Posted on 10/28/2012 6:05:04 AM PDT by marktwain
There quite a tale that goes with a book donated to the Valparaiso branch of the Porter County Public Library this week, and it's got nothing to do with fiction.
An employee cracking open a copy of Robert Stone's Outbridge Reach found the book hollowed out with a historic-looking handgun inside, Valparaiso police said.
The weapon was described by police as a gold, wooden handle, A.S.M. brand, .31-caliber, single shot, black powder gun.
Due to the volume of donations received by the library, officials said there's no way to know from whom the book came.
Police said, however, the gun hadn't been reported stolen.
Someone did a nice job on hollowing out the book. It is not as easy as it looks.
It looks like they inserted a box inside the book after it was hollowed out, and probably glued the pages together in a binding press. I agree, it was neatly done.
I wonder how much they could have got the Pawn Stars to pay for it?
In the ‘80s, the pistol went for about $30, as I recall. It probably took 4 hours of work for the book!
I made a few with a close friend. Once we made a jig and refined the process, we could turn one out in about 15 minutes. This one is a little nicer, what with the magnetic closure and all.
During my CCW class, I had people pick up the book with a full sized pistol inside, and never know what was in it.
It is an old but useful way to conceal a pistol.
A quarter of what it is worth.
—know of an older-edition college economics textbook which handily conceals a 4006 S&W—but no one is going to mistakenly donate it to a library-—
You were a prodigy! I am sure the implementation improved with time, wisdom, and experience!
Ding Ding Ding... we have a winner.
Do you glue the pages together before you hollow out the book, or after?
Keep the book clamped overnight to allow the glue to set. Put on a new dust jacket to show that you are carrying a different book around, every so often.
I've not had any trouble after pasting the pages together and clamping them solid, then using an end mill in a drill press.
It's hard on mill bits, but it cleanly cuts the hardened paper very nicely.
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