French contract Model19-3 Anybody have one?

[WCCPHD]

Sorry Chuck.

Anyone else not see the pics?

I see them fine, and my vision sucks.

Mike,

I can't see them either.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I think you are referring to the Walther R 99 La Chasse (The Hunt), a variant of the Model 19 which S&W made for the European market. And the only thing "French" about is the fancy name. They were mostly sold in Germany.

PS: Nope, I don't have one

PPS: And if my slowly awakening memory serves me right, it may actually have been stainless with some sort of black matte finish, so technically a 66 and not a 19.

The poster can probably speak for himself, but I believe he is referring to the French Model 19 contract which resulted in the fixed sight Model 19 with 3 inch barrel sold to the French equivalent of the FBI at the behest of Raymond Sasia, who had trained with the FBI.

Oddly, Sasia specified the 3 inch K frame several years before the FBI came up with its 3 inch Model 13, which did not have the encased ejector, as did the revolvers specified by Sasia for the French.

 

[ladder13]

Mike,

I can't see them either.

Sent them to ya, see if you can post em'

 

[WCCPHD]

Photos posted for Ladder 13

Here they are Mike,

 

[chud333]

Thank You Mike and member WCCPHD
That is the gun i was referring to.
Outstanding !!!


CHUCK


Chuck

 

[vigil617]

Here they are Mike,

Thanks for posting, Bill, and thanks ladder13 for sharing Mike's 1-of-50 with us. How about that -- case colored! Guess that makes the French run of pistols pretty easy to spot, even though they're so rare. And how interesting that it was shipped to distributor for some lucky fellow in British Columbia. Makes me wonder whether any of these stayed in the United States.....

 

[vigil617]

Here they are Mike,

Thanks for posting, Bill, and thanks ladder13 for sharing Mike's 1-of-50 with us. How about that -- is it case colored, or just a trick of the light in combination with worn blueing? And how interesting that it was shipped to a lucky fellow in British Columbia. Makes me wonder whether any of these stayed in the United States.....

 

[WCCPHD]

Thanks for posting, Bill, and thanks ladder13 for sharing Mike's 1-of-50 with us. How about that -- is it case colored, or just a trick of the light in combination with worn blueing? And how interesting that it was shipped to a lucky fellow in British Columbia. Makes me wonder whether any of these stayed in the United States.....

I don't think case colored. I believe its just the light reflecting off oil on a blued finish. I enlarged the original photo and the bluing looks pristine to me. I see no evidence of any wear whatsoever on the photo Mike sent me.

 

[Absalom]

The poster can probably speak for himself, but I believe he is referring to the French Model 19 contract which resulted in the fixed sight Model 19 with 3 inch barrel sold to the French equivalent of the FBI at the behest of Raymond Sasia, who had trained with the FBI.....

Ummm.... yes, we settled that a week ago .

 

[ladder13]

Here they are Mike,

Bill, thanks for bailing me out. I have another of the right side, as soon as I find it I'll send it to you

Btw, Mike Kelley gave me some more info on the gun soon to be posted.That gun is pristine, maybe even worth 4G's , lol.

 

[ladder13]

I wish the owner were still a member, but that's a story in and of itself. No further comment.
I'm relaying info.

Mike said:

I didn't get to look at the link until this morning. I saw the pictures didn't show but that you got them posted. Just reading the post over and you can add that the guns I saw in the '70s were likely from the same batch as mine. They were in the hands of four FBI agents from CA and at least one was a Model 19-3. I was shooting PPC and tuning guns at the time. So, one of the guns they had went South much smoother than when it came North.

 

[WCCPHD]

Photo of the other side

Ladder 13 found another photo. His computer is still on the fritz.

 

[Absalom]

I wish the owner were still a member, but that's a story in and of itself. No further comment.
I'm relaying info.

Mike said:

I didn't get to look at the link until this morning. I saw the pictures didn't show but that you got them posted. Just reading the post over and you can add that the guns I saw in the '70s were likely from the same batch as mine. They were in the hands of four FBI agents from CA and at least one was a Model 19-3. I was shooting PPC and tuning guns at the time. So, one of the guns they had went South much smoother than when it came North.

Makes you wonder how those 50 extra guns were advertised and distributed. It would seem a dealer in British Columbia wouldn't necessarily be on a secret "Hey, look what a special exclusive deal we have here..." list. Making the guns available to FBI agents as mentioned by Mike in the post is less surprising.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Ummm.... yes, we settled that a week ago .

Thank you for that, but the OP did not confirm it until his post of 2-12-17, Post 26. My post was prior to that, Post 23, also on 2-12-17. In addition, several were saying they could not see pictures, and I uploaded pictures. Up until Post 26, everyone was guessing. You suggested your Performance Center Model 19, and another person suggested the 19-P, a different model. I was only trying to help the OP by getting an answer out there WITH a picture, which I did - again just to try to help the OP. I am sorry if I offended you.

 

[Saigon1965]

I am just a bit late to this party - But nevertheless here's an old thread of mine -

19-3 France actually to Luxembourg and back -