Am I understanding one of the above posts that K-38's (M-14) with five-inch barrels were especially made for SAC?
A gun pictured above does look as if it might be one, with real stag.
I heard that those guns were Victory Models that armorers had nickled and that the grips were Franzite stag fakes. I have defnitely seen pics of Elite Guard troops wearing holsters that were for four-inch barrels. No way were those men carrying five-inch guns!
Does anyone know for sure the truth? Can you cite an authoritative source?
I carried mainly Victory Models, the Model 15's being reserved for senior NCO's and officers until enough were in stock. At the time, SAC and combat units in Vietnam had priority on new arms. We also had some .45 autos, and I often carried one. I wanted the added power and quicker reloading. I wore the .45 in a Jordan-style holster that I had made by a shoe repair shop at home, the owner of which made holsters as a sideline. I think I was the only guy in my flight (like a platoon in other branches of the military) who wore a .45.
We also had .45 autos in Newfoundland. Indeed, no .38's had made it up there. I had to show a couple of the men how to operate them. (I had been reading Jeff Cooper's articles on the .45 since I was 12, so no problem.
)
We also had a few Colt Commando .38's and a few of the commercial Official Police Model. Alas, the Colts mostly didn't shoot to the sights. Much later, I had lunch with Col. Chas. Askins and he told me about ordering Colts for the Border Patrol when he was its chief firearms instructor. He had to turn the barrels of most to get them on target.
The only real K-38 that I ever saw in the USAF was the private weapon of one of the officers in my unit in Denver. It had the usual six-inch barrel. I think his holster was a Lawrence or Hunter. He bought the K-38 because he thought it'd help him make a better score when he qualified. Our other officer usually wore a hammer-shrouded Colt snub that was there for the investigators. I think he chose it because it was light, and he thought it was "cool."
That guy often reminded me of the southern end of a northbound horse. Being image conscious was so "him"...
Our unit in Denver was short of the weak M-41 .38 ammo, so one of the NCO's used unit funds to buy .38 Hi-Velocity ammo in a store off-base. I think that was .38-44 ammo. We never actually fired any, qualifying with target wadcutters. But I felt much better with the hot ammo in a .38 when I wore one. (I qualified with the .45 using normal 230 grain hardball, like I carried.
Oh: a couple of airmen who had previously been at Fairchild AFB, WA said they had two-inch .38's there, and that they were harder to qualify with. But I think those snubs, probably the M-56 in USAF terms (basically M-15 snubs
sans the grooved sighting surfaces) were usually reserved for aircrew. But many aircrew carried the normal four-inch barrels.
After we got the M9s all the K9 troops I trained qualified with the M9 and the GAU (pre M4) or the standard M16/M16A2. We did keep some M15s around along with some blank ammo for training the dogs. I think they would let the dog go if they needed to draw their weapon.
