May 28 & 29, 2020 Extraordinary, Sporting, & Collector Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/29/2020
Manufactured by American Machine & Foundry in 1962-1963 for CIA Clandestine Operations, these extremely scarce CIA Deer Guns were manufactured with the same intent as the much more commonly known "Liberator" pistols, and were intended to be air dropped to South Vietnamese guerrillas during the Vietnam War. These were inexpensive to manufacture, as the frames are one piece aluminum castings and featured an unscrewing barrel (which the user would use to load a new cartridge), a cocking lever, trigger, and retained only a single grooved notch for the sight. There were no markings or proofs stamped on these CIA Deer Guns, as this was done intentionally in order to conceal the weapons origin. There is no documentation of their use in Vietnam and the CIA denies their existence, leaving the extent of their usage unknown. Almost all of the 1,000 known to be manufactured were destroyed, and it is speculated that only a handful of these are still in existence. Ian McCollum provides a very comprehensive and informative video on a CIA Deer Gun we offered in our October 2019 Extraordinary, Sporting & Collector Firearms auction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-89falWO-NU CONDITION: Aluminum frame, cocking lever, and trigger show areas of aluminum oxide all around. Raised checkered grips show losses to grip pattern on either side, with a the majority of the loss being present on the left side. Cocking rod is partially broken, but does not come off. Steel smoothbore barrel is in the white, showing marks from sanding, with the bore showing small areas of pitting throughout. This is an exceptionally rare pistol that is an important piece of the CIA's Clandestine history and is considered by many to be a desirable addition to their US Military collection. MLW
Manufacturer
American Machine & Foundry Co.