U.S. Air Force retires the last of its S&W Model 15 revolvers

[ddeanjohnson]

The U.S. Air Force is retiring the last of its Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolvers.

The USAF Is Finally Ditching The Last Of Its Cold War Revolvers For New Semi-Auto Pistols - The Drive

Until now, they have remained in service within the Military Working Dog (MWD) training program, where they have been used in blank-fire exercises (firing blanks being a function for which semi-autos often require at least temporary modifications).

 

[Waveski]

Old and worn or not - those 15's will be hot items.

Captain Obvious , out.

 

[growr]

M15

The government in it's infinite wisdom will most likely have them destroyed.

Randy

 

[two-bit cowboy]

Dang, I'm old, too, but not ready to be replaced!

Bob

 

[deno56]

I was lucky enough to find one at a local pawn shop last year for $500.00 out the door.

 

[DWalt]

They will shortly become scrap iron.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Sorry to hear that!
Another Old Friend put out to pasture.

 

[mike from st pete]

Why can't they be transferred to the CMP?

 

[RecDef]

Why can't they be transferred to the CMP?

That's what I was thinking. They should be able to but I'm not sure of the process.

 

[H Richard]

If the article is correct, there are 100,000 in inventory. At $150 each wholesaled out could result in $15,000,000 return to the USAF. That might buy most of a new fighter plane.

 

[TAROMAN]

Maybe release them to CMP?

 

[robertrwalsh]

I find it hard to believe the air force has 100,000 Model 15 revolvers. Maybe I am just a skeptic.

 

[reddog81]

The article says they had 100,000 in 1974. That's 45 years ago... I'm guessing the rate of attrition for military guns is much higher than that of civilian guns and that the majority of those have met their demise one way or another over the years.

Hopefully the remaining ones would end up with the CMP, but I won't be holding my breath... Alabama Rep Mike Rogers was the largest proponent of the CMP getting the 1911's. I wonder if a constituent putting a bug in his year would help the cause, but I'm guessing the CMP is aware of this news and weighing the possibility.

 

[mm93]

Appears the shipment for the gun in the letter was one of 2,000. So now the question to S&W would be if they know the total number of shipments, and to what bases they went to?
I'd guess if the gun above got released for sale that the chances are good that others will also be sold. Why only sell the one, and not sell others?

 

[bobcat]

Carried one in my K-9 days, ('73-'77) still have the holster around here somewhere. Found a Model 15 to buy a few years ago for $280, and it isn't going anywhere!

 

[sigp220.45]

The USAF issued Model 15 is the gun that turned from a mostly-Colt guy to a mostly-Smith guy.

Check out my subtle display of my unauthorized target grips.

The article mentioned 100,000 revolvers, but that would have been at the absolute peak. I doubt the AF still has those around, having long since been converted to manhole covers and razor blades. There are probably just a token few left for MWD training.

CMP would have to get new legislation passed, since their charter was for .30 caliber and .22 caliber rifles only. They did it for the large number of 1911s in storage (eventually they will get to my random number) but I doubt they would bother for these relatively few guns.

The ones on the market now may have come through DRMO transfers to police agencies back in the day, or theft, or a few that were presented at big-wig retirements.

I could have had one. I worked an RF-4C crash just outside Bergstrom AFB in Austin, TX. The plane was scattered all over the highway, and I was trying to get a cordon around it. The pilot had punched out just in the nick of time and parachuted into a trailer park, losing his Model 15 in the process. A civilian guy came walking up to me, holding it at arm's length with two fingers, like a dead rat. I doubt anyone was too concerned about a .38 revolver as there was a disintegrated highly-classified plane tying up traffic, but I turned it in, since I'm not a thief. Would have been cool to have one, though.

 

[Jeppo]

Appears the shipment for the gun in the letter was one of 2,000. So now the question to S&W would be if they know the total number of shipments, and to what bases they went to?
I'd guess if the gun above got released for sale that the chances are good that others will also be sold. Why only sell the one, and not sell others?

Isn't it possible that "$45" gun ended up in a pawn shop because it went "AWOL" rather than having been sold off officially?

 

[Absalom]

So here's my question to those of you with a better grasp of the US military bureaucracy:

At what level can these decisions about releasing military guns to surplus dealers actually be made?

There are the probably tens of thousands of US Victorys that shipped originally to military destinations, plus all the other 1911s and longarms, and actually the USAF marked Model 15s already out there, all of which seem to change hands legally (including here in Oregon, where every gun is run through the national database upon transfer).

So obviously they weren't all stolen or "unofficially taken home" by departing service members.

They also can't all have gone through the CMP. So where can surplus sale be authorized? The Pentagon? The individual branch departments? The various commands? Bases?

 

[sigp220.45]

Appears the shipment for the gun in the letter was one of 2,000. So now the question to S&W would be if they know the total number of shipments, and to what bases they went to?
I'd guess if the gun above got released for sale that the chances are good that others will also be sold. Why only sell the one, and not sell others?

I think all the guns shipped to Warner-Robins, as that was head of the Logistics Command at the time. They would then be distributed to the bases as needed.

I believe many of the guns were transferred to the DRMO (Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office), the same as toolboxes, old uniforms, space heaters, out of date MREs, and barber kits. Other agencies can pick through the stuff and get it transferred to them. Leftovers go to surplus stores or scrap dealers. I once saw a whole field of IBM Selectric typewriters at a DRMO, just sitting out in the weather. Guns are treated differently, though. There are a lot of police departments that got M-14 rifles for official use, and I'm pretty sure a lot of departments were able to get Model 15s. Once they had them, Uncle Sugar didn't really care where they went. As departments transitioned to semi-autos, those old AF guns were traded or sold or taken home.

 

[Coaltminer]

USAF 15's

I was lucky enough to find one at a local pawn shop last year for $500.00 out the door.

I didn't realize they would have TH, TH