Sidearm issues to Marines and Army personal

[Buckshot Bear]

Who in the Marines and the Army in the U.S gets (got) issued sidearms now but particularly in WWII? 

[PowderRiverCowboy]

Depends on MOS or Mission, But most Officers  , and some Higher NCO's ,  Like me when I deployed Had  a M4 (suppressed ) Sig M18, MP5 and DMR .

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

Our USMC officer carries a Sig M17.

[Buckshot Bear]

Reason I'm asking is I'm watching "The Pacific" again and it looks to be like almost every soldier is carrying a sidearm. 

[PowderRiverCowboy]

12 minutes ago, Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme said:

Our USMC officer carries a Sig M17.

Same thing as M18 only smaller , when I carried M18 They were issued M9's 

[Major Crimes]

1 hour ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Reason I'm asking is I'm watching "The Pacific" again and it looks to be like almost every soldier is carrying a sidearm. 

I think you will find a lot of them were BYO or "look what I found lying around".

 

If I remember rightly there is even a scene were a soldier gets a pistol in the mail from his family

 

Today we all get issued one to carry as a backup to our EF88.

[Buckshot Bear]

22 minutes ago, Major Crimes said:

I think you will find a lot of them were BYO or "look what I found lying around".

 

If I remember rightly there is even a scene were a soldier gets a pistol in the mail from his family

 

Today we all get issued one to carry as a backup to our EF88.

 

Yes I think that was E B Sledge who went on to write books about his experience in the Pacific, it was a S&W .38 Revolver.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

3 hours ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

Depends on MOS or Mission, But most Officers  , and some Higher NCO's ,  Like me when I deployed Had  a M4 (suppressed ) Sig M18, MP5 and DMR .

Since a carbine (M4) is generally a shortened rifle, is it considered a sidearm? I’ve always considered a sidearm something carried in a holster as opposed to a sling. 

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

2 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Reason I'm asking is I'm watching "The Pacific" again and it looks to be like almost every soldier is carrying a sidearm. 

My dad was a grunt in WWII in the Army in the South Pacific.  They were not routinely issued sidearms, just officers I guess. Dad was a cook, never really had much use for one. He did say if you were good with the supply sergeant you could manage to procure one to take to the foxhole at night if things were hot. He did reckon a 1911 .45 was quite a comfort under such circumstances. One guy in his outfit had a Jap with a bayonet fall into his foxhole one night. He took the bayonet away from him and killed him with it. Stuff like that did happen from time to time. 

JHC

 

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Found the pic. My dad in the South Pacific WWII

JHC

Crap, where did it go?

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Got it

[Buckshot Bear]

@Capt. James H. Callahan

 

Not perfect but here is your Dad colourised -

 

[Major Crimes]

1 hour ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

Yes I think that was E B Sledge who went on to write books about his experience in the Pacific, it was a S&W .38 Revolver.

It was a Colt New Service in .45 Colt

 

 

Colt New Service

In Part 5, Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello) receives a Colt New Service .45 Colt revolver in the care package sent from his family and uses the revolver twice in combat -

[Major Crimes]

12 minutes ago, Major Crimes said:

It was a Colt New Service in .45 Colt

 

 

Colt New Service

In Part 5, Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello) receives a Colt New Service .45 Colt revolver in the care package sent from his family and uses the revolver twice in combat -

 

 

This is a good site to check on any movie, TV or even video game guns.

 

Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games (imfdb.org)

 

[Sixgun Sheridan]

Sledge's book suggested it was a .45 Government Model, but the movie showed it as a .45 revolver.

 

Anyway, those of you who served in the military know that regardless of what you're issued, if you want something else bad enough there's always a way to get it.

[Alpo]

6 hours ago, Major Crimes said:

It was a Colt New Service in .45 Colt

I would hope that if my parents sent me a pistol, while I was off fighting the evil hun or the yellow peril or whoever we happen to be at war with, they would have the intelligence to send me something that I can easily get ammunition for.

 

Because even if they sent me ammo, logic says eventually it would be gone and I would need to resupply.

 

In the American military, prior to the "we must use 9 mm like the rest of NATO", that would be either something that shoots 45 ACP or 38 Special. Commonwealth would either be 38 Smith & Wesson or 455 Webley. Maybe 9 mm.

 

45 Colt just seems like a dumb choice.

 

I remember reading in Soldier of Fortune, many years back, where a guy went to Vietnam and he had his personal weapon. A 1911 in 38 Super, with a Bianchi X15 Shadow. He claimed that the Bianchi was so much faster to draw from than the issue shoulder rig, and this saved his life at least twice  and that he had brought several hundred rounds of 38 Super with him, along with the parts necessary to convert the gun to 45 ACP when he had ran out of 38 ammo.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

9 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Since a carbine (M4) is generally a shortened rifle, is it considered a sidearm? I’ve always considered a sidearm something carried in a holster as opposed to a sling. 

No,   Thats why I carried the M18 Sig. M4 is just a Basic 16 inch barrel , and depending on Version can be a 3 round burst or full auto 

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

looking at the pic . of the Colt revolver , I think it has been cut for 1/2 moon. clips , 

 

notice how close the leads are to the back of the cylinder 

 

  Chickasaw Bill 

[Finagler 6853 Life]

What caliber were the shiny toys Patton carried, if anyone knows.

[Rip Snorter]

40 minutes ago, Finagler 6853 Life said:

What caliber were the shiny toys Patton carried, if anyone knows.

He had an early 357 and others - more than you want to know here https://www.armslocker.com/threads/gen-pattons-personal-handguns.28961/

[Alpo]

15 hours ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

Like me when I deployed Had  a M4 (suppressed ) Sig M18, MP5 and DMR .

Didn't that weigh you down? Rifle, pistol, subgun, and sniper rifle? All at the same time?

[PowderRiverCowboy]

2 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Didn't that weigh you down? Rifle, pistol, subgun, and sniper rifle? All at the same time?

Issued dont mean I carried all , depended on mission on what I carried .  Not to mention the , grenades and ammo I kept in my room .

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

53 minutes ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

Issued dont mean I carried all , depended on mission on what I carried .  Not to mention the , grenades and ammo I kept in my room .

Agree. Our USMC officer says armament is very mission dependent. 

[Chantry]

17 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Who in the Marines and the Army in the U.S gets (got) issued sidearms now but particularly in WWII? 

Generally speaking: military police, general officers, pilots and aircrew, people assigned to a crew served weapon*, tankers, many officers**.  The M1 Carbine replaced the handgun for many people, but not all.

 

*The gunner of a machine gun (other than a BAR or Bren) was often given a handgun.

** Many infantry officers chose to carry something in addition to or instead of a sidearm.  

[Utah Bob #35998]

Back in dubya dubya twice, pistols were authorized for officers, NCOs, cavalrymen, Armored Vehicle crews, assistant gunners, and generally crews on mortars and other crew served weapons and any combat soldier whose job would make the carrying of a rifle unnecessary or too cumbersome. The M1 carbine was intended to replace the pistol in cases where more range and increased magazine capacity would be advantageous but a full battle rifle was not necessarily needed or practical.

Of course pistols are part of the American psyche and cool, so a lot of guys weren’t issued one would pick one up if the opportunity presented itself.

 

In the postwar world, I was in a classified class in one of the old wooden barracks buildings in Ft Devens in 1969. The building was ringed with concertina and there were two walking guards in the inner perimeter armed with 1911s. About mid morning a shot rang out and a 45 round came through the wall. Assuming we were being attacked by commie assassins I wished that I had something more suitable than a G.I. ball point pen and a demo knife. Hearing no further battle cacophony other than a high pitched wailing, I crawled to the window. Outside was one of the SP4 guards standing in the blood spattered snow with a hole in his left hand.

Pistols is dangerous. 

[Alpo]

8 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Pistols is dangerous. 

A gun shop I used to hang around at. One of the clerks carried a customized Norinco 1911. One day a customer asked about it, and the clerk drew it, unloaded it, and handed it to the lookyloo. After fondling it for a while, the lookyloo handed it back, the clerk reloaded it, and then for some reason put it on the shelf behind the counter, instead of reholstering it.

 

The store owner had seen him unload it, but had not seen him reload it. So he says to himself, he says, "I believe I shall see what kind of trigger pull this custom 45 has".

 

How many of y'all can guess what happened?

 

Shot his left index finger off. Owie.

 

Don't know if pistols is dangerous, but pistols in the hands of idjits is most certainly dangerous.

[watab kid]

im not sure why they dont issue a three gun package of handgun , rifle and shotgun to everyone , except maybe all that weight with ammo , 

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

A friend of mine said he had a viet cong drop into his foxhole.

He fired his four barrel 22 mag totally unauthorized pistol.

Saved his life.

He said all four rounds fired at once.

Best

CR