand trial for O’Malley’s murder. Officials called the jail escape-proof. On March 3, 1934, during morning exercise, Dillinger pulled out what looked like a pistol, locked up the guards and trusties, took two machine guns, and drove off in the sheriff’s own car. The FBI’s account says he “cowed the guards with what he claimed later was a wooden gun he had whittled.”
Whether it really was wood is still argued. A trusty he took hostage believed he carved it with a razor from shelving in his cell. A deputy insisted the gun was real, and an investigator for Dillinger’s lawyer later claimed to have smuggled it in himself. The stolen car ended up mattering more than the gun. Driving it across the Indiana-Illinois line made the escape a federal crime, which brought the Bureau of Investigation into the hunt.
Three Wooden Guns, One Escape
At least three wooden guns have been claimed to be the real one, and two of them have sold at auction.
- Heritage Auctions, December 2009: a carved gun with “Colt 38” cut into the side, from the belongings of Dillinger’s younger brother Hubert, sold for $19,120.
- RR Auction, September 2019: a hand-carved revolver blackened with shoe polish, with two metal tubes for a barrel and a bent metal trigger guard, sold for $40,625. It came with a notarized letter from the son of FBI agent Melvin Purvis saying the gun had been in the Purvis family home for nearly 40 years.
- At least one more has been claimed, and even the auction houses acknowledge the competition.
The Lebman Machine Pistols
Like Baby Face Nelson, Dillinger shopped at Hyman Lebman’s gun shop in San Antonio, Texas. Lebman’s specialty was a Colt 1911 converted to full-auto fire, with a compensator, a Thompson-style foregrip and a long magazine, often chambered in the fast .38 Super round that could beat the early police vests. Two of Dillinger’s own Lebman Colts were recovered in 1934, one in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 31 and one he left behind at Little Bohemia. We cover Lebman and his “baby machine guns” in detail in Baby Face Nelson’s guns.
The .38 Super 1911 is still made, and it’s a favorite of competition shooters. Colt’s Government in .38 Super is the classic, and cheaper .38 Super 1911s are covered in our best 1911s under $1,000 list:
Little Bohemia: The Raid Dillinger Walked Away From
John Dillinger’s closest call before the Biograph came at Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, on April 22, 1934. J. Edgar Hoover’s Bureau of Investigation got a tip that the gang was there, and agents moved in that night. It went badly. Dillinger, Van Meter, John Hamilton and Tommy Carroll escaped through the unguarded back of the lodge and got away in a commandeered car. Baby Face Nelson killed Agent W. Carter Baum a few miles away, and a civilian died in the raid. Dillinger left one of his Lebman machine pistols behind, and the FBI traced it back to Lebman’s shop in San Antonio. The lodge is still open as a restaurant, with the bullet holes still in its walls.
The Bulletproof Vests
Dillinger wore stolen police armor, and it saved his life at least once. At East Chicago, O’Malley’s four shots all hit the vest. The gang’s appetite for vests was a big reason they kept robbing police stations, and Van Meter talked Dillinger into the Warsaw raid by telling him he knew where to find some. Modern soft armor is far lighter and stops more, and it’s legal for most civilians to own. Our best body armor for home defense guide explains what to buy.
The Biograph Theater: The Gun Dillinger Never Fired
By July 1934 Dillinger was living in Chicago under the name Jimmy Lawrence. Brothel owner Ana Cumpănaș, known as Anna Sage, went through the East Chicago police to Melvin Purvis with a deal: she would tell them where he’d be if they helped her avoid deportation. On July 21 she told them that she, Dillinger and his girlfriend Polly Hamilton were going to the movies, and on the night she wore an orange skirt and white blouse so agents could spot her. The press later called her “the Lady in Red.”
They saw Manhattan Melodrama, with Clark Gable, at the Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue. When the movie let out at about 10:30 p.m., Melvin Purvis lit a cigar to signal his men. Dillinger realized what was happening, and in the FBI’s words, “grabbed a pistol from his right trouser pocket as he ran toward the alley.” Agents Charles Winstead, Clarence Hurt and Herman Hollis fired. The FBI says five shots were fired and three hit him. The fatal bullet entered the back of his neck. He was pronounced dead at 10:50 p.m. Winstead was widely believed to have fired the fatal shot, though the FBI says none of the three ever said who did.
The gun in his pocket was a Colt Pocket Hammerless, a slim John Browning design that Colt made in .32 ACP as the Model 1903 and in .380 ACP as the Model 1908. The FBI, which still has it, calls Dillinger’s gun “a .380 Colt automatic with the serial number scratched out”, which makes it the Model 1908. Some accounts, including Wikipedia’s, say it was a .32 Model 1903. Its “hammerless” name is a small lie: the hammer is there, just hidden under the slide so it won’t snag on a pocket, which made it the classic gentleman’s carry gun of the era. It didn’t help him.
The Modern Pocket .380
The small .380 pocket pistol never went away. Walther’s PPK, James Bond’s gun, dates from the same era, and our Walther PPK review covers it. The modern best-seller is Ruger’s LCP, which weighs less than half as much as Dillinger’s Colt. Our best .380 ACP pistols and best .380s for concealed carry guides compare the field, and the best .380 ammo guide covers what to load.
The Rest of the Public Enemies
The great outlaws of the era all died within six months of each other in 1934: Bonnie and Clyde in May, Dillinger in July, Pretty Boy Floyd, named Public Enemy No. 1 in Dillinger’s place, in October, and Baby Face Nelson in November. Machine Gun Kelly, caught in 1933, was already serving a life sentence. Each has their own story: Pretty Boy Floyd’s guns, Baby Face Nelson’s guns and the guns of Bonnie and Clyde. Ma Barker died in a Florida shootout a few weeks into 1935, and the Tommy gun found beside her made her a legend: here’s what really happened. For the gangster guns that set records at auction, see the most expensive guns ever sold.
Dillinger worked across the Midwest, and the gun laws in those states look very different today. Our Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and Arizona guides explain the current rules. If you’re choosing a carry gun, start with our best concealed carry handguns, and our handgun deals page tracks the best current prices across more than 200 retailers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What gun did John Dillinger use?
John Dillinger robbed banks with a Thompson submachine gun and carried Colt pistols, including full-auto Colt 1911s converted by San Antonio gunsmith Hyman Lebman. When he was killed outside the Biograph Theater in 1934, he was carrying a .380 Colt automatic.
What gun did John Dillinger have when he died?
A .380 Colt automatic, which the FBI says had its serial number scratched out. He reached for it in his right trouser pocket as he ran for an alley outside Chicago's Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934, and agents shot him before he could fire it. The FBI still has the gun.
How did John Dillinger escape jail with a wooden gun?
On March 3, 1934, he pulled what he later said was a gun whittled from wood on the guards at the Crown Point, Indiana, jail, locked them up, took two machine guns and drove off in the sheriff's car. A deputy insisted the gun was real, and at least three wooden guns have since been claimed as the original.
What did John Dillinger's guns sell for at auction?
The Remington .41 double derringer he hid in his sock when arrested in Tucson sold for $95,600 at Heritage Auctions in 2009. Wooden guns attributed to his Crown Point escape sold for $19,120 in 2009 and $40,625 in 2019.
Who was John Dillinger's gunsmith?
Hyman Lebman of San Antonio, Texas, who converted Colt 1911s to full-auto fire with compensators, foregrips and long magazines. Most of the gang's other guns were stolen from police arsenals in Auburn, Peru and Warsaw, Indiana.
Who shot John Dillinger?
FBI agents Charles Winstead, Clarence Hurt and Herman Hollis fired at him outside the Biograph Theater. The FBI says five shots were fired and three hit him. Winstead is widely believed to have fired the fatal shot, but the FBI says none of the three ever said who did.
Is the derringer named after John Dillinger?
No. The derringer is named after Henry Deringer, a Philadelphia gunsmith who made the original pocket pistol from 1825. The misspelling "derringer" spread after the Lincoln assassination and became the generic name for any small pocket pistol. Dillinger just happened to carry one.
Where is John Dillinger's gun now?
The FBI has the .380 Colt he carried at the Biograph Theater. The Remington derringer from his Tucson arrest sold to a Los Angeles collector in 2009, and wooden guns claimed to be from his Crown Point escape are in private hands.
Featured image: John Dillinger, FBI photograph, public domain, with added text.
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