Our latest Boolit slinger

[509thsfs]

The wife and I carried S&W M15's in the USAF and I've been wanting one off and on for years, for nostalgic reasons. I started out with the M15 but retired carrying the M9 as my sidearm. one of those to come home soon too. Picked one up Saturday at a gunshow and shot it today. The wife put the 1st 6 rounds down range, offhand at 25 yds, and proceeded to punch a nice 3 in group in the black with what I call her "chipmunk loads" (Lee 105 gr SWC and 3.8 gr ww231)

She pronounced it a keeper haha. Nice to let her shoot a sidearm she carried for 4 yrs in the USAF as an SP. And the "chipmunk loads" I developed for practice in her M36 (her PDW) make it shoot like a .22. My RCBS 162 gr SWC/GC with 4.0 ww231 (my standard target/comp load for yrs) shoot great in it too, though the sights will stay set for the Lee 105's for her.

1952 Vintage M15

http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww187/USAF-SP/M15a.jpg
http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww187/USAF-SP/M15b.jpg

[BarryinIN]

Looks nice, real nice.

When I was a kid, I used to wonder why the USAF chose to issue those with 1911s already "in the system". Later, I knew a guy who served in the USAF in Thailand during the Vietnam war. He knew very little about guns, and said they issued them 45s at first but then "took them away and gave us .38 revolvers, which we at least knew how to load from watching cowboy and detective movies". And that's when I knew why the USAF issued them. So even guys like that could have something.

[Buckshot]

...............That's a very nice looking Smith, and especially for being of 1952 vintage. A year older then me! :-) Since aquireing an M14-4 several years back, I've become MUCH more interested in carbon steel S&W's, although it didn't keep me from buying a nice used stainless Combat Masterpiece.

.............Buckshot

[gifford]

That is a beautiful old S&W 15, congrats on an excellent find. I started with that one myself, switched to the S&W 66 when I got in on a department buy. Excellent all around .38. Now you should start looking for it's cousins the Model 67 in stainless or the Model 18 in .22 Long Rifle. Excellent shooting sidearms.

[509thsfs]

gifford, I've had a 617 in .22 LR since `91. I used it for indoor bullseye and treerat sniping in MI. Love it. More accurate than I am. Been meaning to take it to the range the last month or so, but some load developement for other pistols have not alllowed me the time to shoot it. Did pick up some more ammo for it though and determined that the next range session it WILL be shot.

My brother had out grandfather's M17 that he used on his trapline when he was young, but it was stolen last year. Of all the ones taken, that one was the heartbreaker.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I carried a S&W Model 10 38Special off and on for over 20 years as a Correctional Officer and always wanted one. Ours were fitted with a 3" HBar, but our Government doesn't trust us with Bbls shorter than 4" nowadays. I am still on the lookout for a nice Model 10, but in the meantime I have picked up a well worn looking (but virtually unfired) Model 64 Military and Police, the Stainless version of the Model 10. It has the standard weight 4" Bbl. The frame, cylinder, barrel are covered in minor holster wear, scratches and nicks, but the grooves on the trigger and the checkering on the hammer are still razor sharp (painfully so). A bit of de-horning and a 5-600 rounds and it should be good to go.

I think our guns are the same apart from Adjustable sights

Below is a 25Mtr group, yep! this ones a keeper!

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Handguns/20090520MicksModel64FirstGroup2.jpg

Still looking for a Model 10 though.

[Geraldo]

Looks nice, real nice.

When I was a kid, I used to wonder why the USAF chose to issue those with 1911s already "in the system". Later, I knew a guy who served in the USAF in Thailand during the Vietnam war. He knew very little about guns, and said they issued them 45s at first but then "took them away and gave us .38 revolvers, which we at least knew how to load from watching cowboy and detective movies". And that's when I knew why the USAF issued them. So even guys like that could have something.

I thought is was because the AF is more civilian than military :kidding:

Seriously, I think that somebody in the Air Force was trying to be ahead of the game. The AF was a leader in adopting the AR-15, had lightweight "Aircrewman" .38s, as well as various survival rifles. Your point on "guys like that" might also be a factor. The Air Force grew at a rapid pace in the 1950s and then deployed a lot of people to SE Asia in the 1960s. I knew one guy who missed his day at the range during AF boot camp in the 1960s, but he passed anyway and went to Vietnam.

On topic, that is a really nice revolver and it will still do to defend yourself.

[Glen]

Very nice S&W Combat Masterpiece you got there! That model would not become the Model 15 until about 1958 or thereabouts. The K-framed .38 Specials sure are fun to shoot, and the way they shoot they are almost magic!

[509thsfs]

Well, the S/N does date it at 1952. But to the wife and I it's the same as we carried in the early `80's. And yes, it does show promise as a shooter. I only put a few rounds through it as I was working on a couple other pistols at the time so the wife was the one that did most of the shooting. She really likes it. Very familiar to her from her AF days and just like in the service, you shoot it, you clean it. She just asks where the "cleaning materials" are. Only one we call "our gun" as opposed to her or my gun haha.

[Four Fingers of Death]

You obviously need another one! Any excuse will do :D

[gifford]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your grandad's Model 17, family firearms are always special. My dad's 1906 Winchester .22 pump rifle is worth a lot more to me than to anyone else. Lots and lots of rounds down that barrel. Still shoots fine.

[9.3X62AL]

That IS a beauty, and if the 1952 vintage is correct--it would indeed be a pre-Model 15 Combat Masterpiece. "A rose by any other name......" and all that. All the Masterpiece models of any age certainly shoot wonderfully, and the M&P models--pre- or post-Model 10 aren't bad either.

[FN in MT]

As a Smith Collector...VERY nice find. And most likely matching grips as well.

I've got a pre M-18, same gun basically but in .22 LR. Same era too, 1952 or 53.

They were tuned, finished and fitted so much better back then.

I was in the USAF 12/68 to 1972. Worked on the F-105 Thunderchiefs. FEW here even know what they were! LOL.

Anyway...got to know one of the Armorers that handled the AP's M-15's. When I got out he gave me a paper sack with TWO of EVERY part available for a M-15 minus a FRAME. Two cylinders, two barrels, etc. The contents of that sack came in very handy over the past forty years.

Enjoy a fine old S&W.

FN in MT

[509thsfs]

They're the original grips. They're numbered (inside) to the frame.

Seems to be great shooter as well. I got the chance to take it out a few days ago and run a box of my target loads through it. Almost made me consider using it for a comp or two should the chance come along that it would work for it (PPC for example). More than likely it'll be the wife's main range/practice gun though. With my target loads it'll out last me.

An yep, I know what 105's are. They were gone by the time I went in in 1980. Main fighter when I went in was the F-4. I was in SAC most of my 20 yrs, but spent a number of years in TAC and fighters as well. Last time with Fighters was with F-4 Wild Weasels and OV-10 Broncos. Most of my time was with B-52's (D,G,H's), tankers and finished up with the B-2. Not working on any of them though, just babysitting.

If you were good friends with them, we used to have the Small Arms Maint guys "stone" our .38's to slick up and smooth out the DA trigger pull a bit.