New to me. Model 15 U.S.A.F. marked

[pennlineman]

Those pictures are really painful, I'd love to have my old duty revolver. It's probably been reduced to a burnt up rusted chunk of metal. What a waste of tax payer money and American history.

 

[kwill1911]

Next you are going to tell us that with nothing more than a rusty nail and a piece of emery cloth you turned it into this:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/132079-model-528-a.html

 

[sigp220.45]

I, too, was issued a Model 15 as an SP in the USAF. I had one from 1983 until M9s actually started showing up around 1988.

I credit the Model 15 for converting me from a "Colt guy" to a Smith guy.

I'd love to find a legit USAF marked Model 15. One has been posted here from time to time, not sure who owns it now.

Some have leaked out - apparently some were surplussed and transferred to civilian police departments, who subsequently disposed of them through sale or trade-in.

I had a chance at a free one once. I was a Security Police Ops Officer at Bergstrom AFB in Austin, TX, when one of our ancient RF-4Cs crashed on the highway just outside the base. The pilot ejected and came down OK in a nearby trailer park. I was trying to sort out the madness on the highway when a local citizen came up to me holding a Model 15 with two fingers at arm's length like it was a dead rat. He'd found it in his yard. I stuck it in my belt and went back to work. I almost forgot about it, but went ahead and turned it in at the armory. With several million dollars worth of plane scattered around nobody would have cared about a couple hundred bucks worth of Smith and Wesson, but I'm not a thief.

Air Force did not relay warning of ill-fated jet 01/26/1990 | Archives | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

 

[Bajadoc]

A good cleaning and you will have a nice shooter.

 

[ibthumper]

Misguided feel good politics in action. Shot many 15's during my AF career. Most were rather beat-up looking, but shot well.

 

[ibthumper]

Just the way Kalifornia wants you to have.

 

[Dpris]

I picked up a trade-in Model 15 from a local sheriff's department several years ago, the closest I'll ever get to keeping a government property one like I carried.
Nice to haul it out & remember now & then.

Still looking for an M60 I can afford....
Denis

 

[austintexas]

I picked up my USAF M-15 at a San Antonio show, paper work that accompanied the pistol said the pistol was presented to an AF General when he retired and his son later sold the pistol.

SWCA 892

 

[ACP230]

I used to shoot NRA Hunter's Pistol Silhouette matches at the old K.I. Sawyer AFB outside Marquette, MI. The gate guards had M15s. Some had M15s with rust evident. Some were in good shape.

I thought some of the guns might have been six-inch M14s but never found out.

Not only is the base closed now but, even though there's a police training academy on the site, the range was destroyed when the base was decommissioned. A real waste.

 

[Dpris]

I finished up at KI in '76.
Carried a 15 there, too.
Denis

 

[kwill1911]

I used to shoot NRA Hunter's Pistol Silhouette matches at the old K.I. Sawyer AFB outside Marquette, MI. The gate guards had M15s. Some had M15s with rust evident. Some were in good shape.

I thought some of the guns might have been six-inch M14s but never found out.

Not only is the base closed now but, even though there's a police training academy on the site, the range was destroyed when the base was decommissioned. A real waste.

There were some 6" Model 14 and K38 revolvers, although most of them went back to S&W and were changed to 4" barrels.

 

[Seven High]

I like to imagine that there is a large quantity of Smith model 10s and 15s sitting in a warehouse somewhere waiting for the next national emergency.