Does anyone know if it is possible for a new departure to have been a post office issue,but not letter as such? Did the post office obtain guns from other sources than the factory? I have a gun that I am sure was carried by a postal worker, but it did not letter. Any info anyone?

Does anyone know if it is possible for a new departure to have been a post office issue,but not letter as such? Did the post office obtain guns from other sources than the factory? I have a gun that I am sure was carried by a postal worker, but it did not letter. Any info anyone?

Are you sure that he carried it officially?

May make a difference. Skeeter Skelton wrote that he knew one postman who carried a long-barrelled Luger. He used it to kill geese on his rural route.

T-Star

Hi, dw57:
I was employed by the Post Office in the early 1950s as a Carrier (Temp). The Carriers that carried Registered Mail were issued a sidearm at the beginning of their shift. I recall that the handguns were breaktop .32/ .38 revolvers with
generic leather holsters.These revolvers could have been Smith and Wessons. In inventory was one Smith and Wesson Model 1917 .45 revolver.
Post Office Inspectors carried Colt 2" revolver.
Jimmy

Could be, but without documentation (i.e. factory letter or USPS inventory copy, etc.), it's just another story and will do nothing to add to the value as a collectable.

__________________
Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

according to what I've read, a number of surplus 1917's were issued to the Post Office Department (as it was known then) these wouldn't letter as POD because the POD didn't buy them, they were military surplus given to then. I believe the Border Patrol got some also.

The Border Patrol did get some. Col. Askins mentioned them several times in his writing about his days there before he went into the Army.

T-Star