What S&W revolvers were used in Viet Nam?

[BE Mike]

When we were issued the new model 10's in our Army Aviation unit, one of our pilots, Ernie, asked to keep his 1911a1 because he had owned one and shot it before joining the Army and had confidence in it. He is the only pilot in our unit, that I know of, that actually used his handgun in a firefight. He was standing by at a "secure" area near the beach, while an instructor was giving training to another pilot. They were in an unarmed Huey. They were supposed to switch off later. Ernie, started receiving fire from a spider hole a couple of sand dunes over. Ernie took cover and returned fire with his pistol. Ernie had no radio, but eventually the pilots flying overhead saw the commotion and landed, picked up Ernie and flew back to camp.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Met a C-123 loadmaster who carried a Smith mod 39 and a Randle knife. They would often land to unload cargo at forward bases where cargo planes were known at mortar magnets. So they tried to land, unload, and take off just as fast as possible. They would request that some Army troopers come out and jump into the open rear cargo doors and help push out the cargo. When the Army saw the 39 and the Randle, they would get into a bidding war trying to buy his weapons. 'They are not for sale, push out the pallets.'

 

[BE Mike]

Well I can't get the picture to post, but google "General Loan" to see pic of S&W in action against NVA up close & personal.

It is interesting to note that the AP photographer, Eddie Adams, who took the photo regretted it to his dying day. He said that Gen. Loan killed the VC Captain Bay Lop, but he (Adams) killed Gen. Loan and Loan didn't deserve it. Adams said that even untouched or doctored photos only tell half-truths. The thousands of South Vietnamese civilians who were murdered by the communists during Tet, were ignored by the media and the American victory was spun by the media to infer a defeat. I'm not defending the summary execution of prisoners, just saying that war is a terrible thing. I'm also saying that the news media has awesome power, and it too can be abused. I apologize for the topic drift.

 

[gatorbait51]

There's a nice Model 27 living in the Russian Army Military Museum in Moscow along with a very early M-16 ,not an A-1 and the Bone Dome of an A-6 Bombardier-navigator. I think the Smith belonged to the shot down aviator.

In one corner ,Powers U-2 sits complete with suppressed Colt Woodsman.

 

[kwill1911]

Sorry, but Powers' pistol was a High Standard.

 

[Tom Kent]

A fellow I met after the war was a SEAL and he told me he and other Seals were issued S&W M-39s with absolutely no markings of any kind on them. No brand, no serial number, nada.

 

[BE Mike]

One of our pilots, Eric, carried a Colt Python. His father had sent it to him along with plenty of hollow point ammo. Eric was shot down and wounded (through both legs). He was sent to Japan and then the states. I reconnected with him recently and he said that he never got that revolver back. BTW, Eric made a full recovery and still flies helicopters, but not the little ones like the loach he flew in Nam. He now flies sky cranes.

 

[SpectreGunner]

I carried a model 10 with a 6" barrel and round butt! 16th SOS AC-130 gunship Gunner ! Viet Nam 70,71,72,73

 

[jtcarm]

Coincidentally, I just saw this on a regional gun-trading site:

: WTS/ WTT S&W Model 15-2 USAF 1964 : Revolvers

I am in no way promoting the item, but it looks to be exactly what is being discussed in this topic.

 

[rayb]

Were military personnel allowed to purchase sidearms at the BX, PX or Rod and Gun Club in Vietnam like they were elsewhere?

In many places there was no PX/BX. The sundry pack took the place of the exchange.
"Rod & Gun club" was nonexistent as far as I know.
Most units had "official" policies prohibiting private weapons, which were generally ignored.
I don't know what went on in Saigon and similar sized facilities.

RE Other weapons issued:

Some of us were issued Ruger .22 autos as part of a "tunnel clearing kit". Standard Ruger .22 auto with the standard shorter barrel. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of ours. The kits came with a hand held field phone, (forget the nomenclature), some wire, the Ruger, and I don't remember what else, probably some ammunition.

rayb

 

[Muley Gil]

Knew an O-1 pilot that carries a Ruger .44 Mag in stainless.

He could have traded that for people.

AFS

I don't think those came out until the mid '70s.

 

[AKAOV1MAN]

In my VN time (1964-66), (1967-69) and part of 1971 I saw just about of every kind of handgun, even an old "hammer the hammer" H&R .22. I was an Army Aviator(rotary and starch wing). The army issued mainly M-10s of various -#s, round and square butt 4" .38 special. But had some Colt OPs and even Detective Specials in the arms room. The M15 was strictly a USAF issue, not to say some were not traded off to other service personnel. The .38 special had 2 particular advantages for aviators: 1. It could be fired right now with one hand (hand/arm in juries were common in both crashes and ejections). 2. It could fire the tiny flares that were issued-mainly by AF/Navy, but lots of Army pilots/aircrew got them. I carried about 20 of them all the time figuring that it would take a few to get attention. I preferred the big (37mm) infantry parachute or star flares if I could get them. For a while I carried a 1911a1 also. I got a Thompson 1928 from an AF guy in a poker game and carried that and 3 100 round drums for a while but they were really heavy, even with a load of 30 round stick mags it was cumbersome. Eventually I settled on a BHP and a Swedish K SMG (S&W made?). Both used 9mm and could pack a lot of that ammo. I was co located at Ubon AFB (flying JOV1As) with the AF guys, and the armorer there did an action job on my M10 that was so slick I could just barely believe it. Like an idiot I turned it in when I went back to Army commands. On my last tour I had a M10 that was marked "DCMP" on the back strap, later learned that it was diverted to the military from an order for the Washington Metro Police-I was smart enough to keep that one by then. As a useful weapon the handguns were more of a morale issue than a real weapon. However I felt better with one, particularly knowing if I could get to it I was never going to burn. An issue that was seldom talked about, but always in the back of your mind-aluminum burns at very high temp.

 

[akfishguide]

Just a guess.

I bet quite a few model 10's ended up over there. They were cheap and reliable. If I had a child over there that's probably what I would have bought and sent.

 

[one eye joe]

I CAME ACROSS THIS PIC OF A TUNNEL RAT, AND HIS REVOLVER. MY EYESIGHT ISN'T GREAT, SO I WON'T ATTEMPT AN ID. I SAW A WIDE VARIETY OF "PERSONAL WEAPONS" DURING MY TOUR. MOST WERE PURCHASED FROM GUYS LEAVING, AND SOLD TO NEW GUYS WHEN WE LEFT. MINE WAS A SINGER 1911, WITH VERY LITTLE BLUE AND NO NUMBERS. IT RATTLED LIKE A CAN OF SPRAY PAINT, BUT IT WENT BANG EVERY TIME. I WAS NOT A TUNNEL RAT…….

 

[.455Eley]

My great uncle carried a S&W model 48 that he won in a poker game to shoot snakes on the runways at Da Nang. He said was hard to load bombs and carry an M16 at the same time.

 

[JSW]

"Spec. 4 Frank Short Albuquerque, N.M. U.S. Army - He goes where others fear to follow." APR 25 1967

This looks like a Victory Model that had its barrel cut down for a suppressor.

 

[Murdock]

Those rats had backbone.

 

[JSW]

Below is a story about the veteran in my first post, a true hero in every since of the word.

Country Boy - Hero - Vietnam Veteran | American Cowboy