The USAF SAC Elite Guard Model 15

Goony · May 24, 2023

[FONT=&quot]I've been doing a bit of research into the USAF's procurement and use of the Model 15. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]An interesting subset of these would be those issued to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Elite Guard, which were nickel plated and fitted with (presumably faux) stag grips (some of these would date from the 1950's while others may have been later purchases, so which forum category under which to post this is a little problematic). The unusually flashy specifications are said to have devolved from General Curtis LeMay himself, despite their intended use being as everyday duty as opposed to merely dress or ceremonial sidearms.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'm wondering if any remain extant. Certainly some USAF Model 15's have appeared in the civilian marketplace over the years, but I can't find any of the Elite Guard version among them. The USAF has at this point mostly withdrawn Model 15's from service, but whether they will continue to be carried in inventory, declared surplus, or (perhaps already) destroyed doesn't seem to be public knowledge. If somebody's seen one out there, or better yet, acquired one, sound off.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As an aside, there's a Star Trek episode in which Captain Kirk is detained by USAF security personnel, and you can see stag gripped revolvers poking out of their holsters. In other scenes, the revolver is revealed to be in fact a blued Model 10 (or M&P), but the stag grips are a realistic detail that you wouldn't necessarily have expected to have been gotten right in a weekly television program of the period.[/FONT]

CH4 · May 24, 2023

I was a member of the USAF Security Police in the early to mid 80s. IIRC all our 4” 15s were blue with wood magnas. I don’t recall ever seeing a nickel M15 in the armory. That said, I think the Elite Guard was just at SAC HQ, Offutt AFB.

DWalt · May 24, 2023

Back when I had some involvement, 15 years ago, the USAF revolvers were in storage at Anniston Army Depot. No idea if any of the SAC revolvers were there also. I imagine those at Anniston have probably been sent to Captain Crunch by now. We got some revolvers from Anniston and inerted them for ceremonial honor guard use. In fact I wrote up the inerting procedure. Basically plug the bore and weld the guts. At that time dog handlers were still using revolvers with blanks for dog training.

Goony · May 24, 2023

Another question that occurs to me is would've these guns been ordered as factory nickeled or was it a DIY plating job (even possibly chromed, then) by the Air Force?

CH4 · May 24, 2023

Goony said:
Another question that occurs to me is would've these guns been ordered as factory nickeled or was it a DIY plating job (even possibly chromed, then) by the Air Force?

I am confident they came from the factory that way.

kwill1911 · May 24, 2023

Many of those are actually WWII Victory Models that have been refinished in nickel.

Inland7-45 · May 24, 2023

At the open house that the nearby Air Guard base held in the early 70,s. I spent a long time talking to the armorer and small arms instructors as well some SPs.

They had just exchanged their M-1 and M-2 Carbines for M-16s. There were lots of Model 15s with Walnut magnas.The only 1911s were National Match -A1s.

All the guys that I talked to really like the Model 15s. The one thing I did’nt ask was in regards to how the revolvers were maintained and where they were sent for major overhaul. I have never seen one refinished with parkarizing. It would also be interesting to know what type of spare parts inventory was maintained for these guns and what may have happened to any remaining spares after the guns were declared obsolete.

mikerjf · May 24, 2023

Love the pics! That crossdraw, stags, and blue web belt would be a great BBQ setup.

austintexas · May 24, 2023

A.F. M-15s

I had a very good friend at Carswell AFB that was in charge of the small arms range. When Airmen had to qualify with the M-15 he had 10 that were used every time and the rest were kept in the arms room. One day He showed me one of the 10 and said look at the bore. The rifling was gone on the first 2 inches of the barrel. He told me that for as long as he could remember they had used the same 10. Also, he said his policy was every GI on the base was authorized to shoot 2 boxes of .38s a day. Reasoning was his manning was set by how much ammo he used each year, More ammo shot meant more men in the small arms dept. This was in '73-76 era When SAC and KC-135 Tankers were there.
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Goony · May 24, 2023

kwill1911 said:
Many of those are actually WWII Victory Models that have been refinished in nickel.

I have to ask what your source is for that information. Who did the refinishing? There can be no doubt that the USAF was letting contracts for new Combat Masterpieces, so I find it improbable that SAC's Elite Guard would be furnished with gussied-up, obsolescent, hand-me-down WWII-era Victory models. It's not impossible some leftovers were so made up solely for ceremonial purposes elsewhere in the Air Force, but I doubt very much that such a procedure would have been in accordance with General LeMay's vision for the Elite Guard, in which he clearly took a personal interest.

TJm15.38 · May 24, 2023

I was on USAF active duty from 1973-1989 and went right into the Air Force Reserve and served until 2007. As a flyer, all I ever had to qualify on was the handgun. We had the Model 15 until 1990 and then I went through the transition to the Beretta M9. I never saw a nickel-finished S&W the entire time. Have to say those Model 15 revovlers were getting pretty beat up in the late 80's, although I think very few of them ended up on the civilian market. If you find one with "U.S.A.F." stamped on the frame, it's probably worth a lot of money.

MajorD · May 24, 2023

From what I know ( admittedly limited knowledge) the SAC elite guard thing was something that pre dated the procurements of M15’s and were refinished victory models.
In most SAC elite guard photos, you can see the lanyard rings on the butts of the guns ( which the M15’s didn’t have)
I was briefly in the USAF reserve before transferring to the Army and the one time I was sent to the range to qualify, it was with M15’s. This was in the mid 90’s when most of the active duty had already transitioned to the M9. On the firing line was a mix of blued and parkerized M15’s, so by that time at least some had been rebuilt or refinished. Some of the reserve / guard units had the revolvers for a good 10-15 years after the M9 was adopted. When I transferred back to army, I was assigned to an armor unit ( tanks) and we didn’t get. 9’s in exchange for the 45’s until about 1997/8

MajorD · May 24, 2023

austintexas said:
I had a very good friend at Carswell AFB that was in charge of the small arms range. When Airmen had to qualify with the M-15 he had 10 that were used every time and the rest were kept in the arms room. One day He showed me one of the 10 and said look at the bore. The rifling was gone on the first 2 inches of the barrel. He told me that for as long as he could remember they had used the same 10. Also, he said his policy was every GI on the base was authorized to shoot 2 boxes of .38s a day. Reasoning was his manning was set by how much ammo he used each year, More ammo shot meant more men in the small arms dept. This was in '73-76 era When SAC and KC-135 Tankers were there.
SWCA 892

In the Army it was common practice to just grab the rack or two of pistols closest to the armory door entrance, and take them for qualification day, leaving the rest untouched.

When I was a young enlisted guy in the 1980’s, I was in a medical unit and they had about 12 45’s, all about 90+% finish all original never rebuilt. Medical units don’t put a lot of wear and tear on weapons

jpage · May 24, 2023

Many of the SAC Elite Guard pics, showing nickeled Victorys, date from the 50's, pre-dating the M-15 introduction around 1963. Victory Models remained in USAF service well into the 60s.

kwill1911 · May 24, 2023

Roy has been generous in sharing military shipping records with me and I have the invoices for thousands of Air Force guns. The SAC Elite Guard was formed in 1956. The first shipments of Combat Masterpiece revolvers I can find were in 1958 and they were all blue guns with 6" barrels. There was another shipment in 1961, again with 6" barrels. These were for the AF shooting teams. The first shipments I can find of guns with 4" barrels was in 1962 which is the year the Model 15 became official issue for the Air Force. (Note: All shipments were blue guns--no nickel.) The Elite Guard switched to the Model 15 then but if you study the pictures you will see that the plastic grips (jigged bone) are target sized and there is no lanyard loop. The early guns (Victory Models) have Magna sized grips and still have the lanyard swivel. At the same time LeMay got interested in upgrading the shooting skills of USAF Airmen a gunsmithing operation was established at Lackland AFB. They are the ones that worked over the 6" guns for the shooting teams, stamping them AFPG. They also refurbished the Victory Models for the Elite Guard.

Some sources for you:
• General Curtis E. LeMay, “Air Force School for Survival,” The National Geographic Magazine, May 1953.
• Dave Karten, “Our Air Force Learns to Shoot,” Guns, March 1960.
• Charles E. Petty, “Sharpshooters from the Wild Blue Yonder,” American Rifleman, January 1985.
• Military Manuals:
o TM 9-1005-226-14/AFM 50-11, July 1959.
o TM 9-1005-206-14P/1, February 1971.
o JA75370, SMALL ARMS TECHNICIAN, Dept. of the Air Force, August 1962.

THE PILGRIM · May 24, 2023

I think I recall reading that the first Nickel Guns these guys used were plated M&Ps.
I wouldn’t lean too heavy on the procurement records.
Curtiss His Own Self often initiated unauthorized purchases.
Over the years, I have been to SAC HQ a number of times.
Those cross-draw holsters, which I never saw any other US Military unit use, came as somewhat of a surprise.
Early on I don’t recall paying much attention to the actual revolvers.
Later I did, and I recall Nickel Combat Masterpieces.
The regular Blue CM is of course what I shot to qualify for my Small Marksmanship Ribbon.
So when Curtiss decided to switch this unit from the then standard 1911 to Revolvers, he either direct ordered CMs or just used the available M&Ps.
It’s very likely he just issued the M&Ps.
The plating probably came later.
And every revolver I ever saw these guys carry appeared to be a Four Inch.

Goony · May 24, 2023

Kevin, I stand corrected. More Victory models must've remained in inventory as of 1956 than one might've thought. It does interest me that the Air Force plated the guns.

The Guns magazine article you reference can be viewed online using the following link (it starts on page 16): https://gunsmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/G0360.pdf

Goony · May 24, 2023

TJm15.38 said:
Have to say those Model 15 revovlers were getting pretty beat up in the late 80's, although I think very few of them ended up on the civilian market. If you find one with "U.S.A.F." stamped on the frame, it's probably worth a lot of money.

I'll say, if this one sold at the end of 2021 is any indication: U.S. Air Force Smith & Wesson Model 15-2 K-38 Combat Masterpiece | Rock Island Auction

THE PILGRIM · May 24, 2023

M&P? Well yes.
I was issued one during the Cuban Crisis.
Everybody go down to the Gun Room and sign out a gun.
Mine was an M&P. Put it the trunk of my car.
All Clear! Turn those guns in!
Then a while later, I was a Go Code Custodian.
Required being armed. When my partner and I got the first two door safe open, we strapped up!
Yes! M&Ps!

luvsmiths · May 24, 2023

Goony said:
I'll say, if this one sold at the end of 2021 is any indication: U.S. Air Force Smith & Wesson Model 15-2 K-38 Combat Masterpiece | Rock Island Auction

I saw that one too. I have one that puts that one to shame! Apparently Unfired with all the packaging. I'll start a thread someday- not hijack this one!
That one there is just in a period correct box- not the one it shipped in.
Mine is 1963, with Diamond checkered walnuts.

I don't know about you, but I would never call that one 98%.

The USAF SAC Elite Guard Model 15

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