Anyone ever hear of a USAF issued M15 with a parkerized finish? I was in the USAF Air Police Security Police 1966/1970 and all ours were typical S&W blue.

All I ever saw were standard blued finish, no parkerizing. I was a USAF SP from 1971-1975.

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John

Thanks John, I think this example I'm looking at was refinished after it was surplused out.

Not trying to hijack but I was in at the same time! Went in in Oct'71.

Back in the mid '60s the USAF APs (that's how they were identified back then) that guarded a couple of birds in a TWA hanger at Orly Airport carried Combat Masterpieces that were either SS or Nickel plated, but the APs were assigned to SHAPE and supported through the embassy, so they probably weren't standard USAF issued weapons. Other than those few, all I saw from '63 - '75 were blued.

John

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Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

I've been watching that one too. Just out of curiosity. I don't think any were ISSUED with a parkerized finish.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

I've had several, seen more.
ALL blue.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I wonder who parkerized it, I don't think it was the factory or the USAF. To my fellow APs, I hated it when they changed our name from Air Police which was at least distinctive like Shore Patrol, to Security Police which sound like a commercial security company.

I wasn't an AP, but the people in my field of endeavor weren't too happy about the name change either. When we told people we were in Security Service, they thought we were in law enforcement while the opposite was closer to the truth. Of course, we never did anything that was actually illeagal, or at least it wasn't back then

Finally USAFSS got around to changing their name and the confusion went away, but that was long after I got out in '75.

John

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Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

I remember about a quarter of the 15's in our armory (1982-1984) being parkerized. From what I was told they were refinished by the military. Elite Gate Guards (Security Police) had the nickle 15's in cross draw holsters.

I was in from '67 til '73. In '68 I was in the 1st Mob out of Clark AFB, in the Phillipines and we were issued Victory Model S&Ws and all were quite ugly but boy could they shoot. Mine was a Navy model with the old smooth walnut grips (stocks), sure wish I had that sucker today.

All the ones I saw while I was in, ('73-'77) were standard blue. Nice guns, but I had a 4 legged land shark to use on duty also, funny, I never had to pull or use the gun, the dog made the point for me. Something about 90 lbs. of snarling sheperd sure made people meek and made them mind.

I saw the parkerized USAF M15 on GunBroker too, too rich for my blood!

Plus I was in the Army, so I'll leave it to an AF guy to get that one

I was in USAF from '62 to '68 and as Minuteman Missile Crew Commander, and was issued and carried a Model 15. All of 15's we had at the 810th Missile Wing were S&W blue.

Parkerized, and with later S & W Magna stocks than the 1965 serial number would suggest also...hope the bidders know what they are getting.

On a probably unrelated note, I fired my first Navy pistol qualification in 1994 with a model 15 along with about 20 others. I do not recall if any were property or military stamped but they were all blued.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Right serial range for a USAF gun, and the marking looks legit.

Pits are visible on the butt, so my best guess is an AF armory repair unit parked it. Or, it could have been done after. No real way to tell.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Fellow airmen (and others),

Tom Ferguson, who wrote for Gun World and was a retired San Antonio LEO, did an article about the Lackland gunsmith facilities that pictured a whole rack of M-15s that were parkerized there. Seems to me the article was in the '80s, after the AF marksmanship program started up again.

Good shooting.

I see the top bid was $905.00, I hope the high bidder got a legit gun. I would have felt much more confident had it been blued and therefore original.

I was DOD Police at Otis ANGB, MA, from 1983-1989. About 1985-86 time frame, our police force was increased quite a bit, and therefore more model 15's were needed. I remember we received a crate straight from Warner Robbins AFB, GA, and inside were about a dozen new parkerized model 15's. Target hammer, target triggers, magna stocks, and USAF stamped as I recall. They looked brand new. I was issued one because my older, blued S&W M15 was suffering from "push-off" from a cocked hammer and the unit armorer pulled it from me for repair and issued me one of the parkerized guns.

I also served in the USAF during the mid to late 60s. Our aircrew issue weapons (survival gear) included an S&W MOD 15: Blued.
Bill

I have no AF experience(other than being colocated with the AF), but in Army Aviation there were blue and parked M10s. I was told that the parkerized weapons were rebuilds or were WWII reissue weapons. The USAF personnel at Ubon AFB in Thailand all had blue M15s, some were well worn but they were ALL blue. I know cause I made friends with the armorer and spent some time in his various arms rooms. He slicked my Army M10 to the best DA I have ever used.

AKAOV1MAN and to anyone who was stationed in Thailand should consider about returning for a vacation. When I retired from the Chicago PD in 2001 I started traveling to Thailand with the owners of Simpsons LTD, a large gunshop in Illinois. I've been back 15 times now and every trip I meet more American expats who live there. I must say it has become my favorite country outside the USA, recent political troubles aside it's a beautiful country with great people. There is still a US military presense there and JUSMAGTHAI still looks like it did in 1968. They even have gun clubs where we can shoot there, and yes that's a model 15 I'm firing in the photo. Traveling back to Viet Nam was emotional for my friends and I, but even there the people were great. We have so much history in SE ASia, it's great to get back there.

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All of the ones we had at Nellis and Suwon in the early 80s were blued. We went to the M9 after that.

Mag, I spent a great year there, '74-'75.
If I went back for a vacation I'd probably never come home.

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John

John, I know a few people who went there for vacation and never came back. You wouldn't believe the changes since you've been there, Bangkok is a world class city now. Just like the song states "One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble".

Mag, more than a few nights in Bangkok made me a humble man! I was stationed at Utapao AB and had a friend stationed in Bangkok. I'd go up to visit quite often and we'd make the rounds of the nightspots.
Oh, the memories...
I went down to Chinatown once and perused the gun shops. Saw a lot of nice S&W's there. I also bought a few sets of handmade exotic S&W grips complete with medallions. I still have a few sets lying around. Thais love their handguns.

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John

John, I know what you're talking about, that country ruined me for American women. Everytime I'm at the airport waiting to board my return flight there are a lot of guys with tears in there eyes at the thought of leaving. One thing neat out of Thailand now are handgun grips made in Chaing Mai, they use some beautiful exotic woods. I'm going to pick up a bunch of them for friends on my next trip. Here's a photo of a gun toting Thai for you.

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Tell her to take her finger off the trigger!
Then tell her to call me...

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John

was she just for the evening or the whole trip?

At McCoy AFB '63-67, we had parkerized Colts, stamped US Navy, for Base Police. Security used worn out m10's and a few Combat Masterpieces, that were used when they got them.got them.

I was NCOIC of Arms and Equipment at a couple of duty stations. Carried the 15 in both 4" and snub nose while on various duty assignments. I only saw blue finishes, but I got out in 83.

On another note, I wore a AP badge and SP badge (LE), now the name has once again changed to Security Forces. There seems to be no tradition in the Air Force when it comes to Law enforcement/Security.

To throw in my 2 cents....I've only handled 2 Gov't owned Model 15s and they were both parkerized. One was a training piece (it cycled but was demilled-back before "red guns") a Mobile Law Enforcement Training Team used when I was in the Coast Guard. The other one sits in our Armory (I'm in the Air Force now) and it is parkerized as well.

Actually she was my tour guide for a couple of weeks, and she loves guns. Among her many skills she was a surprisingly good shot.

GateKeeper: When it comes to "tradition", the Air Force has no concept of it in any way shape or form. I was in from Oct 1963 to July 1984. My Father was in the USAAC from 1942 to 1947, and USAF until 1966. We have both often lamented about the Air Force's lack of tradition. They change things more often than most of us change socks, or it would seem. Yes, I understand what you mean.

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SgtSam

I was in Security Police from 80 to 82; SAC aircrew 83-91; TAC aircrew 91-93; AMC aircrew 93-99. I carried 4" blue M15 while in SP, 2" M15 while on SAC alert, and M9 during/after Desert Shield. I recall all of the duty M15s were bright blue, but the CATM qualification and training guns could have been parkerized or matt blue.

SgtSam, well said and I heartily agree.

Your a good man SgtSam.

Now the Blue Beret is extinct as well, that's a slap in the face of the 1041st SPS.

I was an SP from 1983 to 1991, and was issued a variety of Model 15s until the Beretta came along. I was an officer, and the armory guys let me cherry pick my revolver - there were always both bright blue and matte finished ones to choose from. I don't know if the matte ones came from the factory that way or were redone by the Air Force along the way.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

You're kidding, right?

Yes I purchased one today. I saw a pilot with one when I was at Kadena.