Blackjack Question

[usmc0341]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but it seems like the only place it fits. I want to make a blackjack (the things cops carried way back when) but can't figure out what the "inners" are. I'm pretty sure it's lead but I'm not sure if I can just use a whole bunch of little fishing sinkers or if it needs to be one long piece to make it more rigid. I hope this makes sense to someone because it makes sense as I'm typing it but I know what I'm thinking. If someone has cut one in half or has made one I would appreciate the input. Thank you.

[evandailey]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but it seems like the only place it fits. I want to make a blackjack (the things cops carried way back when) but can't figure out what the "inners" are. I'm pretty sure it's lead but I'm not sure if I can just use a whole bunch of little fishing sinkers or if it needs to be one long piece to make it more rigid. I hope this makes sense to someone because it makes sense as I'm typing it but I know what I'm thinking. If someone has cut one in half or has made one I would appreciate the input. Thank you.

I always thought those were filled with fairly fine lead shot. I've never cut one open but that's sure what they feel like. I would think that would be a lot easier to make with shot because you could stitch it most of the way up and then pour it full and finish the stitch.

[Rayban]

A blackjack has a solid piece of lead in it, and sometime a spring material in the handle part.

A sap is usually loaded with lead shot, bird shot......I made one recently filled with BBs.

[usmc0341]

Evandailey-thank you, I didn't even think about stitching it most of the way and filling it up, I was trying to figure out how to keep all the lead in place.

Rayban- Do you have pictures of the work in progress?

[TwinOaks]

There's at least two styles I know of- one with a shot bag, the other with a little chunk (piece of bar). The bar is obviously stiffer. I made shot bag saps, and here's how:

Get a shape and determine how much shot you'll need. I arbitrarily determined that a standard shotgun shell (#8 shot) would be a good amount. Make a bag out of scrap fabric for the shot, fill, and sew it closed. Sandwich the shot bag between the pieces of leather, stitch it up, dye and finish. The ones I made looks like a realllllly long necked light bulb, and I added a strip of leather down the handle to make it stiffer. A hole in the handle end makes a point for a lanyard. Because of the shape, I made the shot bag pretty flat, and included a welt around the 'head' to help make a pocket for the shot bag.

[usmc0341]

Man, I thought I would be the only one that would make one of these but it sounds like a couple of you guys have built some. I already have my pattern cut out and the logistics have been cleared up by the above posts. I like the sewed up pouch idea. I'd really like to see pictures if anyone has any....

[TwinOaks]

Just be sure they are legal in your area, otherwise you may need to sell them as "paper weights".

[Rayban]

Hey Marine....there are internet collector groups out there that make, collect, trade, sell. these things like baseball cards.......

I made what these collectors called the "old school" style. I cut two pieces of leather to the shape I wanted, glued and stitched them together, but left on opening at the end of the handle open....and poured and packed the shot from that end. When I was done with the shot, I stitched the opening shut, installed a grommet, I was done.

Edited April 9, 2011 by Rayban

[usmc0341]

Thanks Rayban that was just what I was looking for. And TwinOaks thanks for the advic.

[Lobo]

Things were so much more civilized before pepper spray, stun guns, and tasers! Apply a little blunt force trauma, shatter a wrist, crack a skull, break a collarbone.

Back in the '70's and '80's, when I was a working cop, our uniform trousers were made with a reinforced vertical pocket along the outer seam about mid-thigh height, intended to carry a sap. Many of us carried these, either in lieu of or in addition to a nightstick. I have several in my little collection. The better ones featured a spring-steel shank full length with a paddle-shaped chunk of lead, all encased in leather stitched around in a paddle-shape, usually with a leather strap to aid in retention (or use like a medieval flail). Bucheimer-Clark and several other holster-making companies offered these for many years.

Another innovation was the "sap glove", leather gloves with panels stitched in to hold 4 or 5 ounces of powdered lead. These were made with the "sap" built over the knuckles or across the heel of the hand. I think the manufacturer was "Damascus", if memory serves correctly. Even a little "sissie-slap" could have a brutal effect. Possession or use of "sap gloves" became almost synonymous with "police brutality", and most law enforcement agencies had banned any kind of sap-type device by the mid-80's or so. When I bacame a chief, and started writing and enforcing rules and regulations, I made sure that "unauthorized weapons" were broadly defined and completely prohibited.

I would be very careful about offering such items for sale. Several states have laws prohibiting ownership, transfer, sale, etc, or limiting such items to law enforcement agencies or personnel.