Just got a personally meaningful pistol
Yesterday my brother and sister and their families came over for a holiday dinner. My brother brought some items that had belonged to my father, who passed away in March of 2020.
I've already posted here (quite a while ago) about the Colt M1903 .380 that was passed on to me. It belonged to my paternal grandfather and my dad inherited it when my grandfather died. My grandfather bought the gun, we think, some time in the late 1920's or early 1930's and it was used for their personal protection. According to my dad, the gun was actually used to stop a robbery attempt during the great depression while my grandparents were a road trip somewhere.
Well yesterday, my brother brought to me my dad's other pistol:
It's pretty much a run-of-the-mill S&W Model 15-2. What makes it significant is why it was purchased and where it was used. This was the pistol my father carried on his first tour in Vietnam from 1966 - 67.
Those of us who are my age (60) and younger might find it hard to believe but back in the 1960's, military personnel going to war were not only ALLOWED to carry their own personal firearms in combat, they were sometimes encouraged to do so. My father was an officer (he was a 1LT when he sailed to Vietnam in 1966 and was promoted to Captain shortly thereafter) and officers were unofficially encouraged to supply their own sidearms (presumably because this meant more of the unit's weapons could be issued to other personnel.)
As for "why a revolver?" dad told me once that while he qualified on the M1911, he never really liked it and particularly didn't like the fact that whenever they qualified there were always lots of other shooters who had malfunctions and had to fire "alibis." (military shooters will know the term.) Dad told me he liked the revolver because it would never fail to chamber a round or eject. As for "why a Model 15?" apparently quite a few of his fellow officers got M-19 "combat magnum" revolvers, and Dad told me these guys would brag that the .357 could "shoot through an engine block." Dad's response was "I don't want to shoot through an engine block, I just want to stop the VC trying to kill me" so he got the .38 Special M-15.
Anyway, when Dad went to Vietnam in '66 he carried this sidearm as well as an issued .45.
Another story he told me was that he went into Saigon once "off duty" and apparently there was a rule that US troops were not allowed to be armed in Saigon except for the military police. So he taped the holster of this gun to his lower leg and then bloused his boots over it so he wouldn't be unarmed.
Speaking of holster, the gun came with what appears to be a hand-made holster with a flap that fully covers everything except the bottom of the grip. Also, you know how "gun experts" say "NEVER store your gun in a leather holster! It will absorb moisture and rust?" Well, this gun has never been stored anywhere EXCEPT in its holster, for the past 55+ years. The finish is in pretty darned good condition, which IMO is testimony to the fine bluing that Smith and Wesson used to be noted for.
Dad mostly worked in headquarters units of his regiment (11th Armored Cavalry) so AFAIK this gun was never fired "in anger." When I was a kid growing up, whenever we went on a road trip somewhere dad always had this gun under the seat, "just in case."
Dad never told me exactly when or where he bought it, but per the serial number (K67****), a 1966 year of manufacture seems to be correct which would work with the time Dad went to Vietnam (August of 66.) We lived in a small town in Oklahoma at the time so I assume he probably bought it at the Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company (OTASCO) store in town, which was a kind of general hardware store. This would have been prior to the 1968 gun control act so there was not requirement that guns be sold by FFLs.
The gun is in fine condition and has the smoothest DA trigger pull of any gun I've ever handled. Indeed, in terms of smooth trigger pull, I think it's superior to the venerable Colt Python (which IMO is an overrated gun anyway, but then again I'm a S&W bigot.) It also has the target trigger and target hammer - I don't know if dad ordered it that way or if that's just what they had in stock (though if I had to guess it would be the latter - Dad never struck me as the kind of person who would "custom order" a gun.)
Anyway, I'm glad the gun is back with me and I wanted to share it here. It really is a gorgeous example of a 1960's S&W, a time when they were arguably at their peak of quality.
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