CIA S&W revolvers

[robbt]

howdy , did our CIA issue S&W revolvers ??
just a thought , robbt

[robbt]

howdy , did our CIA issue S&W revolvers ??
just a thought , robbt

[ACP230]

In his book, The Snubby Revolver, Ed Lovette states that when he was an operator and trainer for the CIA issue handguns were the BHP and "...the Smith & Wesson revolver in a variety of "K" and "J" frames."

He also said that most folks he trained started out preferring the BHP because it was easier to shoot and carried more ammo. Most ended up with the Smith "J" frame because it was easier to carry and hide.

[Sonny Crocket]

He mentions specifically the 640 at least once, maybe more, as I remember.

[Malysh]

Originally posted by Sonny Crocket:
He mentions specifically the 640 at least once, maybe more, as I remember.

Yes he does. Both the Hi Power and the S&Ws have something going for them as far as deniability goes. The Hi Power P-35 and the S&W K and J frames are very popular handguns not only in the US but also in the international market. Either one of these handguns "dumped" in a foreign country could easily be denied by the State Dept. and US Embassy as having any connection with our government.

[shawn mccarver]

Originally posted by robbt:
howdy , did our CIA issue S&W revolvers ??
just a thought , robbt

They must have - remember Bond's description of Rosie's revolver in "Live and Let Die": Smith & Wesson, Custom 38, three inch, corrugated (presumably means checkered in British speak) stock, no serial number, standard CIA issue.

There you have it - Bond said it, so it must be true!

[mikester]

Many years ago, 1974-75, I worked for a contractor that supplied spares for various Government Agencies. We did everything from secure electronics to the motion detectors that tracked truck and personnel movement in Vietnam. A couple of the more interesting thing that we did relating to firearms is reducing the rate of fire on a lot of MAC 11 sub machine guns from 1200 rpm to 600 rpm and packaging a lot of 200 Model 36 Smith and Wesson J Frames. What was different about these fire arms was that there was no markings what so ever, no caliber, made in USA, nothing. We received them is large boxes from Smith, 20 to a box as I remember, and put them in 20 year packaging. This was a vacuumed plastic bag with desiccate that was put inside a heat sealed foil/brown paper bag. These were then shipped to a warehouse in Europe. As I remember it was in Belgium. We were told that this warehouse was a cold drop that they would remain until they were needed.It was a great job, I went to all of the different security agencies, antenna farms and did a lot of neat stuff.

[feralmerril]

Many years ago I worked with a guy who had been CID NOT CIA, so this is off thread. He was a lot older than me so I am not sure exactly what years, could have been as far back as world war two, but probley in the late 40s or in the 50s. I asked him what he carried and oddly he told me a high standard HDM? in 4" barrel. I have one in 6". (CID was or is?, criminal investigation division of the army)

[Double-O-Dave]

When I was a kid, and I'm in my early 50's now, I met a guy that was in the OSS during WW-2. The OSS was the ancestor of the CIA, and had a number of very interesting agents both male and female. What always impressed me was that he never got involved in either the "how great I was" stories, or the blood and gore stories either. Instead, he just talked about things like how an agent was so well trained that he or she was able to, in a last ditch situation, either improvise weapons, or disarm and opponent and use their weapons to escape. He emphasized that a smart person would minimize his or her risks, and use everything to their advantage. I wish I could have gotten more details off of him, but I don't think he would have given them. Cool guy and a real gentleman.

Regards,

Dave

[badmoon533]

I do know that at one time, investigators with the Office of Security qualified with S&W 19 2.5" revolvers. About the only time they were allowed to carry them was when they assisted investigators assigned to the Director's protective details. Those officers also carried Walther PPK's.

[TN RAT]

Many different weapons and other items were known to have been unmarked in any manner over the years, with these items being described as "sterile." The description has been picked up by the knife industry and means essentially the same thing.

I first read about this practice while reading up on the MacVSOG operations in the 1960's.

[Texas Star]

I suppose that "sterile" guns rang some macho guys' chimes, but any cop who caught someone with a gun like that would know that he had caught a spy.

One can "deny" them, but why bother? If an international weapon is used, that could have been carried by anyone! Or, use an enemy weapon.