View Single Post
 
Old 06-22-2011, 12:19 PM
PhilOhio PhilOhio is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Northwest Ohio
Posts: 173
Likes: 0
Liked 22 Times in 12 Posts
Default

This near mint 10-9, manufactured in 1988, is not very old but is special to me. Notice the unusual rearward positioning of the lanyard lug.



The cylinder has been turned, but it is unlikely it has been fired, and was clearly never carried in a holster. It is marked as property of the Royal Hong Kong Police, one of quite a few which were released to a U.S. importer and sold here a few years ago. They turned up at guns shows for $150 - $180...quite a bargain even then.

The British formally passed the last final control of Hong Kong to the mainland Chinese in July 1997, not an especially good thing in my opinion, or that of most Chinese and foreigners living in Hong Kong. But history does not stand still, and the Chinese are highly motivated to keep H.K. the vital, bustling trade and finance center it had become during the British glory days. Hong Kong political freedoms are another issue, not yet fully shaken down.

I lived and worked in the Far East during the Vietnam War era. Shopping and vacationing trips to H.K. were a great escape valve, coming from places which were less fun. H.K. was and is such a sophisticated, cosmopolitan place, and even during the cold war era there was a great Chinese presence, as the supposedly ideologically pure communists were thriving in the thick of the banking and trade world, and loving it. These were the beginnings of the modern Chinese capitalism we see today.

Hong Kong had virtually no crime, because the RHKP ran a tight ship. These guns mostly sat in an arms vault, clean and well preserved. But I always remember the steel-eyed uniformed Chinese who escorted bank pickups and deliveries. They had holstered Smiths, but carried loaded, cocked, and levelled Sterling SMGs as they hauled cash bags to and from businesses and banks. (Still got some of those big silver Hong Kong dollar coins.)

No funny business was allowed. Ever. Ah, to have such security here. But HK was still a happy party town at night. You can have it both ways, if leadership functions as leadership.

So my ex-RHKP 10-9 brings back all this nostalgia when I get it out and wipe it down once a year or so. But it won't be fired. I agree with you Goony. It's fun to pick these up now and then, especially when it's something nobody else cares about.

One of these is pictured in Jim Supica's book.
Reply With Quote