.357 Single Action Ruger- Vietnam

[Ugly Hombre]

http://lompocrecord.com/news/local/veteran-calls-himself-an-agent-orange-warrior/article_4604af99-fc81-536d-92e8-508345b1d942.html

"Dudich was a brash soldier. He carried a Ruger Blackhawk 357 revolver and quick drew it like a cowboy. He would wear a white T-shirt instead of Army camouflage and a soft cover instead of hard helmet."

Interesting- heard of single actions in Vietnam before, and seen photos on the web. One guy I saw had what looked like a Colt or Great Western S.A. in hand, a Grunt embossed boonie hat for a cover- and a Swedish K SMG hung on the wall of his hootch.

Short first hand account in this article.

FYI

U/H

 

[contender]

I didn't open the link,,, but I'm assuming it's about a fine guy who enjoyed a good SA in 'Nam. My brother mentioned a guy he knew over there who carried a pair of SA's. His nickname was "Cowboy."

 

[graygun]

He was a Marine,not a soldier (media morons) and endured,very heavy exposure to Agent Orange.

 

[Ugly Hombre]

Yep there are some photos of US military in Vietnam with SA revolvers floating around on the web.

One SOG guy had a 444 Marlin lever imported.

I think personal arms were much more tolerated in country then, in a combat zone-not legal but "allowed" by some commands.

 

[SAJohn]

In those days the USPS wasn't so fussy about firearms. I know a person who mailed a Ruger .357 single action to a relative serving in Vietnam. It was mailed with the cylinder in a separate package.

 

[blackhawknj]

An ROTC buddy who had served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam said they had one pilot who carried a Ruger Blackhawk, he remembers one time listening to his radio transmissions while he was shooting it.

 

[Mobuck]

"and a Swedish K SMG hung on the wall of his hootch."

That's a pretty good indicator that the guy wasn't the average Joe Grunt.

 

[Ugly Hombre]

Yep,

He had on a floppy boonie hat with "grunt" emboidered in white on the hat, there were two guys- GI's joking around in a hut, A SA revolver, a 5th of whiskey and the Carl Gustov on the wall were in the pic. I don't think it (the S/A) was a black hawk it was fixed sights. Wish I had copied it.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=124802

Here is another thread from the past about Ruger revolvers in Vietnam. Quite interesting!

http://s474.photobucket.com/user/TACAV/media/Public%20Posting/Revolver2_zpsd5f59d59.png.html

Found the old pic that was posted on the original thread.!

 

[WAYNO]

As aircrew, we were issued the old Victory S&W as a survival weapon. It was common to see these on flight vests, even during training missions.

I remember one of my Cobra pilots carried a Blackhawk when he was flying. Since the CO didn't tell him no, then I guess it must have been with the CO's blessing.

WAYNO.

 

[Phoenix too]

My late friend Chuck, who did time in Nam as a grunt, then came back with Air America, carried a Ruger BH in .357 while with AA. If I recall correctly, he said anything larger than .38 was considered 'military'. He also argued for its reliability over a semiauto.