Old armed forces pistols
I'm sure that someone out there knows the answer to this, but what did ever happen to the Colt 1911s, Colt 32s and 380s that our armed forces used for so long? Are they in storage someplace, destroyed, or what?
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YES. Everything you can imagine. Lost, stolen, given, sold, scraped, stored. Before 1968, most were sold and given to allies. After 68, less so. More apt now to be distroyed.
What men call a hero...is merely a man who is seen doing what a brave man does as a matter of course.
A man who is in love with learning is a man who is never without a bride, for there is always more. L'Amour0 -
Many M1911/M1911A1's were sold to members of the NRA. In 1963, the Civilian Marksmanship Program placed an ad in the American Rifleman, offering them to members > 21 years old for $14 plus shipping by Railway Express. Several hundred thousand applications were received, & they soon cut off requests. Accepted requests were honored, & the Army shipped several thousand .45's per month until the early 1970's.
Until sometime in the 1980's, additional .45's were bartered by local base commanders for services under the Title 10 program; these were "sweetheart" deals not available to the public.
By the adoption the Beretta M9 9mm pistol, the inventory of .45's had shrunk to a few hundred thousand; most had been rebuilt, & many needed parts & repair. It is believed that most were destroyed at that time.
Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if there isn't a pallet or 2 somewhere in a warehouse at Anniston Army Depot. I heard that the Army recently found a small quantity of trap door Springfields & Krag rifles.
Neal0 -
Yes to all of the above.....but......some of us here have a few of 'em. [:D] 0 -
any 45 milspec gun in civlant flt that doesnt have a good paper trail is suspect to being stolen from a military armory. yes, some were kept as war trophies. and yes...having one is collectible, and yes, most would agree that people arent too worried about it being investigated, but 'what if?' with that said, most colt 32/380's were issued to officers as dress uniform sidearms during the war. most were allowed to be kept upon retirement and if one can be traced to a famous officer, they command a premium. there are still 32's and 380 in milspec inventory and sadly, most are slated to be destroyed. the DCM/CMP is in the process of trying to save these guns by offering them to match winners at matches. so far they are limited to long rifles. i have had the great fortune of seeing these guns, along with milspec hi standards and m-41 s&w's sitting in dead storage units in areas i will not disclose. i have a story that would make all your mouths druell......i saw a crated box of 10 singer 45's in cosmoline on board a navy aircraft carrier 20 years ago. i was so close....and there wasnt a thing i could do. it was inventoried and untouchable. man.....what i'd give! robbing fort knox would have been easier than getting those guns swapped out!
former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.0 -
Take a look at this
http://www.project-x.org.uk/armsdumpindex.html
this is in Southeast Asia in the 1980's0 -
Basil,
those pics bummed me right out.0 -
I know that many .38 Spl S&W Aircrewman revolvers and 1911 .45s were torched carefully at, I think, Herlong. I have a specimen of each that I look at every April 15th. I never got a .22 Mossburg from that lot, but did get a few sights, triggers etc.
My own government has cost me much of my life.
Cheers from Darkest Californistan,
Ross0 -
Its hard to express my response to stories and photos like these. And it doesn't matter whether its a pile of rifles or a pile of washing machines what that represents is our national government's willingness to waste its citizens' time, money, energy, effort, and faith. I am reminded of my mother telling me about how quietly and sadly my grandfather watched a "demolition derby" on television for the first and only time. I believe he only ever had one new vehicle, a 1958 Chevrolet pick-up. And I can remember watching him wash and wax that truck when it didn't need it and then sit in it for a while and have a cigarette and listen to the radio, preferably a ballgame. He still did that when that truck was 15 years old. His generation and its children did without fuel, tires, tractors and vehicles so the US could produce a glut of military gear. I doubt any of them had any idea that so much of it was destined to be wasted.
timbroman@aol.com0 -
Wow, Timbroman. Your story generates some powerful imagery. Reminds me of photographs I have seen in the old LIFE magazine or National Geographic of down home Americana.
What men call a hero...is merely a man who is seen doing what a brave man does as a matter of course.
A man who is in love with learning is a man who is never without a bride, for there is always more. L'Amour0
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