{"id":1322,"date":"2023-08-03T01:49:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T01:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=1322"},"modified":"2023-08-03T01:49:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T01:49:17","slug":"collectible-firearms-for-serious-gun-collectors-110","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=1322","title":{"rendered":"Collectible Firearms for Serious Gun Collectors"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Elvis Presley loved guns. He loved buying them, shooting them, gifting them, and showing them off. As his fame grew, threats came and he regularly went armed as well as arming the men who surrounded him. At the time of his death at the age of 42, Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, reportedly owned 37 firearms and a machine gun.<\/p>\n

Rock Island Auction Company has proudly offered guns owned by Elvis in the past that were as flashy and brilliant as his concert jumpsuits. An engraved Smith & Wesson Model 53 revolver with gold and silver inlays matches the Las Vegas razzle-dazzle of any of his other guns and will be on offer in this month\u2019s Premier Auction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The blued Model 53\u2019s exhibition engraving done by Smith & Wesson\u2019s master engraver Russell Smith has an American bicentennial theme with relief floral scrollwork on stippled background, silver inlaid five-pointed stars, \u201c1776-1976\u201d in flush gold toward the muzzle, and gold inlaid bands at the muzzle and breech. On the side plate is an eagle in flight grasping an enamel 13-star Betsy Ross American flag, while the left side of the frame has a minuteman flanked by stars, and the Liberty Bell is on the back strap. The gun\u2019s delivery date, according to documentation was Nov. 16, 1976. Elvis died just nine months later.<\/p>\n

Elvis Guns<\/h3>\n

Elvis received a .410 Winchester shotgun in 1956. When he served in the Army he earned sharpshooter badges for the M1911 and the M1 rifle and a marksman badge for the M2 Carbine.<\/p>\n

The King of Rock and Roll kept a Colt Government Model for protection at Graceland and was made a Shelby County deputy sheriff in 1964. He regularly carried at least one gun, even when he was on stage, especially after the Manson family murders and receiving death threats when he started performing in Las Vegas in 1970. Elvis encouraged members of his entourage to do the same.<\/p>\n

The King mostly used wheel guns since many of his movies were set in the Wild West. He sang and danced with a Colt Single Action Army in \u201cViva Las Vegas,\u201d and wielded a number of Smith & Wesson revolvers in films like \u201cFollow That Dream,\u201d \u201cTickle Me,\u201d and \u201cStay Away, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, part of the Elvis Presley legend is that he shot televisions. One of the televisions he shot, a 25-inch RCA model, was allegedly sacrificed when the King saw Robert Goulet singing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing Elvis had against Robert Goulet. They were friends,\u201d Kevin Kern, a spokesman for Presley\u2019s home and museum, Graceland, where the TV was put on display, told the AP in 2006. \u201cBut Elvis just shot out things on a random basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elvis Guns: How Many Did He Buy?<\/h3>\n

The book \u201cElvis \u0336The Final Years\u201d opens with Vernon Presley, Elvis\u2019 father questioning him about his spending after seeing some invoices. \u201cThere must be a mistake, because this one\u2019s from Kerr\u2019s and it says you charged $38,000 in guns there this month.\u201d<\/p>\n

He brushed off the inquiry saying the purchases at the Beverly Hills sporting goods store was Christmas shopping. Elvis\u2019 anger at his father spurred his trip to the White House and meeting with President Richard Nixon.<\/p>\n

During the decade he would buy dozens of guns at a time, keeping some of them while giving away the others. It is believed he bought 300 guns during his lifetime.<\/p>\n

One story about Elvis is that he was gun shopping and a man was admiring a shotgun. Elvis asked if he liked it to which the man replied that he did but the gun was out of his price range. As the King of Rock and Roll was leaving the store, he told a store employee to charge the shotgun to him and give it to the man.<\/p>\n

Elvis Guns: A Gift for the President<\/h3>\n

Elvis liked to give guns to people, like those who worked closely with him, and to friends. He reportedly gave Hawaii-Five-O star Jack Lord a Walther PPK in 1973. The revolvers sold by RIAC in 2017 were both gifts from the King of Rock and Roll, but more on those later.<\/p>\n

The most well-known of Elvis\u2019 gift guns was what has simply been described as a Colt .45 in a display case with seven silver bullets that he presented to President Nixon. That meeting was precipitated by an argument between Elvis and his father over spending referenced earlier.<\/p>\n

After the argument, he left Graceland in Memphis and flew across country to his Los Angeles home where he stewed for a bit. Elvis also collected badges, and decided he wanted a Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs badge so he decided to write a letter to the president asking for one and hand delivered it to the White House. As he left his California mansion, Elvis plucked a cased commemorative Colt M1911A1<\/a> off the wall.<\/p>\n

Elvis and one of his bodyguards flew across country to Washington, D.C., and drove to the White House and left the letter for Nixon on Dec. 21, 1970. The King received a call later in the day summoning him to the White House. The Secret Service wouldn\u2019t allow Elvis to bring the gun into the Oval Office because of security concerns but accepted the gift on behalf of the president. In the Oval Office, that famous photo of the president and the King of Rock and Roll was snapped.<\/p>\n

Elvis Guns: Showing Off<\/h3>\n

Numerous celebrities have recalled incidents with Elvis and his guns<\/a>, like Tom Jones who discovered one of the King\u2019s guns in the restroom of his dressing room. The tales can be either humorous or harrowing.<\/p>\n

Comedian Steve Martin, in a radio interview with Howard Stern, talked about meeting Elvis when he opened for Ann-Margret in 1971 in Las Vegas. She had co-starred with Elvis in the film \u201cViva Las Vegas.\u201d At the time, Martin\u2019s act was what he described as a magic show with jokes and Elvis told him he has \u201can oblique sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the men spoke, the King of Rock and Roll asked Martin if he wanted to see his guns, to which Martin said yes. Elvis was safety conscious and pulled out a Derringer, removed the bullets and handed it to the comedian. He did the same with the other two guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, I am holding three guns and Elvis was holding 18 bullets,\u201d Martin told Stern.<\/p>\n

Shock rocker Alice Cooper has a more disturbing tale to tell about meeting Elvis in 1970, telling how Elvis gave him a gun and told him to shoot him. Cooper said in a BBC interview they were in a kitchen full of guns, and the King of Rock and Roll pulled a loaded .38 stubnose from a drawer and made his request of the \u201cSchools Out\u201d singer.<\/p>\n

Cooper wondered what was happening, thinking Elvis\u2019 security would see what was happening and shoot him. \u201cBefore I could decide what to do I was on the floor and he has his boot on my throat. I said, `that\u2019s good Elvis.\u2019\u201d It turns out, Elvis, the martial arts practitioner was just looking to show off his skills.<\/p>\n

Elvis Guns at Rock Island Auction<\/h3>\n

Both of the Elvis guns offered by RIAC in May 2017 were gifts. The first was an elaborate, exhibition grade .357 Magnum that was given to Vice President Spiro Agnew who eventually returned it since he was under investigation for corruption, an investigation that would lead to his resignation.<\/p>\n

Very little of the K-frame revolver is free of embellishment<\/a>. The gun was sent to Friedrick Wilhelm Heym Co. in Germany where it was covered with relief leaf and scroll engraving, gold and silver inlaid borders, and five raised gold North American game animals. That might be expected on a fine long gun but is a rarity for a Smith & Wesson. The revolver also features elaborately engraved staghorn grips with a vine and scroll pattern and two engraved game animals.<\/p>\n

Elvis later gave the gun to Shelby County Sheriff Gene Barksdale after he did Elvis a favor. Barksdale retrieved some of Elvis\u2019s friends from a local airport and shuttled them to Graceland. After he dropped off the friends, Elvis and the sheriff got to talking about guns. Elvis said, \u201cWell, sheriff, I got something for ya,\u201d and left the room. The King returned with the highly decorated Smith & Wesson Model 19-2 and presented it to the lawman. The gun brought $195,500 at auction.<\/p>\n

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The second gun sold in the May 2017 Premier Auction was an equally flashy Colt Python<\/a> with exhibition quality engraving. The revolver, with similar engraving also done by Friedrick Wilhelm Heym Co. of Germany, was featured in Guns magazine in 1973. It too has North American big game animals in raised gold relief and plenty of silver and gold inlays. Engraving on the scrimshaw-esque grips compliments the gun\u2019s engraving and has sweeping scrollwork and a leaping stag on one side and a pouncing mountain lion on the other side. The gun was given to Richard Grob who was Elvis\u2019 director of security. The snake gun hammered for $172,500.<\/p>\n

Elvis Guns: Smith & Wesson Model 53<\/h3>\n

Among the documentation for the copiously engraved Smith & Wesson Model 53 are drawings by master engraver Russell Smith as well as pictures taken of the gun by Smith before shipping. It is work the engraver should be proud of. The amazing scrollwork that pops from the blued finish is further highlighted by inlaid gold bands at the muzzle and the breech. The barrel is highlighted by \u201c1776-1976 in flush gold toward the muzzle and silver inlaid five-pointed stars. The serrated blade front sight has a gold insert, and the while the adjustable square notch rear sight is outlined in gold. The bicentennial theme bursts from the bluing with an eagle flying with a relief inlaid Betsy Ross, 13-star flag in its talons while the opposite side shows off a relief inlay of a minuteman flanked by five silver stars. The gun comes with oversize smooth grips and a second cylinder that is engraved and inlaid to match.<\/p>\n

While this magnificent wheel gun\u2019s beauty and patriotic theme allows it to stand on its own, the fact that it was bought by the King of Rock and Roll and engraved at his request makes this a true opportunity for fans that love Elvis Presley and love guns as much as he did. It will be available in Rock Island Auction Company’s Aug. 25-27 Premier Auction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/h3>\n

Steve Martin\u2019s Introduction to Elvis Presley Involved Three Guns<\/a>, by Ryan Parker, The Hollywood Reporter<\/p>\n

\u201cAlice Cooper: `Elvis Asked Me to Shoot Him in the Head,\u2019|<\/a>\u2019 By Tom Goodwyn, NME<\/p>\n

When Elvis Met Nixon<\/a>, by Peter Carlson, Smithsonian Magazine<\/p>\n

“Elvis, Firearm & Weapon Collector,” by Paul Belard<\/p>\n

“Elvis The Final years,” by Jerry Hopkins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Elvis Presley loved guns. He loved buying them, shooting them, gifting them, and showing them off. As his fame grew, threats came and he regularly went armed as well as arming the men who surrounded him. At the time of his death at the age of 42, Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, reportedly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}