H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 As far as cartridge fireing sidearms go, it is genearlly thought that the history of the US service pistol is pretty simple.... 1873 - 1892 Colt SAA .45 1892 - 1911 Colt DA .38 1911 - 1985 Colt M1911/M1911A1 .45 ACP 1985 - Present Beratta M9 9mm. That's the "understood" progression, but in reality, it's a very incomplete picutre. What about the Scofield? What about the M1917 Colt and S&W's? What about the .380 pistols that were issued to General's in WWII? What about .38 Special revolvers that the Air Force carried up till the mid 80's? What about the.... Okay, what I am getting at here is that since the late 1800's, there have been a LOT of differnet pistols that have been in the holsters of our soldiers. There was the offical "main" sidearm, and then there were a lot "supplemental" ones that filled in the gaps do to being unable to build the main one fast enough to meet needs, or specialty pistols were needed for specific reasons and so on. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know of a complete listing of every cartridge fireing pistol carried by American servicemen, both the main and supplemental ones, and what their dates of use were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Branch Louie Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I have an old double action only .41 Long Colt that says Army Special on the barrel. It was not in great shape when I got it, I refinished it and it looks pretty good. It has real stag grips. Don't know if it was ever a service revolver or not.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 The first offical handgun was the Harper's Ferry muzzleloader. Other interesting guns include the Remington Rolling block pistol in .50-50 and the Liberator .45 ACP single-shot provided to resistance fighters in WWII (use a gun to get a gun). This story is quite complicated. I actually thought about collecting one each of the main guns at one time. Still may try it. There are plenty of books out there that already cover this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I'd suggest you locate a copy of Hogg, Ian V., "Military Small Arms of the Twentieth Century, Sixth Edition", DBI Books Incorporated, 1992. Good reference. GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Hooker Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 "United States Martial Pistols and Revolvers", Arcadi Gluckman. Published 1956, so it's not what you could call up-to-date, but it covers the early stuff fairly well. Army Special wasn't- Army, at least. Name later changed to the Official Police, it took the place of the CIVILIAN version of the M1892, '94,'96, et c., New Navy/New Army series. Should NOT be "DAO" (a misnomer, actually). Liberator was not official US issue, probably not "unofficial", either, unless someone dropping these out the back of a C-47 over Europe "liberated" a Liberator for himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missouri Ruffian, SASS #70225 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Today the military’s primary sidearm is the Beretta But some groups use the Sig’s and 1911’s. There are even a few .38 specials out there for firing blanks used mostly by K9 for dog training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 What about the 1819 North ? (paper cartridge.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pack Saddle Slim, SASS #73122 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Liberator was not official US issue, probably not "unofficial", either, unless someone dropping these out the back of a C-47 over Europe "liberated" a Liberator for himself. I don't think the Liberator was really ever used for its intended purpose. Kinda like the 1964 Deer gun. I read that the Chinese and the resistance forces in the Philippines got most of the Liberators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Haller Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Howdy! This link has some info about single shot and revolvers used by the US military: http://coolgunsite.com/pistols/usarevpage.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Branch Louie Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Army Special wasn't- Army, at least. Name later changed to the Official Police, it took the place of the CIVILIAN version of the M1892, '94,'96, et c., New Navy/New Army series. Should NOT be "DAO" (a misnomer, actually). Don't know about other models, but the one I have is definitely double action ONLY.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Smokepole #29248L Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Those that you mentioned are listed as Service Pistols. Others listed as Supplemental, auxilliary of substitute standards inclue the others plus the SIG M-10... CID personnel also carried a whole host of "NON STANDARD" weapons like Browning Hi Powers, Colt Commanders, S&W Model 36's etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackcat James SASS# 29509 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Cartridge firing pistols used be the US Military 1851/38 long, 1860 44 rim fire, 1858 conversions 44 rim fire, used from approx 1866-1873 1873 Colt 45 Colt 1873-1892 1875 S & W 45 S&W used for a few years along side 1873 dropped due to its short cylinder and catridge that would not hold the colt round. 1875-1880? 1892 Colt 38 Long Colt 1892-1901, 1873 & some 1878 Colt where issued due to the lack of stopping power of the 38 1901? Smith and Wesson New Service 45 Long 1901-1911 1911/1911A1 Colt 45 acp 1911-1985 1917 Smith and Wesson/ Colt New Service 45 acp revolver substitute standard 1917-1919 later reused 1942-1945 1903 Colt 380 issued to General Officers Victory Model Smith and Wesson 38 special 1941-1985 in various forms M-9 Beretta 9mm 1985-present M11 Sig 9mm 1987?-present CID Agents and others 226 Sig 9mm 1987ish-present US Navy Seals and NCIS H&K Socom 45acp 1990?-present 1911 Various Makers 1985-present Used by Special Operation Troops May be off on some of the dates and my have missed one or two Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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