# .45 caliber violins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363 "2007-07-27T13:45:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/1 "2007-07-27T13:45:40Z")
Old gangster films always show the bad guys carrying their tommy guns around in violin cases. Did they really do this? I mean, how better to announce, “Hey look! I have a gun!” short of simply carrying it around openly? Would a tommy really fit in a violin case? it seems like the 75-round drum would be too wide. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/2 "2007-07-27T13:50:03Z")
And people say that violins on film is a new thing. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/3 "2007-07-27T13:50:11Z")
I’m not an expert on the Roaring '20s or anything like that, but I will make two points: 1. A Thompson M1928A1 SMG is simply too long to fit in most violin cases. A guitar case (a la _Desperado_) would be quite plausible, though. 2. The Drum Magazine on the M1928A1 was 50 or 100 rounds, not 75- the Soviet PPSh-41 had a 75 round mag, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/4 "2007-07-27T13:59:15Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] 2. The Drum Magazine on the M1928A1 was 50 or 100 rounds, not 75- the Soviet PPSh-41 had a 75 round mag, though. [/QUOTE] I suppose they could have just used the straight mags like the army. But then you still have the length problem. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/5 "2007-07-27T14:10:37Z")
This Thompson Violin Gun Case [http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=322938](http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=322938) seems to be about as short as possible, and it’s 42+ inches. Most of the real violin cases that I found online were 31 inches. E.g., [http://store.musicbasics.com/vln-cs400.html](http://store.musicbasics.com/vln-cs400.html) and see, [http://weaponsofchoicetheatrical.com/modern\_rifles.htm](http://weaponsofchoicetheatrical.com/modern_rifles.htm) > [@](#): > > By the way, only a dismantled Tommy gun could be carried in a viola case, and never in that of a violin. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9fc29f/32.png) [@I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_Ron_Burgundy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/6 "2007-07-27T14:40:07Z")
I like how the Violin Gun Case says it ‘looks just like a violin case!’ when it barely resembles one. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/7 "2007-07-27T15:26:33Z")
I seem to recall a copy used to sell violin cases shaped like a Tommy gun. Almost worth having, don’t ya’ think? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/8 "2007-07-27T16:02:37Z")
I used to keep one of my AR-15s in a guitar case. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/9 "2007-07-27T20:10:38Z")
Didn’t gangsters simply do away with the revovable shoulder stock? That surely would make the firearm significantly shorter. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-caliber-violins/413363/10 "2007-07-27T22:32:50Z")
I don’t know anything for sure. But I remembered seeing a movie at my university film club a long time ago where the presenter claimed that this was the first mob movie to show a gun in a violin case. After searching at IMDb I think this is the one: [The Doorway to Hell](http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0020836/) (1930), directed by Archie Mayo, with Lew Ayres and James Cagney While searching I found this Wikipedia article: [Buster from Chicago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buster_from_Chicago) Buster from Chicago (d. September 1931 ?) was a pseudonym used for an unidentified Chicago mobster and freelance hitman during Prohibition. Little is known of Buster from Chicago, however government informant Joe Valachi described Buster as a “college boy” in appearance and was known to frequently carry a Tommy gun inside a large violin case. … References Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3