Assassin pistol glove from "Inglorious Bastards" was actually issued in WWII

Sedgley Glove Gun

While by no means a true-to-life account of World War II, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is (at least in our opinion) a gripping theatrical account of how World War II should have gone down.

While the film itself is fictional, one of the most notable weapons of the film is not- the punch-guns that Basterds Donny and Omar use to take out two guards were very real, having been designed by a Naval officer and produced for the US Navy.

Filed for a patent in February of 1944 by USN Captain Stanley Martyn Haight, the Sedgley Fist Gun (produced by R.F. Sedgley, Inc in Pennsylvania) was essentially a .38 caliber derringer mounted to a leather glove, utilizing a plunger instead of a trigger to activate the firing pin.

In order to activate the gun, the user would have to ball his hand into a fist and strike their opponent. The pistol was issued to Navy Seabees, who would be able to use the glove while on construction projects but still be able to defend themselves against a lone attacker.

If that sounds far-fetched, it kind of was. However, there is at least one documented case of the pistol being used- Seabee John Blocker used one to kill a knife-wielding Japanese soldier who had climbed on his construction grader.

The glove was also allegedly used by special services such as the OSS and CIA, but no confirmations have been made to date.

While a curious weapon indeed, the Sedgley glove-gun (known in the Navy as the “Hand Firing Mechanism-MK-2”) is quite hard to come by, with select specimens costing about $3,000-7,000.

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