I know this gun has been shown on this Forum before, but since I'm its' newest caretaker I wanted to show it off again. Plus IMHO, it's so pretty it deserves to be seen again

This 15-2 was shipped on August 5, 1965 to the United States Air Force Disbursing Officer in Boston Massachusetts.
As clean as this gun is, I'd bet that it sat in the Armory on a shelf and was never issued. It shows no holster or high edge wear, with only a slight turn line and some storage and handling marks.

According to Kevin Williams' excellent article in the Spring 2011 S&WCA Journal:

"In 1962 the standard 4 inch Combat Masterpiece (Model 15) was approved for use by the Air Police (later renamed Security Police) and other personnel. The Air Force bought many thousands of the Combat Masterpiece revolvers throughout the 1960's. Most were shipped to Robins AFB in Warner Robins, Georgia, although small quantities shipped to other USAF destinations do show up in factory letters"

As some of you may know, my youngest son is in the Air Force. He's been in for just over 7 years and has (2) AFSC'S - Security Forces, and CATM (Combat Arms Training and Maintenance) Instructor. He's currently stationed in England and just finished a 6 month deployment to Saudi Arabia.
When I told my Son about this gun, he said he remembered seeing a few Model 15's in the Armory at Minot AFB in Minot, ND (his first duty station) a few years ago, but he didn't think they were still issued.

My main S&W collecting interests are N-frames from the 30's - 60's, but when the opportunity came up to purchase this fine example of a lettered USAF Combat Masterpiece, I jumped on it. This gun will someday be passed on to my Air Force son, once he's back home in the US for good.

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Rick
SWCA #2727 , SWHF #435

All by itself it's really nice (now there's an understatement), but with the connections to the USAF, your son in the USAF, and the letter it is a fantastic package.

Thanks for the post, the history, and the connection to your son.

John
We can never thank the servicemen enough. Please thank your son.

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

That is one fine Md 15! I spent 10 of my 21.5 years in the AF as a "Law Enforcement Specialist" and remember the 15's fondly. I have no idea why they would ship a firearm to a Disbursing office as supposedly all weapons "centrally managed" ( a nice military term) and shipped to individual units from W-R.

In around 1982ish, I remember our Armorer at Edwards AFB getting in fresh supplies of Md 15s that I was told had be refurbished. They came in a matt blue, almost like they had been "parkerized" only in blue. Maybe they were sand blasted and then blued.

Anyway, I think there is a lot going in keeping this for your son. Now you'll have to find a mint M-9 with USAF markings one day!

Fantastic find and a special memory, they're well worth the cost.

Chris

Nice gun! It's hard to find one in such great shape.

I've heard there are lots of fake USAF guns out there. Nice to see a legit original.

Congratulations on owning a beautiful example. The Boston Disbursing office was really just the invoice address. These were generally shipped to Robins AFB in Warner Robins, GA. I have not encountered any fakes.

Regards,
Kevin Williams
USGI Pistols

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

I carried one of these in Southeast Asia and at various bases in the U.S. while in the Air Force. Air Force Security Police, OSI Agents, pilots, finance officers, General Officers, special forces, and various others carried the Model 15 as it was the standard handgun for many years. For what it's worth, General Curtis Lemay was a shooter and a stickler for handgun marksmanship among aircrews and ground personnel and he heavily influenced the selection of a target grade revolver for the basic USAF sidearm. I would love to have one for my collection but very few ever made it out of the USAF supply system. I suspect this one was issued to a General Officer, who got to keep their issued handgun, and eventually worked its way into the civilian market. I applaud you for acquiring this iconic piece of Air Force history for your son, and please thank him for his service.

CMSGT, USAF (Retired)
Security Police and AFOSI 1970-2011

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NRA LE Firearms Instructor/RSO

That's a good looking USAF Model 15. I suggest that you locate a period correct holster for it. The one that I used had a swivel. It was USAF issued.

In Vietnam I was always amused at swaggering fighter pilots in their flight suits and sporty handlebar mustaches, carrying their Model 15's in a swivel holster on a web belt, slung low like a Western movie gunfighter. Of course when they strapped on their F4 it went into a shoulder holster or a holster sewn into their survival vest. I was in the life support section of fighter bases where the pilots geared up for missions-this was at a time when a lot of our aircraft were being hit by Russian SAMS over the North. There was a clearing barrel where the aircrews loaded/unloaded their guns and next to the clearing barrel was a 20 gallon drum cut in half filled with .38 special ball ammo. There must have been 5,000-10,000 rounds in that drum-they could take as much as they thought they needed and I watched some of the guys filling pockets.

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NRA LE Firearms Instructor/RSO

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing and your son's service.

Don't tell your son you wrote "MOS" - It's AFSC in the Air Force

Thank you.

(and thank you for the correction - I fixed it in my original post )

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Rick
SWCA #2727 , SWHF #435

Yes, those four lovely letters USAF, I am only the Air Force Brat on the Sino Defense Forum, but I sure do love my old DAD, for making me one of those, and I sure do miss him. BillyMagg. and thank your son for his service, and to all our brother service members on the S&W forum, thank-you, from the bottom of my heart!

OYou mean like this holster?
Go ahead and laugh, I didn't put that wear on mine wearing it around the base.

Attached Images

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Thank you for your service and for posting that picture.

Your duty rig sure looks like it's seen it's share of work. What were the square pouches used for?
If you get a chance, would you please take a few close up pictures of the holster itself including the back of it. I'd like to find an original holster (not reproduction) to go along with the gun.


BTW - do you have the or a USAF Model 15 to go with that rig?

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Rick
SWCA #2727 , SWHF #435

Sorry to report I do not have an SF CM. I wish i did!
The holster is a US marked Bucheimer with FSN.
The pouches are 6 round ammo drop pouches.
The extra strap was added to provide extra protection from ejection seat acceleration. Added tie down string an attempt to aid in not getting hung up on seat.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

That's a beautiful gun with a great story to it!

It is my goal to someday own guns that are marked like that, whether it be military, police, etc.

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High Caliber History

Lest we forget, the aircrews who carried these rigs went about serious business and were in harm's way every day-that revolver was an important element of their survival gear and held great meaning for most. The Model 15 is a symbol to me of that era and the people who fought that war. I was, and still am, in awe of the courage displayed day in and day out by our combat air crews. Thank you sir for your service. But I am still amused by swaggering pilots and their low-slung six shooters!

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NRA LE Firearms Instructor/RSO

I think dog trainers/dog handlers may still use the M15s with blanks. It's been about 7 years since I left the USAF (USAF Gunsmith Shop at Lackland AFB), but there were many USAF M15s in storage at Anniston Army Depot at that time. They may all have been destroyed by now. I demilitarized quite a few of them for honor guard use by welding up the barrels and guts- just something to put in a holster for decoration. I even wrote up the "official" procedure document for doing that. Not something I enjoyed doing. Robins AFB in Warner-Robins GA is the central location for administration of USAF small arms programs, and has been for a long time. They track all USAF small arms inventories all over the world. I still have a few friends there in the small arms group.

It is really a bummer that all these great threads have the Photobucket curse. So many great threads almost useless now.

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

I'v also been warning against the use of photo bucket and other hosting sites that we would loose all the photos some day. Many threads now next to worthless without photos.

Sad but true. When I come across some of my older threads I try to repost the photos so they are once again visible.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

I'm on my iPhone now and just tapped each Photobucket logo above and they all opened up fine. This seems to work for me across the board. Of course your mileage may vary.

I, too, was an USAF police officer who carried a 4” model 15. The M9 was in the testing phase when I got out.

I was also an AF Security Policeman (LE) (1971-1978, 1982-1987).

The photos above will open in another window if you click on them.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I forgot how great this gun was so I pulled it of of my safe to fondle it again!

My Air Force son is finally back on US soil (thank God!!) and stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina. It's the closest he's been to home since he enlisted 10.5 years ago.

Here are some of the original pics from the original thread I posted. Photobucket took a **** on me so I went over to Flickr.

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Rick
SWCA #2727 , SWHF #435

That is a beauty indeed.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

I remember those guns well. It took awhile to get enough of them, and many of us were issued Victory Models until enough M-15's were on hand.

The war in Vietnam accelerated the need for handguns. And the Cold War was always a threat, lest it turn Hot. As in, Nuclear Hot...

Thanks for reposting...great photos of a great revolver.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Yep, just today, our local school librarian had gone to the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Il. and pulled up the archives of the State Journal Register,,,,, she had found an article from April 10, 1969 where my Dad had been awarded the Bronze Star..

I knew he had a Bronze Star, he was awarded as Chief of the Airlift Section, MACVSOG, while engaged in military operations against the Viet Cong.. He had an office in the US Embassy in Saigon, from Aug 1967 to end of Aug 1968... and yes he got in on all the misery and gore of TET..

He was awarded in 1969 once he returned to Sewart as an IP in the C-130..

I was shocked, I had just delivered a fresh hot load of pre-schoolers from my AM route,,, she assists with the preschoolers, to be honest I thought Major Maggart was some civil war hero, until I began to read the article!

I have NO IDEA, why or how she found that 50 year old article, but I am so proud to have been Major Maggarts #1 Son, to quote our sweet little Okinawan maid... boysan. I can't wait to show my Mom, she is 84, and misses my Dad more every day....

You'd be amazed what can be found. My son is doing genealogy work on our family. He found a photo of me in USAF Basic Training in 1963 and a newspaper article about my family when we were new in a city where we'd just moved when I was 11. I recall them taking that photo. Mother made me don a suit that day.

I graduated college in May of 68, and bought myself a K 38 as a graduation present. Seven months later here comes the draft, so I ran and joined the USAF. Then there was basic and "qualification" with the M 16 on a very cold windy day. I had been on an Army ROTC rifle team for a couple of years so knew how to position shoot, and ended up with a nice group for my qualification if you discount the extra 18 holes on my target. A couple of months later I was in OCS and there qualified with the M 15. My six months with my K 38 served me well as I had no problems with that qualification. I stayed active for ten years 1968 through 1979 and that was the only two times I fired a military firearm. Later I went back in active reserves, not knowing that they had kept me as inactive reserve, so when I went back I was a Capt. with 20 years for pay purposes. Five months later I was activated for Desert Storm, and sent to a contingency hospital in the UK, after getting back I stayed in reserves for 7 years and qualified with the M 92 3 times. For my part it could have been monthly as much as I liked to shoot.

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Jeff

Wonderful looking service weapon. I'll see if I can find some photos of mine.

Cory

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Cory
SWCA #3015 SWHF #465

My 15-1: I added the target stocks, but have the original Magnas too. Have the factory letter also.

And here's mine.

Cory

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	IMG_3316.jpg (75.2 KB, 24 views)

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Cory
SWCA #3015 SWHF #465

Carried one in the USAF from 73 till the mid 80s when they went to the M9. Still use the same brand and type holster (now brown instead of black) with my K frame gun.

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