Gas billy club

[Naphtali]

FYI: I placed a WANT AD for one of these things, despite not really knowing much about them. So much of what I typed here is replicated.
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When I was a child, our family ate supper every month, or so, at The Club Varsity aka Club V owned by Sam Iconetti. Not only was it excellent food, Mr. Iconetti had mounted on the walls everything from World War II Japanese light machine guns to riot batons and billy clubs. One such club fascinated me. It was a stubby baseball bat shaped device with a large hole in its nose. Its manufacturer was Hercules, and Mr. Iconetti told me it shot 12 gauge gas shells. I have no idea whether standard 12 gauge shotshells fit, but I kind've doubt it. These devices had been marketed to prisons, jails, and similar venues for riot control from the 1920s through 1950s.

Does anyone have one of these devices in his collection? How efficiently does the device do its intended job?

If you have such a device, I would be interested in buying it or trading for it. I do not seek a Federal Laboratories device, nor am I interested in 37 mm shoulder fired devices (that resemble an M-79 grenade launcher, circa Vietnam War). I would be interested in a Hercules or other brand gas billy club that accepts 12 gauge gas shells.

[jhrosier]

I don't know where you might find one these days, but a friend of mine had a gas billy club about 45 years ago. He has followed his dad to the promised land some time ago. His father was a country doctor and carried it in his medical bag while on late night house calls.

Jack

[Naphtali]

By way of another forum query I discovered these are restricted . . . unless that changed after January 20.

[Rusty]

I have seen one but would think they were made in very small numbers. IIRC they were made for prison guards which would make their number even smaller than something made for law enforcement officers. If you could dig up patent information on them you might put together enough drawings to make one.