USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

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wm
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USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by wm »

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/201 ... rm+Blog%29

I wonder if these will be offered for sale by the CMP the same way 1911s are? If they are I would be surprised if they represented a bargain.

Wm
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jeepnik
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by jeepnik »

A long time ago I was issued a S&W model 10. Already a student of the gun I had read about the failure of .38 caliber revolvers and the subsequent adoption of the.45 acp. So resourceful troop I was I obtained a 1911A1.

A bit later I gave the Hi Power a whirl. I liked the capacity but again had more faith in the 45 so I went back to the 1911. It would later prove to be a wise decision.

That being said, the Sky cops who defended the US Embassy in Saigon a few years earlier did put their.38’s to good use.

It’s a bit bitter sweet to hear that the USAF is retiring the last of there revolvers. I always figured they would last until the last BUFF headed to the boneyard.
Jeepnik AKA "Old Eyes"
"Go low, go slow and preferably in the dark" The old Sarge (he was maybe 24.
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cas
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by cas »

They'll probably head to a date with Captain Crunch.

Image
Slow is just slow.
stretch
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by stretch »

Ya know, I think the 38 Special with +P or +P+ loads with a 158 gr. LSWHP bullet at something like
900fps would be enough at close quarters.

Much of the 38's failure is, I think, attributable to LRN bullets at very modest velocities of 700 fps
or thereabouts.

(A 357 is, of course a better option! :lol: )

But if the USAF would like to send a couple or three of those Model 15s my way, I'd gladly take 'em. Send
'em back to S&W for a mechanical overhaul, put 6" tubes on 'em, and you'd have dandy bullseye guns.

-Stretch
BrianSH
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by BrianSH »

First off, when you talk about failures of the 38, it was the 38SW with round nose at 500-600fps, not the Special. Wanna po a may-rine, ask them why they were not carrying their Krag rifles with that 4 foot bayonette?
Read your Fairbairn, he talks of the failure of the 45 - both acp & Webley.
Jelly Bryce made his rep with a 38 Spec, as did Bill Jordan, and Skeeter. And countless other law men.
Hickock was using 36 cap and ball.
Yeah the lrn bullet was not as effective, but even today, 45 hp are standard, not hardball.
There was the Harry Truman incident with the puerto rican guy. Harry was greatful of course, but the ageant was to be retired shortly, due to age. Harry naturally said no and kept him on longer.
Read your Ed Lovette. The FBI load of a soft 158 swchp, is well thought of.
The research of the great Lee Jurras speaks for itself.
Jim Cirillo spoke well of 38 wc. He would have loved to get his paws on wc at 900fps, but he didn't complain about tgt loads either.
And lastly "The 'Q' load." A 110gr jhp at +p+ velocities. Known as the "Treasury Load." Some idgit hopped the White House fence while jimmy peanuts was in residense. One shot through a lung, dropped like a bad transmittion. 4" S&W rollover, current issue at the time.

The 38 Super was developed, because the 45 couldn't get through car bodies. Today the 357 Sig is what the Super should have become.
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Blaine
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by Blaine »

99+% of us have no need to shoot thru a car body. :wink: You should be worried "stuff"less that amatures are carrying rounds that CAN in their EDCs are in situations where great penetration is a very bad thing.... Different tools for different jobs.
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jdad
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by jdad »

The local shop just bought the Honor Guard revolvers from the OSP. I think there were a total 12 S&W 686's. Several were no dash and the rest were 686-2. All have 4" barrels with presentation grips. None had been fired that much. The actions were the exact opposite of the current production revolvers...smooooooth. I picked out the one that locked up the tightest. Just happened to be a -2.
I know a whole lot about very little and nothing about a whole lot.
BrianSH
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by BrianSH »

jdad wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:33 pm The local shop just bought the Honor Guard revolvers from the OSP. I think there were a total 12 S&W 686's. Several were no dash and the rest were 686-2. All have 4" barrels with presentation grips. None had been fired that much. The actions were the exact opposite of the current production revolvers...smooooooth. I picked out the one that locked up the tightest. Just happened to be a -2.
I'm jealous. I've often thought about a 7 shot L frame, send it down to Teddy Jacobson, and this machine would be slicker and smoother than a Python. At half the cost.
fatboy
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Re: USAF is retiring the remaining revolvers.......

Post by fatboy »

Once upon a time, long long ago and far away, I carried a model 10 with several M-15 parts transplanted. Mil Spec .38Spl ammo was an anemic 130gr FMJ of .355 diameter in a brass case that had hardly any powder in it, really, no improvement over the .38 Colt of the Philippine Insurrection. Several of us found ways of acquiring Super Vel ammo. That resolver and a German bladed Randall hid under my fatigue jacket.
bob
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