The Ruger Blackhawk . . . in combat?

[ProfessorWes]

An intriguing photo. Staged, probably, but you can't fault his choice . . .

 

[hittman]

…. And an M1 Carbine!? ….

I think we've had threads here before on single actions carried in Vietnam … maybe others

 

[ProfessorWes]

…. And an M1 Carbine!? ….

I think we've had threads here before on single actions carried in Vietnam … maybe others

Well, a Blackhawk in .30 carbine would certainly match the rifle . . . Cool pic, either way.

 

[rugerguy]

thats a goodie and here is how we got it many years ago from family over there.......

 

[Bad Barlow]

Well, a Blackhawk in .30 carbine would certainly match the rifle . . . Cool pic, either way.

Appears to be an " old army"? ; )

 

[rugerguy]

...I doubt its an Old Army look at the cartridge loops on the belt.........

My friend Jim P., Sgt. Army, carried a Super Blackhawk 44 mag back then in the mid 60s..... Frank M., also Army, carried a Rem 1100 12 ga when he worked 'point'......

 

[contender]

My brother was in Vietnam,, and he spoke of more than one case of troops carrying odd firearms,, including SA's & some of them being Rugers.

Dan,, I would LOVE to read that whole article. It mentions Tay Ninh,, and that was where my brother was at during one of his tours. Any chance of getting a copy,, not cropped?

Oh,, and that's either a "B" or a "C" model Huey.

 

[Sacramento Johnson]

Looks like a buscadero rig complete with filled bullet loops and a Ka-bar in a sheath; definitely an interesting rig!
So are the rounds 30 caliber carbine or 357 mag?

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

I lost track of the guy, but I once chatted with a man who said his dad was a friend of WBR and so when the Security Six was being developed, WBR gave a prototype to the guy's brother (WBR's friend's other son) who was headed back for another tour in Vietnam. Apparently, the rules were pretty loose on what you could carry, depending on your duty. He said it was 1968 and the serial number of that DA revolver was X9. Production guns didn't start to trickle out of the factory until 1970. No idea whether it was the same overall configuration that eventually became the commercial version, but the guy's brother did make it back home with the prototype gun and at that time (maybe 20 years ago), he still owned it.

 

[rugerguy]

Contender , sorry but when my friend Fred Price , the 'Seabee' who was here then, showed me the article, he knew the door gunner, as his job was clearing landing zones, ( he was attached to the Marine base in Dong Ha up near the DMZ),,,,sent me the photo and alas, it was "cropped' already may he and all the others rest in Peace....was tickled to see the top photo from Prof. Wes, same door gunner....neat, wish I had one of Jim P. who was a Sgt Major or some such , way up there for an 'enlisted man', at Khe San with his .44 SBH on 'perimeter watch' atop the bunkers....awesome God Bless them ALL!

 

[Hankus]

Those certainly look like .30 carbine rounds in the cartridge loops on the belt …

 

[Dan in MI]

Wasn't it relatively common for folks at home to ship their boys sidearms?

 

[dobegrant.45]

Pretty cool picture, my guess is a .30 carbine Blackhawk

 

[WAYNO]

I was in the Air Cavalry. Our pilots, even stateside, would often carry whatever personal sidearm they chose. And it was not questioned.

 

[Jeepnik]

Even as late as my son's deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan it wasn't uncommon for enlisted folks to carry unissued handguns. My father gave me a bit of advice before I went overseas. It was simply, "find an handgun". He learned that lesson in places like Normandie and Bastogne. When my kids deployed I gave them the same advice. We all followed it. I'm here because I did follow that advice.

 

[Armybrat]

My Dad carried Grandpa's Colt 1903 as a backup for his service 1911 when he was in The Bulge (44-45). No problems then.
My brother owns it now.

 

[Watertender]

A family friend carried his Colt Woodsman Sport 1st Model in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a Combat Engineer and came home with quite an arsenal of various German weapons.

 

[Hankus]

In the 80s and 90s I packed a Taurus PT-99 in my go-bag. I wasn't always issued a sidearm so I picked one up cheap. The Beretta magazines and issue ammo functioned flawlessly.

Edit- My command was unaware this was in my go-bag. Personal firearms were verboten in the Army of the 80s and 90s. I just packed a cheap gun show dagger in on the top of the stuff in my go bag. The one time my gear was searched during a "Health and Welfare" inspection they found the knife and just stopped there and sent the knife to the arms room. My company commander (a real ass of a mustang) called me to his office and asked why I hadn't come to him to ask for my knife back… LOL, I told him he could keep it.

 

[eveled]

A google search doesn't reveal a lot more about PFC Dickerson but I did learn he was from Mapleton Utah

A third angle of the same shot. No magazine in the m1

 

[XUSNORDIE]

I left an F14 Squadron (VF21 Fighting Freelancers) just prior to Desert Shield. When we qualed the PILOTS/RIOS their only choice was issued Smith & Wesson MOD 39. They left for deployment and I left for Station Weaps Range/Armory Div. A lot of commands came through to qual, fam fire prior to deploying during the build up and Storm. No personal weapons. Navy air crew had either command issued SW MOD39s, SW MOD 36, SW MOD 10 (rare), Ruger Police Six (rare), or the 1911.

I deployed several times with VF21....no personal weapons were allowed. As AO's we stored/maintained/issued the command pistols.