Revolvers in Korea?

[MoscowMike]

I was reading an article about the first woman combat helicopter pilot (Indochina, 1951) which included this picture of a USAF rescue crew, apparently in Korea. The revolver on his hip is interesting.

https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/sikorsky-h-5-helicopter-wounded-soldier

Looks like a SAA to me, with pretty big cartridges in the belt. Wish they gave more info about exactly when and where the picture was taken. Could be staged, I suppose.

If you want to read about Valerie Andre (A French neurosurgeon, she decided that parachuting in to treat the wounded wasn’t effective enough, so learned to fly a helicopter), the article is here -

https://airandspace.si.edu/air-and-space-quarterly/spring-2022/mademoiselle-helicopter

 

[Coyote3855]

Looks like a Colt Single Action Army 5.5 inch barrel with carved grips. Be a great story to hear how it got to Korea.

 

[ontarget]

I would bet a paycheck that either he brought it with him or family shipped it from back Stateside.
Very common in the past.
I dare you to try that now........

 

[halfmoonclip]

Actually letting soldiers have guns was not a bad thing, once upon a time. As OnTarget observed, not so much now.
But that is a great pic; early Sikorsky, hog leg in a cowboy rig. Kind of symbolized the swagger Americans once took for granted. Not so much now on that, either.
Moon

 

[kBob]

I was sure this was going to be about S&W Model 10 or the “Victory”

Neat photo of both the SAA and the helicopter and the links to the article about Gen Andre’ were great.

S&W .38 Specials were certainly carried all the way into at least the 1980’s by Army aircrew And USAF Aircrew for the snubbies and M-15 by SP.

Thus I thought this was about S&W .38 Special revolvers.

In the early 1970’s while in Europe an Army Medic I knew had a Privately Owned Weapon that he claimed to have carried (and used) in Combat in VN. It was a Ruger .357 Blackhawk.

“Doc” (no surprise at nickname) was an interesting fellow.

-kBob

 

[GEM]

When I saw the title, I though this was about modern carry guns in Korea. As an aside, if you watch some of the modern police and sci-fi dramas from Korea, on Netflix, the law there still carry 5 shot SW revolvers. Their capacity has been a plot point in some pretty good shows.

 

[kBob]

Do keep in mind that prior to 1964 there was nothing wrong with packaging up a firearm and dropping it in the mail.

Troops have forever armed themselves whether it was “legal” or not.

On a troop ship headed home from Korea my Dad won a Chromed 1911a1 with “Mexican eagle” grips in an onboard poker game.

He then bought a radio he could conceal it in. All the talk of the impending customs inspections and horror stories of The Army taking action about found guns and he eventually sold both to a bachelor more carefree than his married with child self. Of course there were no inspections and no one busted for unauthorized weapons.

Occasionally unauthorized guns showed up in 73-76 during my first tour in Europe. A Walther P38 floated around a bit. To me the most interesting was one of the E5 Buck Sargents buying an Italian Repro of a steel framed .36 Colt 1851 C&B revolver. At the time they wete uncontrolled in Germany as here in the US. They were NOT authorized for living in our barracks or accompanying patrols around a nuke site (CAS for Pershing 1A). This went on multiple patrols and made life hard for Rats at the local dump.

Even Sillier than a Repro of a then 120 year old revolver was a couple of guys toting 4mm RF revolvers. Imagine an even smaller .22CB cap, I mean .22 is 5.5 mm and these were 4mm! Just priming for propellent and a round led bullet. The bullets would imbed themselves into a Sears catalog from 10 or 12 feet away but were less powerful than some air rifles. These mainly got carried down town to discourage banditry in the streets of German Cities.

Speaking of Air guns, we kept an “”illegal” in the barracks air rifle with aperture sights hidden for almost a year and used it to give after duty hours marksmanship training to our few “Bolo” (unqualified or lowest qualified marksmamship) soldiers. This helped immensely. It was stored under an empty wall locker until found in a Health and Welfare inspection and confiscated. Though found in a “common use area” for some reason suspicion was thrown on the platoon gun crank and I had to be very careful for a bit to attract no more attention.

We also smuggled a break action air pistol out to the Combat Alert Site with the Missiles for several weeks. Pistol Quals were coming up and our weapons squad folks needed one handed trigger time. It was popular for shooting at field mice between the fences with and I encouraged folks issued a pistol to try their hand at that. ( every body at least passed)

A couple of higher ranked NCOs carried pistols they may have had legally, but were not authorized to carry on duty. One a nice PPk in .32 acp he knew he could not import into the US as not making GCA ‘68 “points” that was a “legacy” he got from a departing NCO and he planned to sell to another when he ETS to CONUS.

I hated the GCA ‘68 as PPk were actually cheap and plentiful and I could have bought a VZ52 in 1975… and though some will call me a liar, in 9x19 mm. I was told Frankonia the German Sporting goods giant had the conversions done and stripped and polished and blued the pistols. But it was an East block made gun and not importable then.

Oddly all the Prior Service folks in my Artillery Officer Basic and Cannon Battery Officer Course carried “something” that they “weren’t supposed to. I only carried a sheath knife, but the other two carried a .25 auto and .32ACP. After a night time encounter with a Rattle Snake I upgraded to a .38 Special with a round of CCI snake shot up first.

I would run into one of those other “LTs above traditional age” a year later in Europe and he still carried his .32.

I think there are likely a lot more non issue guns floating about in the US military even today than some folks would like to admit.

-kBob

 

[BobWright]

I remember seeing a photo from the Central American fracas showing a Marine sort of squatting while talking on the radio.. His free hand held a Ruger Super Blackhawk.

Bob Wright

 

[bannockburn]

Coyote3855

Looks like a Colt Single Action Army 5.5 inch barrel with carved grips.

Yep, I would go along with that but the grips kind of look like maybe they're stag. Hard to tell from the photo.

The holster might be from the George Lawrence Company (like their Model 120 Keith holster), or perhaps a Tom Threeperson's design made by El Paso Saddlery or S. D. Myres. Some of their holster patterns looked a lot alike.

 

[halfmoonclip]

On the trooper coming home from France in 1917, my Pap had a handgun (1917 or 1911, I know not), and he heard the speeches about being held over for any weapons.

So he gave it to another guy, who pinned it inside his uniform blouse, and walked right down the gangway with it. Hope his family still has it.
If I understood correctly, a late buddy still had the personal 1911 he carried in Korea, and used it to dispatch a Nork at bad breath range.
When they called out my old Guard outfit for the truckers' strike in the 70s, we weren't even allowed BCGs in our M16A1s, let alone ammo. Had anyone shaken down the Company, they would have found lots of personal iron; I had a PPK/s in a pocket.
Moon

 

[Tallball]

My uncles told me that it was pretty easy to get a gun shipped from home, but iffy to take back home if you didn't have "connections",

My maternal uncle had one temporarily, given to him by a buddy whose tour of duty was over. My uncle passed it on to his replacement when he went back home to my aunty.

It was a 357 of some kind. He said it wasn't that hard to scrounge 38 special ammo for it.

He did get to bring home a bolt action rifle. IIRC it was some version of the Mosin-Nagant.

 

[kBob]

Some pilots I knew and SPs I met were convinced that GI 130 grain FMJ .38 Special was “hotter than civilian stuff”

I just smiled and let them think so.

-kBob

 

[Paul7]

My uncle was a Navy fighter pilot in Korea and carried a S&W Model 10. He flew cover during the Hungnam evacuation. He remembered seeing from the air wave after wave of 16" shells fired from offshore ships decimating Chinese troops.

 

[MacAR]

Somewhat similar, but not. Many years ago (1954) my grandaddy was mustering out of the Army in Ft. Sill, OK. Once of the armorers was a good buddy, and the day he left, the guy hollers "hey Craig, com'ere!" Pap walks over to the guy, and he hands him a rearsenaled 1903 Springfield to take home with him. (Apparently they were disposing of them around then?) Fast forward about 48 years, and Pap introduced me to that rifle at the tender age of 12... the hateful old b!tch broke my nose with the very first shot. He taught me how to shoot with that rifle, even "qualified" with it on his home-made range. Sadly he swapped it for a papered mare about 2 years later. Such is life.

Mac

 

[DR505]

Coyote3855


Yep, I would go along with that but the grips kind of look like maybe they're stag. Hard to tell from the photo.

The holster might be from the George Lawrence Company (like their Model 120 Keith holster), or perhaps a Tom Threeperson's design made by El Paso Saddlery or S. D. Myres. Some of their holster patterns looked a lot alike.

Maybe a Great Western?

 

[GJeffB]

One HUGE stray from the OP subject:
To all the story tellers, thank you, sincerely for your service and your family's service.

-jb, you and they CLANG

 

[bannockburn]

DR505

Maybe a Great Western?

I thought about that too but Great Western Arms Company didn't introduce their SAA copy until the spring of 1954.

 

[EMC45]

My younger brother carried an Iraqi Tariq while he was in Iraq. It was seized, and he was not of rank or position to be issued an armory gun. He carried it and a few mags on his belt until a new incoming commander said no more non issued guns for anyone. Said he had to take it to the dump area to be destroyed.

I only ever carried what my rich Uncle gave me....