I have to believe some 28's found their way into Vietnam between the early 60's and mid-70's. Does anyone have any documentation of their use, or have pictures of them in Vietnam? I have never seen any photos of 28's in Vietnam. If you happen to have any, by all means please share

I have never seen such, and if there were, they would almost certainly have been private purchase.

I have to ask

Why do you "have to believe some 28's found their way into Vietnam between the early 60's and mid-70's"?

Are you referencing some military purchase of model 28s that occurred during that time frame?

No, I'm pretty certain the military never procured them in any official capacity, or otherwise to the best of my knowledge. I would have thought some would have made their way over there privately? I've seen pictures of a Winchester 1894 over there. I'm just thinking there was so much conflict for so long, there's gotta be a photo somewhere of an M28 in action over there.

I know of one N frame .357 that was in Nam used by the POIC on a PBR.
Shot a VC with it in a close fire fight.
Couldn't bring it back state side, so he sold it there.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Had a good friend who was a Major in SF who carried a 4in M28 for at least two tours in RVN and have seen pics with him wearing it in some sort of covered holster. As noted, he sold it to another SF trooper when he went for a third tour after his last promotion. He didn't make it back from that one.

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Run Fast, Bite Hard!

A friend of nine carried a Model 29 he purchased over there. He left it there when he returned home.

May he Rest in Peace.

Frank

had my dad send me a 28-2 for personal. could get full pressure 158 grain, lead semi-wad cutters (if i remember right were remington) in either philippines or atsugi, japan. fyi one guy had a ruger .44 mag carbine. as i recall, could only get those cartridges in atsugi. they had a cpo running the gun shop at the exchange who knew his stuff. mcole

Nice shootin' by your buddy on the PRB (Patrol Boat, River?). I would have taken my chances and tried to hide it in my hole baggage. Depending on the time frame, those lockers escaped scrutiny, but not always.

Good read here. "Mad Dog" Shriver used a .444 Marlin as a "bunker buster" in Nam.
Interesting as I read here and have read lots of (off the record) guns were used in nam. Most were past off or sold when the user rotated home.

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S&W Accumulator

In an instructor's course I took back in the late '80s, I had the privilege of handling a Model 28 that had been brought back from Viet Nam by someone whose name many of you would mention. He told me he had reclaimed it from a Viet Cong who had no further use for it. I never did get the whole back story on how the VC was thought to have acquired it, but it involved unpleasantness for one of our guys. Those were some tough times for all concerned.

Green Frog

Aloha,

I was at a LGS when a guy came in and bought ALL the 357 ammo they had.

When asked Why he wanted so much, he just said that it was ALL going back with him to Viet Nam.

Said that he was on a patrol boat and a lot of "his guys" had 357s.

We just took him at his word.

Must have been in the mid to late 60s.

About 30 years ago a VN vet wrote an article for a shooting magazine about gun trading in VN during the war. He said that guns of all kinds, from antiques to modern weapons of all sorts, were common in the country. Also, many soldiers and Marines brought personal pistols with them from home or had them shipped over by family members.

I have no doubt that a couple of M28s wound up in VN but they were personal weapons smuggled into the country and were never military issue. It's unlikely you will find any specific info about 28s in VN.

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No life story has happy end.

The last thing one wanted to do, was to get caught with any .357 ammo that wasn't FMJ. I bought a Colt Trooper .357 to take with me when I had orders to go. And the Gunner's Mate Chief in our battalion (Seabees), told me what I could carry as ammunition. I also had to qualify with the revolver, just as with any other weapon.

I wasn't/am not naive enough to believe that no one carried "illegal" ammo, but the UCMJ and Geneva Convention articles are quite clear on the matter.

I was fortunate that my orders were changed at the last minute, and I didn't have to go, but one of the guys in my office bought it from me, and carried it the entire time he was there. He brought it back, and I offered to buy it, but no dice.

When my battalion returned from in country, there were two guys that got caught trying to smuggle in AK47's as trophies in their footlockers; neither had been demilled. Both got special courts martial, and both lost one stripe. The customs guys even searched conex containers, and mount-out boxes. They found two more French military rifles, and confiscated them. No one got in trouble, because there were tools in the container.

This was in 1970, and I believe things had tightened up a bit by then.

Not that I would know, but I had heard somewhere that there were probably more "care packages" containing 2" model 36s than any other model. Something light and easy to carry that the guys could stuff in their pocket for emergency. Many times when some model 36s owners tour was over and he went back to the states, the model 36 would just get passed on to their buddy. I wonder if there is any truth to the greater number of 2 inch model 36 care packages story? I had a BMW in Germany that got passed down to me when my buddy PCS'd back to the states.

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USAF AMMO

I wouldn't doubt guns and parts getting sent to 'Nam, I sent a few care packages to the middle east when I had some friends over there in the sand box.

I've heard stories of guys having M10's & M25's and then passing them down when they rotated out. But those two pistols saw service in WWII so they might have been issued to our guys anyways. I did hear of some guys using Swedish K's as well.... Neat guns!

A small number of S&W model 29's were shipped to Vietnam in 1968 - 1969 to be used as "tunnel guns". Lots of info on the net for anyone who wants to Google it.....

Larry

In the late 60's I was in High School, and there was talk among parents of kids I knew about sending revolvers over to VN to their servicemen children.

There was much ado in the newspapers about issued M16's being unreliable and parents and friends of service members were trying to find ways to send them revolvers so they had a reliable backup weapon.

As I was not "there" I would like to ask...Why did the firearms have to get passed to some one else? Is this the same for personally owned firearms?
Just wondering.
Randy

Non-authorized personal weapons were not allowed. Many guys had them and mostly nobody cared while you were there, but it was risky trying to bring them home. So they were left in country. Lots of captured guns were used, but then passed along to others when we rotated back to the World.

I thought about taking a Highway Patrolman with me, but decided to leave it with my dad when I left the states. The gov't let me use a Model 15, so I was happy enough.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

I had a classmate in JuCo who had been a Corpsman; it did not take him long after getting there to have his family send him a shotgun that he shortened. It got left there, but was priceless while he had it.

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NHI, 10-8.

Most places in the world, back then and now also, if you have the bucks, you can get a gun in short order. Even in places where it's illegal to own a gun.

Of course, many GIs may not have had enough cash or wanted to take the risk.

Zombie thread . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I was a young Marine in 1969 ending my first 13 month tour in Viet Nam. All weapons were confiscated prior to boarding the C141. I had a KaBar that was my constant companion for my whole tour and I wanted to bring it home with me. I duct taped it to my inner thigh thinking it would never be found. Our Gunny decided that pat down searches were in order. The offending KaBar was discovered. Drop my fatigues and the Gunny ripped the tape, knife, and a goodly amount of my hide off!
My beloved KaBar wound up on a sizeable pile of contraband on the tarmac.

I remember seeing a memo from the CO of HAL-3 (Helicopter Attack Squadron Light Three) requiring all members to turn in privately owned side arms to the armory. I'm sure there was 100% compliance.

When I got back in July 69 they didn't even open my duffel bag could have brought just about anything that would have fit in it. I didn't see any 357s but there were model 10s around.

I "know a guy" who had a S&W model 642 in a paper cup in the pocket of his DCUs for over a year in Iraq. He gave to another guy when he came home who gave it to another guy. The same 5 FBI loads were in it the whole time. I assume its in the sand someplace. Better to have had it and lost it than to have been without. I knew i was flying home via commercial air from Kuwait so I couldnt bring it.
I have to assume the same was true of Vietnam.

In my aviation unit, the pilots were supposed to turn in their 1911A1's for .38 SPL revolvers. One pilot kept his and actually had to return fire with it while on the ground. Another pilot had a Colt Python with semi-jacketed soft point .357 mag. ammo. His father had shipped it to him. It never made it back to the states with him when he was wounded and sent to Japan.

You had to be an E-5 or above to have a personal weapon, or at least that was my understanding/memory of it then. I had an old 1911 as an HM3.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Lots of hardware was returned home in the back of the large stereo speakers early on.

During WWII and Korea my Mother sent handguns to Her "Boys"wrapped in wax paper concealed inside fruit cakes. (carried a I J .32 B/T in Her apron pocket forever.

I thought that was a technique used to break out of jail.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER