WW II Marine Aircrew Sidearms

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by alanint

Here is a little background.

http://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/v...and_wesson.htm

Thanks for clearing that up!



I carried a S&W Model 14 [4" bbl, K-frame, adjustable rear sight] in the USAFR from when I enlisted to sometime in the mid-90's [?] when we transitioned to the M9...I was assigned Cargo Carrier duties, and had to purchase a shoulder holster locally as the NSN carried no K-frame revolver holsters that could be hidden...

Our Model 14's were both Parkerized and blued; worn and brand new...The total number for our squadron varied with the manning document, but there was a fairly common shipping of pistols back & forth between our base and the nearest depot [Griffiss AFB NY]. At that time, the air base DOD Police, CATM, and the USAFR used the same weapons, and Base Supply swapped weapons around regularly, so we could never get a good serialized inventory, just a number of individual weapons on-hand.

At one time, I did try to locate a Model 14 like I carried, but all I could find were Model 15's. In the end, I bought a Model 15 and still have it. It's puzzling that S&W would have two model numbers for the same pistol, but my 15 is identical to the 14 I carried...