They seem never to have been sold as surplus, but examples are in civilian hands. I think they represent stolen guns. Some have appeared on this board, one now being for sale in Europe. It has seen better days, but is supposedly identifiable as a USAF piece. No way to know how it came on the market, probably.

FYI, the guns seem all to have had target hammers and triggers, and can be distinguished from the civilian M-15 by the initials U.S.A.F stamped above the trigger on the left side of the frame. Someone will probably post a photo of one. (NOTE: this was typed as the above posts were being made.)

Some were reportedly refinished in a Parkerized finish by military armorers.
All that I saw while in the Air Force had the regular bright blue finish.

There was a snub version, called the M-56 by the AF.It was presumably the forerunner to the snub M-15. I think these had the standard hammer and trigger. Frankly, I prefer those to the target version. Gen. LeMay had some idea that the target features would enhance qualifying.

In addition to Air Police/Security Forces, the Combat Masterpiece was often issued to aircrew, combat control teams, pararescuemen, OSI agents, and, probably, others. From the early 1960's until 1985, it was the standard USAF handgun,although supplemented by others.

Someone posted here a few days ago that a genuine example sells for about $1500-2500, depending on condition, and who has it. Unless you're a collector, you'd be FAR better off to look for a civilian example for maybe $400. Apart from those four letters above the trigger, you'd have the same gun, and no chance of being busted for being in possession of stolen government property. Not that I really think that is likely unless you display the gun openly and brag how rare it is. Then some jealous jerk may turn you in...

LATER: the same goes for the Air Police badge in the photo above. Those were controlled items, which allowed access to many restricted areas, as well as identifying an Air Force cop. I had to turn mine in when I left active duty. (The policy on that may well have changed over the years.) I still remember my badge number...

T-Star