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Gangster Era Bulletproof Vests


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Has one of you examined one of the old Dunrite or Wisbrod or Federal Labs vests in detail? How are they actually constructed? I understand they have thin steel strips encased in cloth, but how thick are these strips, how wide, how is the actual distribution? Would someone know? Many thanks!

 

Cheers

 

HANS

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I used to own one that belonged to John Dillinger, possibly used in the Greencastle bank robbery . A Dunrite. Cloth had pin stripes in it to emulate a vest as in a banker's suit. It had steel plates sewed into the fabric. Came in two pieces that snapped together on the top and hooked on the sides.

Don't have it anymore, so about as specific as I can get.

Here's an old photo of it I took long ago.

 

OCM

VEST.jpg

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What do you need to know? I'll gladly supply details from my vest as much as possible. I cannot remove any steel strips from mine.

 

 

Thanks Ron! For starters, I'd be interested in the exact weight of the components. Can you see or feel the metal inserts? If so, could you provide dimensions of the pieces, such as thickness, width and height?

 

Cheers

 

HANS

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Hans,

Why in the living hell, would one care about this ??

 

OCM

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Hans,

Why in the living hell, would one care about this ??

 

OCM

 

For the same reason why one would care whether a specific Thompson was used by a specific gangster at some point, or whether the Dillinger breakout gun actually was made of wood or a real one, or whether Dillinger drove a 1934 Terraplane or the 1933 model. Curiosity.

 

Concerning these vests specifically, there is very little information out there on these old things, and yet they were the first moderately successful body armour available until the adoption of Kevlar in the 1970s. Surely it's interesting to know how they actually protected their wearer (ie, how much they covered and at which protection level), and at what cost (ie, how heavy and uncomfortable they were to wear).

 

Cheers

 

HANS

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I'm in market for a gangster era vest if anyone has one they would like to sell, or

know of one for sale elsewhere?

Thanks,

Darryl

Edited by darrylta
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H- OK good answer, your questions are very specific I thought, dimensions, weight, thickness.. etc. Just an FYI, I fired a Thompson, a Winchester 351 and a Super 38 into contemporary police vests at the range, I think Kevlar probably. I was about 25 feet away. The Super 38 pierced the vest, not the Thompson and I can't remember if the Winchester went thru, I think so. I can ask Sheriff Hudson he was there too.

My Dunrite had plates in it, I think like two on either side front and ones running up the back. Only a guess, 4"x5", maybe 3/8" thick. ??

Bulky. You slipped it over your head, or snapped the front & back together from both tops. Had an elastic straps that hooked them together

Fabric is like wool probably.

 

Darryl, I know at least that Dillinger had a Dunrite brand. Saved his butt outside East Chicago. Seems like it was common equipment for a bank robbery. The one I had was captured in Chicago at Dillinger's apartment, just after the Greencastle robbery in 33.

Boy, I don't know you'd find one, hope someone here will know. Cool item to have in a collection.

 

To both, this is one of the vests recovered in Tucson.

001.jpg

Edited by OCM
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I've stumbled onto (2) vests, the average price is around $600. Is that the going price nowadays?

Seems a little high to me?

Darryl

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Darryl-

Mario's got one for sale, check his Capone webpage. I think he's got a picture on there of the Dillinger one I owned, not for sale tho-

Mario isn't a scammer, I've known him for years. Good guy in my book. He's advertising 600 it appears. Looks very complete,

Dillinger just happened to have a Dunrite, they had lots of BP vests, picked them up when robbing Police Departments. I think they left 4-5 at Little Bo alone. Might make him an offer if it looks good ? Maybe you've already found this anyway. ?

 

I can't give value of these, condition of course. Mine had some intense history and paperwork, so a different deal.

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Sandy,

Colt Chopper's lead may be a good one.

Attached is a photo of it. It's looks legit to me.

Thanks CC,

Darryl

 

4903383_01_vintage_bullet_proof_vest_from_640.jpg

_vintage_bullet_proof_vest.jpg

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Darryl,

Looks pretty much like the Dunrite I had from the raid on Dillinger's apartment on Clerendon Ave in Chicago. It was out of the Calvin Goddard Collection. It was exhibited by the National Archives at one point.

This is a professional photograph of it, see better details.

 

001 (12).jpg

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Speaking of gangster vests, Colt Chopper & I were discussing today the fact that Baby Face Nelson was wearing a BP Vest at the Barrington battle.

CC brought the fact that Nelson was shot into the side with a big gapping hole and not much if any damage to his chest area. Looks like the vest worked in some respect.

Story goes, from Helmer, the FBI got all the clothes and left over stuff from the battle as evidence. Years later the FBI was cleaning house, to much stuff and dumped the Nelson things still in evidence into a garbage container. A gal friend of Helmer's, that worked at the FBI, had the smarts to grab one of these little historical items, the vest. She & Bill had discussed this. Eventually she sold the vest on Ebay about 10-15 years ago.

My understanding a lot of the bloody stuff was burned , at the time, but we have photos to prove a lot was not.

SO, if you happened to get a old vest off Ebay years ago, contact Colt Chopper .....

 

OCM

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Speaking of gangster vests, Colt Chopper & I were discussing today the fact that Baby Face Nelson was wearing a BP Vest at the Barrington battle.

CC brought the fact that Nelson was shot into the side with a big gapping hole and not much if any damage to his chest area. Looks like the vest worked in some respect.

Story goes, from Helmer, the FBI got all the clothes and left over stuff from the battle as evidence. Years later the FBI was cleaning house, to much stuff and dumped the Nelson things still in evidence into a garbage container. A gal friend of Helmer's, that worked at the FBI, had the smarts to grab one of these little historical items, the vest. She & Bill had discussed this. Eventually she sold the vest on Ebay about 10-15 years ago.

My understanding a lot of the bloody stuff was burned , at the time, but we have photos to prove a lot was not.

SO, if you happened to get a old vest off Ebay years ago, contact Colt Chopper .....

 

OCM

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CC & Sandy,

 

CC's lead worked out. The deals done and the vest is on the way.

I guess I'm in the market for a mannequin and white shirt, I'll have to

wait until I have it to check the size of it. Most likely small, men were not as

rotund as they are today:-)

Thanks for help!!

Darryl

Edited by darrylta
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Makes a nice presentation. They are wool so be careful of moths and stuff. I kept a cotton cloth cover over mine, NOT plastic.

Here's another view of mine. I guess size was maybe a 38 Reg.

Congratulations. Seems like Dunrite, American and Wisbrod where the real common vests of the day. Dunrite & Wisbrod were in a big lawsuit back then.

 

OCM

dillvest.jpg

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  • 6 years later...

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