Fox4Alpha
Member
A Model 10 saved my butt in September 1967. The model has been a favorite of mine ever since!
Vietnam war US Model 10-5 round butt revolver
- Thread starter Slufstuff
- Start date
I remember that in our VN arms room we had S&W and Colts. Mostly S&W M10, many with round butts, some with HB. the Colts were OPs and a couple of Detective Specials. I was issued a RB HB M10, it had the "US" stamp on the backstrap, but not all the weapons did. It was a good shooting gun. The GI ammo was Hague Agreement compliant, meaning hard ball. I was told the real reason that aircrew were issued revolvers is that they could be fired one handed, not needing to work a slide. And hand/arm injuries were frequent in AC ejections. Also, the revolvers could shoot the .38 flares, and you could shoot up to six in a row to get attention if you became an inadvertent infantryman. I carried mine with wadcutters which I had acquired as I thought they would be more effective than GI ammo. Later I got some decent semi wadcutter loads which I carried on subsequent tours. never had to test them for real, fortunately. Many aircrew carried 1911s and carried them cocked and locked (against regulations). I stayed with the revolver, but packed an Ithaca cut down to just about the mag length (also against regulations) in any AC I flew. If the buckshot did not get the BG the muzzle flash would. That shotgun was really handy and would slam fire on demand.
ChattCat
Member
I missed out on a 10-5 round butt several years ago and have been looking for one since. Hen's teeth I believe is the correct term. Still looking, was even suggested here on the forum that they didn't exist. Wrong!
Maybe this thread could end up in the notable threads.
Maybe this thread could end up in the notable threads.
Round butt S&W 10-5s do exist. I have one. This snubby was shipped in December 1977.
John
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ChattCat
Member
In particular the 4" taper barreled models.
I even thought in fixed sight K frames specific to the model 12 air weights, that all the 2" guns were RB and all the 4"" guns were square, but that isn't the case either. In reality from what I can tell, any barrel length and butt configuration could be factory correct.
It does appear though that 4" round is far less common than 4" square.
For general use and shooting I much prefer. Square, but if I ever came across one of the US marked guns regardless of configuration I would snatch it up. That story about $399 at cabelas is a winner- do I get a discount if I buy 6 at a time?
It does appear though that 4" round is far less common than 4" square.
For general use and shooting I much prefer. Square, but if I ever came across one of the US marked guns regardless of configuration I would snatch it up. That story about $399 at cabelas is a winner- do I get a discount if I buy 6 at a time?
The Hague Convention was so absurd. Bombs and artillery rounds are OK but don't dare use an expanding bullet in a hand gun. Acquiring weapons not on the TO&E was a simple matter. AKs and "off the books" M-16s were common. Just make sure they, and all the other unauthorized stuff disappear for an IG inspection. The occasional 357s I saw were mailed by family and then passed down upon DEROS.
First Mohawk I saw was the pieces recovered from a crash laid out in a hanger at Ft Rucker, pilot was killed and his baseball cap was in the floor with the pieces. Best I remember it was called the widow maker. In 67 in A Company 82nd Aviation Battalion arms room we had 50 new 38 revolvers and I never saw one of them out side the arms room.
I saw numerous examples of these in the time I served at Army Ordn. Processing Centers in Long Binh & Da Nang (2/71 - 2/72.) A few Victory Models, but mostly 4" RB 10-5s....all I recall had "U.S." stamped on their backstraps. I recall most had serious finish issues, mostly spotty rust. These were late C and early D prefixes....not in-country very long. S&W should have reintroduced the "Black Magic" finish, as the commercial quality bluing wasn't really suitable for the climate there. Have seen but ONE for sale since, and priced as if it had belonged to Gen. Westmoreland himself. Lucky are those who encountered them over the years.....like Cabela's....for $399 (?!) Only saw one Colt revolver....a parkerized O.P. .... W/O U.S. property markings(!) Quickly grabbed by an officer, so I couldn't bring it home.
I spent the better part of a day shooting with some AP's from Fairchild, AFB. They were short a guy while working over some English L1A1 rifles that they were having a competition with some English AP's, trading them M16's for their L1A's...sort of a "We can outshoot you with your own rifles." challenge. They just approached me and asked if I knew my way around a battle rifle, I told them I felt I could always hold my own. Back then our range was open to military and local police departments as they were short of their own ranges for distance. We shot at 600yds, I was impressed with the L1A, not nearly as much as I was with the HK-G3's I had shot in Germany or our own M14 I was issued in Vietnam. It was great fun, they were a good bunch of guys. When we were done with the session they all thanked me and one guy asked me if I shot a 38 caliber revolver. I told them I did, he gave me a coffee can full of fresh cartridges and scribbled the info on a piece of paper. He told me this was what they carried in their Model 10's while on duty. They were Speer 148Gr. HBWC over 3.5Gr. Red Dot, the bullets were loaded inverted so the hollow base was pointing out. I was shooting a Colt Mk Trooper at the time, not a very special revolver but decent. It shot those rounds very well. A couple of years later some maniac shot up the Clinic at Fairchild and as I remember one of their off duty officers ended him with a shot to the head from quite a distance.
Amazingly, I never saw one of those publications until now and somehow figured out to load and shoot the critter! The government, especially the military, loves producing volumes of pages of useless information. I guess it keeps some people employed and justifies promotions for their supervisors.
I was issued a Model 15 as part of the 2750th AF SP. I liked it a lot. So much that I bought and carried one with my police dept after going to civilian LE. I still have it and it still shoots better than I can. I still don't get why we had to use dump boxes in SP when speedloaders were common then. My brother sent me two and I carried them in my pocket. Slipped them in after inspection.
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