Hamer special

[Hibby83]

I had the joy of going through the Texas Ranger Hall Of Fame & Museum today.

It's a very cool place of history and having the opportunity to see my favorite type of rifle along with others firearms I favor.

What a beautiful rifle!

[81police]

A work of art!!

[Roger]

So what caliber was that particular Hamer rifle? I’ve heard and read different things over the years. It may have even been addressed in Henwoods book.
Thanks for your time
Roger

[Hibby83]

Good morning Roger.

The little write up beside it said 30 cal.

[Hibby83]

Here is the small write up.

I believe the caliber designation. I'm no expert but I don't have confidence in the last part of the write up "my opinion".

[Roger]

Thank you very much for the reply. From the many varied reports, It’s very difficult to know what really happened and what guns were used.But I’m sure that the high grade m8 probably wasn’t there. However, Dr. Henry Sheehy loaned his m8 to deputy Prentiss Oakley and was more than likely at the shootout(ambush).
Thanks for your time
Roger

[cantgrowup]

There were several errors in the placards related to Bonnie and Clyde history when I went to the Waco "Texas Rangers Museum" in 2016. For example, there was a Winchester Model 1910 .401 rifle (Cat. No. 2030) that said "This Winchester .401 caliber shotgun [sic] was taken from Ray Hamilton in Grayson County." I pointed that out to the curator that it wasn't a "shotgun", but don't know if they ever corrected it.

The museum shows a Colt Monitor Machine Gun (Cat. No. 3761) that states " Civilian version of the Browning Automatic Rifle used by Ted Hinton during the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde." Without any doubt, Ted Hinton used a borrowed a military configured M1918 BAR from the Texas National Guard in the shootout. In the "Highwaymen" TV film, they show Hamer using a Colt Monitor, which was pure fantasy.

As for Model 8's at the shootout.... Sheriff Jordan was quoted in the True Detective November 1934 article that “Hinton had a Browning automatic rifle, Alcorn, Hamer, and Gault were armed with automatic shotguns [Remington Model 11] with buckshot”, and that “Oakley and {he} were carrying Remington automatic rifles [Remington Model 8} and there was a third of that type available for use."

There is credible photographic evidence that there were at least two Model 8 rifles used by the posse:
1. Prentiss Oakley used Dr. Shehee's borrowed .35 Rem with the half-pistol grip. A half-pistol gripped Model 8 is clearly shown in the pictures of the posse's guns laying on the roof of the Death Car.
2. Dallas Sheriff's Deputy Bob Alcorn is shown in an ambush recreation film the next day holding a straight-stock Model 8 (caliber unknown, but most likely .30 Rem).

The third possible Model 8 referenced by Sheriff Jordan may be the .30 Rem shown at the Waco museum (Cat. No. 2458.1) that claims "Used by Manny Gault during the ambush in Gibsland, Louisiana." Manny and Hamer left Arcadia later on the same day as the ambush and therefore this third Model 8 would have been back in Texas when Hinton and Alcorn were filmed with the second Model 8 the next day.

We will never know for sure, but that is my opinion on the Model 8's present at the ambush.

[Hibby83]

We will never know for sure, but that is my opinion on the Model 8's present at the ambush.

Quite the write up you put together with some solid information. I learned some new things from that! I never gave much time to reading up on them.

I didn’t post this to talk about truths or misguided inaccuracies from the Museum or the events of that criminal couple and the search party that put them to rest. I just wanted to highlight that particular rifle shown. It is a shame that they have those misrepresentations on placards being read by the public and the falsehoods spread.