Purchased "REVOLVER, LIGHTWEIGHT. M13" Today

[Goony]

Converted by your government to "PAPERWEIGHT, LIGHTWEIGHT, M13"....

To make this even sadder, I'd add that it appears that at the time it was crushed, there was virtually no wear to the finish, it was close to the condition in which it left the factory.

 

[MelvinWalker]

Converted by your government to "PAPERWEIGHT, LIGHTWEIGHT, M13"....

After looking closely at that, you could almost...with a good parts kit....Nevermind.

 

[Hawg Rider]

What a shame! I'll never understand why the U.S. government doesn't try to make some of their money back by selling all their surplus guns to the public. Same thing happened with the Model 56s.

 

[MelvinWalker]

What a shame! I'll never understand why the U.S. government doesn't try to make some of their money back by selling all their surplus guns to the public. Same thing happened with the Model 56s.

With defense contracts in the hundreds of billions of dollars, the US Govt doesn't care about destroying/demilling hundreds of thousands of surplus anything, this former gun included.

It's actually a wonder that this much of the frame even survived a demil?

 

[JH1951]

A little Flitz, cold blue, and RenWax, and you'll be good to go.

 

[gwpercle]

I gave your post a "Like " because I don't have a "Oh My God" button .

I would have loved to have a working model 13 , Air Force marked for collection and use .and would have paid good honest money for it ... those revolvers could have been easily sold ...
and made money ... OMG ... !!!

Gary

 

[handejector]

See if S&W will fix it under warranty......

 

[dbcolts]

Converted by your government to "PAPERWEIGHT, LIGHTWEIGHT, M13"....

To make this even sadder, I'd add that it appears that at the time it was crushed, there was virtually no wear to the finish, it was close to the condition in which it left the factory.

I've had a number of those, over the last 40 years. None rebuildable....until recently. I got 3 of the USAF M13's out of an estate collection. They need assembly....and fitting of parts off some old Model 12 revolvers. I think I got the parts kits from APEX Arms.

 

[DWalt]

I remember when squashed M13s were often seen at larger gun shows. I was never interested enough to buy one. I don’t remember their asking prices, but they were not expensive.

 

[The Gila Bender]

OP's Aircrewman is a good example of a more or less intact frame with crushed barrel and cylinder. Pretty sure mine looked like that before the previous owner(s) attempted to restore it with mixed parts. I searched for correct-ish parts and had Nelson Ford put it together. It's a cool wall hanger and is mechanically functional but i haven't shot it and likely will not. See post 12 of this thread for the final result: Gila's Franken Crewman

 

[jimmyj]

IIRC (?) these were manufactured for firing only 50 rounds of a low velocity .38 round ?

 

[austintexas]

I didn't know about U.S. M-13s until I was in a pawnshop and picked up this really light smith snubby. It was cheap because the finish was worn. saw the M-13 on the top strap , the U.S. Airforce property had been scrubed from the backstrap. Still it had not been demilled. I assume it had been pilfered from Burgstrom AFB that was just outside of town in those days.
SWCA 892

 

[Rakkasan13F]

What a shame! I'll never understand why the U.S. government doesn't try to make some of their money back by selling all their surplus guns to the public. Same thing happened with the Model 56s.

The US government was so concerned about military members putting the wrong ammo through them and potentially hurting themselves that they pulled them from service. I can't imagine the military-especially as risk averse as they have been the last 3-4 decades-willfully risking civilians hurting themselves with the guns.

 

[FraggerCrue]

After looking closely at that, you could almost...with a good parts kit....Nevermind.

I mean, why not? The frame is good, it looks like.

 

[Retired W4]

What a shame. On the other hand, while at the big NRA show here in Atlanta I had the pleasure of meeting Richard Nahas, of SCSW fame, and seeing his incredible collection of Aircrewmans. It was one of the great highlights of the show for me.