The gold-plated handgun handed over by Hermann Goering as he surrendered to allies resurfaces for sa

Hermann Goering handed over the Walther PPK pistol along with a ceremonial dagger to American soldier Jerome Shapiro to mark his surrender at the end of the Second World War.



The gold-plated revolver used by Hermann Goering to surrender to allies resurfaces for sale at £30,000 | Mail Online

 

As a rather humorous aside to this, while Goering handed over his dagger and Walther PPK he balked at surrendering his Marshal's baton. He reportedly grasped it tightly and said; " you cannot have this, it is a symbol of my authority!" To which the American officer who relieved him of the baton asked; "authority over what?" I am paraphrasing of course, but that is the gist of the exchange.

 

The British seem to use "revolver" generically for handguns. Maybe some of our friends can comment.

 

I am of the opinion that all handguns can be called "pistols" with near impunity, but a revolver should refer exclusively to a "wheel gun", i.e. one that has a cylinder, not a magazine for holding its ammo. Semi-auto doesn't really cover them all, since there was a revolver made at one time that was a "semi-auto" in that each shot advanced the cylinder using a zig-zag pattern which also pre-cocked the hammer. I think it was a Webley, don't hold me to that.

 

I thought Goering only turned over his S&W revolver (the one at the West Point Museum) when he surrendered? I haven't heard of this PPK before.

20 Herman Goering's Smith & Wesson Military and Police Model K .38 Revolver

 

I believe the PPK was in his personal baggage, not being worn by him. Hitler didn't use his ceremonial PPK either, it was stashed away for display only.

 

I believe, as a general rule, "pistol" is used to refer to semi-auto magazine fed handguns. However, I agree that it is often used generically to refer to any type of handgun. IMHO, this is a good example of how imprecise the English language is. The meaning of a particular word often is dependent on its context, which is sometimes not particularly clear.

 

For anyone interested, here are some pictures I took in May of the "Goering Collection" at the West Point Museum:

Left to Right: Marshall's Baton, Dagger (surrendered to Lt. Shapiro), Karinhall Guestbook, S&W Military and Police Model K Revolver (surrendered to Lt. Shapiro)

View attachment 17121

 

You're probably right Clint. Goering was quite the gun enthusiast from what I've seen, so it would make sense for him to pack more than one "trophy gun" for his captors. After all, he did expect to be welcomed with open arms by the Americans and nothing builds cameradery like a nice trophy to bring home.

 

A pistol is a handgun having a firing chamber that is integral with the barrel. The firing chamber of a revolver is not part of the barrel, so a revolver is not a pistol.

Goering's surrender was filmed and shows him relinquishing his revolver:
Allies Seize German Loot & Criminals; Goering w/Press 1945/6/4 - YouTube (at about 2:35)

 

Then why during the 19th Century was a gunman/gunfighter of the day called a pistolero?

 

Are you referring to the Spanish word pistola for handgun? I suppose that could account for it.

 

I think the dime novel writers liked the sound of pistolero better than gunslinger when they wrote their fantasy novels about Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill, and Billy the Kid. Pistolero just made a great word image to the reader. Something foreign and dangerous to the eastern reader's mind. Just a thought.

 

I think you're right, Clint. According to the infallible internet the word pistolero dates only to 1936. Besides, it's easier to pronounce than revolverero.