Model 15 - For the USAF SPs

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hanno

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First off, this is not a USAF revolver but I wanted a Model 15 similar to the ones I carried as a SP.

I bought this Model 15-2 but it didn't have the correct target trigger and hammer. One of the forum members here was kind enough to sell me a really nice set for a fair price. I just got them installed today.

With a little banging around and some holster wear, this will match the ones I carried.

SWModel15-2sameasmyUSAFSPissuewithcuffsbadge-1.jpg
 
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stick it in a wet holster for a day or so, and bang the stocks into your car door about 76 times and it will look original.....
Seriously, that is a nice piece, I am glad you were able to make it right for you
 
VM said:
Beautiful Model 15 ..........the blueing {IS} liquid-like:)
How did you spit-shine it?
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Only spit-shined the boots and those days are long past (though I still have a pair that would pass inspection).

I just wiped the revolver down with my CLP rag and the sun was right.
It really does look better in the photo than it does in real life. After some time at the range it will take on the proper look.
 
I passed up a fairly nice M15 for $250 with USAF stamped into the side because it looked like it was done by an unsteady hand. But they actually were done by hand.
 
Beautiful example. We didn't have any like that in the armory when I was an SP and I picked through them, I was an armorer for a while.
 
Neat to see that revolver, have been quietly looking for one for awhile. While not in SP, I have carried one a good deal in Air Force duty. I even won a leg match with one "in the day." I shot lots of them, and despite frequent criticism about their inaccuracy (from folks who weren't good shots themselves), I found those I shot extremely accurate.

Thanks for the memory...
 
When I was an AP assigned to flight line security, in Florida '63-'67, we used old M&P .38's stamped, Property U.S. Navy. When I was assigned to Base Police we used worn out Colt Official Police, also .38's. I guess when the Air Force change from AP to SP they got new guns as well as new bagdes.
 
Very nice Model 15.

Now, a question from an old ground pounder.

Were you SP folks trained to fire single-action or double action?

My 15-4 has a smooth combat trigger that, for me at least, is much easier to manipulate in DA firing than the TT would be.
 
Nice old Smith.
I finished up at KI Sawyer in '76, and never had a problem qualifying with any Model 15 I ever carried.

Years later, I picked the best one from a plastic 5-gallon bucket of local sheriff's office trade-ins at a cop shop because I wanted that model. It has the SO stamped on it & doesn't look anywhere near as nice as the one pictured, but on the other hand it's in better shape than many I saw during my 4-year hitch.

On a side note, my SP badge was lost somehow when it came time to turn in my issued gear on separation. I had to pay an exhorbitant fee of something like $3 to Sam to cover the loss. I felt very shamed over my inability to take proper care of government property, could barely hold my head up in front of the supply sergeant.

Not too long after returning home as a free man, the badge miraculously reappeared in my suitcase, of all places. :)
I considered contacting my former SP commander at KI to return the badge & get a refund on my three bucks, but reluctantly decided it'd probably cost the government accounting people at least $30 million dollars to do the necessary paperwork and dropped the idea.

Denis
 
This thread brings back a lot of memories as I was an AP 1966/70. I never could figure why the USAF specified target hammers and triggers. Perhaps that great gun guy general Curtis Lemay may have had something to do with it. No matter though they were and still are great revolvers, especially for those of us who carried them.
 
Nice M15! The ones we carried never looked that good. All of the ones I ever fired were extremely accurate, unless the rear sight was loose. The accuracy came back as soon as it was tightened. Thanks for posting this, it brings back a lot of memories.

Krehmkej; We qualified and trained double action with these. I remember a lot of double action dry firing, in the classroom, with a quarter on top of the barrel.
 
krehmkej said:
Very nice Model 15.

Now, a question from an old ground pounder.

Were you SP folks trained to fire single-action or double action?

My 15-4 has a smooth combat trigger that, for me at least, is much easier to manipulate in DA firing than the TT would be.
Click to expand...

I was taught to use both SA and DA fire. As I recall, the idea was to cock the hammer if the opponent was over 15 yards away. But instruction may have varied by base and time.

I was second man in my graduating class at what was then AP school at Lackland AFB. I still have an honor citation for that, I think.

Someone posted here awhile back that the target hammer and trigger were to make the gun more useable with gloves on. Don't know how true that is. I heard that LeMay was desperate to get his troops shooting passably, and he may have thought that the target parts would help. I really prefer the std. hammer and trigger on K-frames.

We were issued a swivel holster, but they were in short supply and I often wore a Threepersons holster made for me by a shoe repair shop in Dallas. Also had a Lawrence holster, but don't know the model number. Bought it off-base in Denver.

T-Star
 
Last edited:
The first time I was issued a M-15 in the Air Force was when I was assigned, as a 2/Lt, the additional duty as a Pay Master, we paid in cash then. I qualified Expert the first time I took it out. I got to shoot one quite a bit as a Training Officer at AF Officer's Training School, Lackland AFB, but was never issued one. When I entered the AF Office of Special Investigations it was our issue weapon for a while. I was issued a 2" barrel M-15. In 1982, while on temporary duty at Lackland I was a "walk on" in an Excellence In Competition Match. I took home a Bronze Leg metal, won with a line M-15 I had never seen before. Great old guns!!!! Many memories. Keep shootin'
 
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