Unusal guns of Vietnam

[eddd7]

Was just watching "Brothers in War" that followed the life of Charlie company in Vietnam. Within 18 minutes I saw 2 guns that were not US equipment from my limited knowledge. One was a standard barreled Remington 700 ADL with a cheap Bushnell scope. The other was hard to see well but was a wood stocked gun that appeared to be a self loader but was not a Garand, M1 carbine or a M-14. Did any veterans in this forum see or use any non standard guns while vacationing in Vietnam on the government plan?

I was the head company Corpsman for Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. My CO, Captain Livingston, carried a "grease gun". Amazon.com: Noble Warrior: The Story of Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, USMC (Ret.), Medal of Honor (9780760338070): James E. Livingston, Colin D. Heaton, Anne-Marie Lewis, Gen. Al Gray, Brig. Gen. William Weise, Gen. Paul X. Kelley: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519bUilhtcL.@@AMEPARAM@@519bUilhtcL


Certainly not standard issue, but no one who was assigned a .45 - radio men, officers, Corpsmen, carried their .45 exposed. I carried a couple of LAW's and had my medical gear in bandoliers just to blend in to charlie.

 

[wayne64]

What I carried for the camping trip

Served 68-69 with the 1st of the 5th Mech, 25th ID. First 5 months carried the M60 and I also carried an issued 1911 until a stoned Medic shot himself in the foot to get off line. So what does the Bn. do, take away all 45s from everyone but officers and Medics?? I wrote my Dad and in about two weeks got a sweet Hi-Power in a care package. After the M60 I tried out the M79 for a while until I made Sgt. and then was almost forced to carry the *** M-16. I instead got an Ithaca 37 that's barrel was stamped Joliet Prison. and just that walking point till I got so short and went back to Cu Chi I left my weapons in the field and finally Had to be issued a M16 which I zeroed a starlight to for bunker work. As an aside traded AKs to the Aviation unit for a mini gun.
If you follow the link there are some of my pics.
Index of /wayne/Vietnam

 

[eddd7]

John Plaster's book "SOG" talks about that operation

Operation Eldest Son. The CIA in Okinawa had original paper, ink, etc. of the N Vietnamese.......and produced fake warning communications to the NVA, making it appear to come from high command, that some of their ammo has "issues" . But proclaimed "not to worry" the problem is now fixed, and that only "these serial numbers" were the problem. And then, proceeded to list all the serial numbers that we knew were in their pipeline in the field.

Way too funny!

SOG knew that the huge Cache's they found couldn't be destroyed effectively via airstrikes, so brought back enough info to produce "Eldest Son".....ammo box serial numbers, etc.

 

[shouldazagged]

That's a wonderful story!

 

[eddd7]

Served 68-69 with the 1st of the 5th Mech, 25th ID. First 5 months carried the M60 and I also carried an issued 1911 until a stoned Medic shot himself in the foot to get off line. So what does the Bn. do, take away all 45s from everyone but officers and Medics?? I wrote my Dad and in about two weeks got a sweet Hi-Power in a care package. After the M60 I tried out the M79 for a while until I made Sgt. and then was almost forced to carry the *** M-16. I instead got an Ithaca 37 that's barrel was stamped Joliet Prison. and just that walking point till I got so short and went back to Cu Chi I left my weapons in the field and finally Had to be issued a M16 which I zeroed a starlight to for bunker work. As an aside traded AKs to the Aviation unit for a mini gun.
If you follow the link there are some of my pics.
Index of /wayne/Vietnam

HAHAHAHA! I traded a new captured, in a cache, AK wrapped in plastic and smeared with some kind of grease (water buffalo ear wax?) for 80 cases of Pabst in a deal I made with Delta Med in Dong Ha. I had the pallets of Pabst stamped "Medical Resupply" and had them flown up from Danang. All of this was almost by accident, but the stars aligned...........

I ran into a Chief that I went through field med school with, who happened to work himself into being in charge of their club/bar. He was looking for "this" and I had "that" and everything just fell into place.

BTW, the Pabst was for 2/4's BAS, not Delta Med. The Chief had other stock he had to get rid of.

 

[pappat]

I saw a 1911 45 will it looked like one but did not have any marks on it, poof or other wise. It was found on a dead VC.

 

[Thump-boom]

Very nice pics thanks to all who shared them, brings back many memories. In 1965 Marine snipers were using Model 70 heavy barreled Winchesters .30-06, among others. The Winchesters were preferred though

 

[sarge68]

I took a Colt LW Commander with me in 1964, many guys took S&Ws, Rugers, P-38s, etc. Traded for a like new Thompson, a grease gun with the holes in the bolt in a cardboard box with pictures for instructions. Used a genuine folding stock M-1 carbine. Didn't see an AR-15 until the gulf of Tonkin. We used anything that would shoot.

 

[DepOne]

Custom 1911lightweight Commander and an 870 with a pistol grip and about an 8 inch barrel. Nasty little thing with 00 Buck. With a "Get out of jail" card from MACSOG I could get away with it.

 

[JGR_LV]

Wasn't there, but a USMC friend who was said his sidearm was a Mod. 29. He said you had to kill somebody to get one, but never got around to mentioning who. I was under the impression that a .22 auto, preferably a Colt Woodsman, was the weapon of choice among the tunnel rats, although one of those suppressed Mod. 39s would seem like a decent alternative.

 

[mesaman]

Nothing, in war, is illegal. Only after the war is that thought up.
AK's were preferred over the jam-o-matic when it first was introduced.

This was true in Korea, as well. I had a .38 S&W Combat Masterpiece in my possession during basic training at Ft Ord, but when we entered a carrier company bound for Korea, I had to ship it home before we debarked. In the 2ID and then 7thID, I was able to collect a burp gun, a Enfield Mk III(?) .455 and a Chinese long rifle (can't recall now 51 years later what it was). Kept them until shakedown to rotate home and they were politely removed from my possession. Sgt, 32d Regt 7thID.

 

[Glenn Kelley]

Interesting thread .
I'll comment on the picture of the soldier with the recurve bow .That is a left handed bow . The window in the bow limb is always cut so that you have a clear line of sight down the arrow .

The arrow is interesting .
It is a piece of bamboo ,you can see a node in the shaft between the string and the bow .He is holding low (off his face ) to lob the shaft into the grass on shore .
I don't think is any fletching on the shaft .

Glenn

 

[Nitrose]

The irony is that the sniper that had the most confirmed kills in Vietnam was an Army guy. Hathcock was #3 or #4 on the list.

Bob

Actually Carlos Hathcock was a Marine. After Vietnam he returned to Quantico and set up the Marine Corps sniper school. Once he retired, he continued to advise the sniper school until his untimely passing. I am an acquaintance of his son, Carlos Hathcock III, also a retired Marine.

 

[AQBill]

My big brother - who passed away this past June - brought home an MP-40 and a 3-stick sling pack with a loader. He gave it to my father for safe keeping after taking it out to the State Police range. Evidently he and the boys in blue had a grand time that afternoon. Eventually, with the passing of my father, I inherited the MP-40 and, since it was an unregistered piece, I donated it to the D-Day Museum in New Orleans. I'm going to stop by and visit it one of these days. And, no, neither my father or I ever shot the weapon.

AQBill

 

[SWTIM255]

I always found these amazing

The lead up to the 2nd most famous picture of the war. A model 49 in use and a Uzi there!

 

[SWTIM255]

I have over 500 hours of radio traffic from gunships and slicks from VN, on CD's moved over from reel to reel. Never have listened to it all, but I have found one clip of a slick copilot being told by the pilot to shoot that %^$% *** with his revolver, you then hear 6 shots, very wild.

Couple more VN uzi pics

 

[3rdRRU_PhuBai]

Traded my personal Browning .25 ACP for the "Tommygun" in photo which I grew weary of carrying, then went back to the issue M2 carbine.
Never had the need to fire any of them, for which I am still grateful. Don't even know if they worked.
3rdRRU_PhuBai, 1962-1963, before VN was a war.
http://oldspooksandspies.org/Photos/standish/Standish341.jpg

 

[gma]

I read an article by a USAF fighter pilot that said his commander told the pilots to bring their own sidearms, as they were in short supply. Naval and Marine pilots also seemed able to use their own handguns. Jeff Cooper used to have a Q&A column in Guns & Ammo then, and he fielded quite a few questions about which gun was good to take to Vietnam. Many indeed came from pilots and other officers.

Life and other magazines often showed Special Forces men with personal handguns.

And Gen. Westmoreland had that ivory-handled Randall Model 1 knife...

I was in country 11/67-6/69 (19 mo. 19 days) & 5 months after I arrived the f-100 & f-4 jockeys got a delivery of (I believe it was 9) M3 30 cal. grease guns with 30 rd. clips from a capt's brother stateside who was a major in a supply depot. The story we got was these had been laying around from Korean war & were originally carried by the f-86 jockeys. Whichever group (f-4 or f-100, sometimes both) drew the daily mission carried them for the run.

 

[Chieftain]

I was 3rd Marine Division, SubUnit II with our tactical rear Dong Ha, from 67 to the end of 69. With in two weeks my forward "rear" was Khe Sanh. I was a FAC (Forward Air Controler) in a TACP (Tactical Air control Party) I was issued a M14 and 1911A1. From home I had brought a model 38 'J' frame original BodyGuard carried in the leg pocket of my Utility trousers.

Later as the infantry companies were forced, and I do mean forced, to go from M14's to XM16E1's, I could hang on to my M14 because I was attached and not organic to the rifle companies. My outfits armory was in Danang right next to the 1st MAR Div Headquarters. Later in mid 69 they moved up to the 3rdMarDiv at Dong Ha and thats when they caught up with me and forced me to turn in my M14. It was during this period I acquired a deep and lasting antipathy for the M16. To many people I knew were wounded or killed because of the Matty Mattel.

I carried a lot of non-issued stuff so as not to take my M14 to Danang. Thompson (ammo was to heavy for patrol), M2 Carbine, several Communist SMG's, and my favorite the Swedish K or M45. Problem was finding 9mm ammo. About the time they trappedme into turning in my M14 I finally got rid of my 1911A1 (was having problems getting parts and repairs from armory's of units I was attached to.) I acquired a Victory S&W just like my fathers and what I had learned to shoot a handgun with. Got ammo from the chopper flight crews.

Most troops carried a handgun if they could get their hands on one. Getting over run particularly in 67 & 68 was rather common in Northern I Corp on the DMZ and Laotion border area's. Then of course the Siege.

The only rifles I remember seeing Marine Snipers with were Winchester 30-06 mostly with the Redfield scopes. I never saw a Marine get hung up on carrying non-issue weapons. I left the S&W Model 38 with a friend in another unit, as we left as a unit part of the 3rdMarDiv pull out. We left by ship for Japan.

I am on the Agent Orange registry, and use the Phoenix VA.

Welcome home my brothers.

Fred

I no longer fight the NVA, now I must fight the VA.

 

[histan]

suppressed .22

I saw what I am sure was a suppressed Ruger Mk 1.

DaNang class of 72

What you saw may have been the High Standard HD-MS developed late in WWII for the OSS. Talked to a guy who had one in Nam. He claimed to have shot a rat in his barracks and didn't wake the guy sleeping next to him.