Category: All About Guns

The adoption of the Sig Sauer M18 by the USAF brings to an end a little known chapter in the history of military handguns: the retirement of the last standard issue revolvers in the U.S. military’s inventory. The first units to receive the M18 pistol will be the Air Force’s Security Forces units, responsible for law enforcement, installation security, and ground airbase defense. Among those units are the USAF’s Military Working Dog (MWD) teams, who to this day still use the last military revolver: the Smith & Wesson Model 15.

The Model 15 remains in service with MWD teams as a training aid, even after being retired from general service in the early 90s. Currently, it’s used in conjunction with blanks to train MWDs to acclimate to gunfire, as well to detect firearms by scent. The Model 15s that will eventually depart the USAF have been in service since 1956 when they were originally purchased for the Strategic Air Command’s Elite Guards.

Despite their cool name, the Elite Guards were regular Air Force Air Police members who wore cooler looking uniforms than everyone else, and of course worked at SAC bases. In 1962, the USAF’s Security Police program was still referred to as Air Police, and the disparate missions that Air Police was tasked with caused them to have a hodgepodge of sidearms in inventory.

Many units had non-standard K-frame revolvers, others had WW2 and Korean War vintage 1911s. As the USAF built out the Security Police program, it standardized the sidearm on the Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece in 38 Special.

Records show that the Air Force purchased large numbers of Model 15s from 1960 to 1969, with purchases possibly continuing after that. Unfortunately, due to shoddy record keeping from the era it’s impossible to know how many Model 15s the Air Force purchased.

Guns on the USAF contract were identical to the consumer guns, with the addition of “USAF” engraved on the frame. The Model 15 was in continuous service with the Air Force Security Police, now Security Forces until some point in the early 90s. It was phased out in favor of the Beretta M9. Again, it’s difficult to tell exactly when, however some records show Combat Masterpiece revolvers in Security Forces holsters as late as 1992.

Russell Fletcher, USAF Combat Arms Instructor, aims his Model 15 for a photo op at Hill AFB in 1983

After 1992, a few revolvers stayed around in the hands of Security Force’s K9 teams. Because of a quirk in the Air Force’s regulations, any base that had a Model 15 for blank firing also had to have an identical model in that base’s Combat Arms shop.

Combat Arms in the Air Force is tasked with all maintenance and instruction on USAF small arms. Of course, because they’re K-frame revolvers, the Model 15s received little maintenance over the decades. I had the chance to fire one, with blanks of course, during a short tour at Osan Air Force Base in Korea in 2016. The gun I fired had been parkerized like many of the original models, and was still perfectly functional.

The trigger pull was exactly as I’d expect from a Model 15 produced in the 60s – heavy but smooth as butter. It really was a wonderful piece of machinery with a fascinating history.

Sadly, a lot of that history is lost to the ages. The Air Force didn’t always keep the best records, and when the Combat Masterpiece was phased out for the M9, many of the guns were destroyed.

A few leaked out to the secondary market here and there, but for the most part they were either destroyed, or in some cases sold to allied countries. Hopefully, the few that are left will get released to the CMP, much like the old 1911s finally did. I know there are retired Security Forces members out there would love to get their hands on an old Combat Masterpiece.

There’s also at least one currently serving member who would, as well.By 2021 the Air Force will have completed force-wide adoption of the Sig Sauer M18. Like the guns that preceded it, it represents the best pistol technology available at the time of fielding, and I have no doubt it will serve me well. 2021 will then bring an end to the 65 year military career of the Smith & Wesson Model 15. It’s a shame to see them go.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by active duty and retired members of the USAF Combat Arms Instructor community in providing images and information for this article. – Caleb

Christmas comes early for MARSOC!  (Photo: Clay Martin)

Editor’s note: The column below, which contains explicit language, is a response to an article in the MarineTimes that broke the following news:

For Marine special operators, the never-ending debate over whether the 9mm or .45-caliber round is the more powerful bullet has been settled.

Previously, the classic .45-caliber Colt 1911 was one of three pistols that Raiders were allowed to carry, but now the 9mm Glock 19 is the only pistol that Marine special operators can take into battle, said Maj. Nick Mannweiler, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.

“We put our money behind the 9mm round fired by an extremely well-trained marksman carrying a Glock 19,” Mannweiler told Marine Corps Times… read more

Finally, even the dinosaurs over at Mother Corps have woken up to the facts. The 1911 is a terrible choice for a combat handgun, and now MARSOC finally gets some combat Tupperware, like all the other boys at SOCOMs School for Hooligans and Ruffians. Hold onto your keyboards, there, internet commandos, I don’t care if your granpappy defended Wake Island with ole slab sides; I have skin in this game too. And it’s probably more recent than yours.

Let’s go ahead and discuss this term “combat handgun.” It doesn’t mean your choice of what to carry to 7/11, though some mortal combat may ensue there. We are talking about an issued weapon for the troops going into harm’s way. Your choice of a BBQ gun doesn’t count. The one thing a combat handgun absolutely needs to be is reliable. A pistol is rarely used for doing the Lord’s work, but when you need it, you REALLY need it. I can count on one hand the number of people I know with a legit pistol kill in the Global War on Terrorism, it’s that rare. And I used to ask every class during the pistol phase of my urban combat course, “Has anyone here got a pistol kill, and if so let’s talk about it.”

Considering I was teaching the Magnificent Murderous Bastards of 3^rd Special Forces Group at the time, who have arguably carried more water pound for pound than any unit in the U.S. Military in this conflict, that is a very low number. There are outliers, of course, there always are. One of my teammates who we shall just refer to by his call sign, “Gene Pool Cleaner” (GPC), had eight pistol kills on one of our tours. That is a pretty long streak of strange luck, so it does happen. But the reality is that pistol is bringing up the rear when it comes to tools a soldier wants to use for cockroach extermination. For most of us that have fought in this war, the order goes something like this:

• JDAM GPS-guided bomb, preferably from your hotel balcony while sipping a scotch on the rocks (Hat tip, Greg Stube. He taught me that one in the SFQC.)
• Mortars
• Sniper rifle
• Machine guns
• Rifle
• Pistol
• Rock, Toaster, or whatever else is handy at the moment
• Your hands

Of that small number, 99 percent of the pistol kills in question came during CQB, when a rifle had malfunctioned. Probably the scariest environment imaginable is a room-sized gun fight, against some other dickhead holding a machine gun, who you probably have already hurt with your now defunct rifle, and you need to “phone a friend,” aka skin your pistol to finish the fight. Never happened to me, but for those who’ve experienced it, it’s very much a Jesus-take-the-wheel kind of moment. When you grab that last line of defense, the motherfucker had better work. Now, we can say a lot of good things about the 1911 pistol. It’s accurate. It has a nice trigger. It was the weapon of choice 100 years ago. It may actually be more inherently precise than a Glock. But I don’t think anyone will argue that it is more reliable than a Glock.

Who am I kidding? This is the Internet! Of course someone will argue that the 1911 platform is more reliable than the polymer prince. Look, I wasn’t born a 1911 hater. My first gun was a Springfield Loaded 1911, and it was my only pistol for many years. I was a Recon Marine, and that was the pistol I took on my first combat tour. Age and maturity, however, have taught me to love the striker-fired wonder.

It’s a great irony, the more expensive your 1911, generally the tighter it fits together. That makes it more accurate. It also makes it more susceptible to environmental factors. When the new Kimber 1911 was issued to Force Recon Marines, the old hands dug through the boxes to find the ones with the most rattle (I was already transitioning to the Army by then, but, of course, I asked my boys about the new guns).  1911 fanboys, why do you suppose they did that?

In training across 18 years, I have seen more malfunctions in a week of 1911 time than any 2 years with a Glock. The 1911 was a great design for its time, but that time has passed. Dust, sand, and lack of lubrication all have a much worse effect on a 1911. I know people who have carried a Glock for an entire tour in the sandbox, never once pulled it from the holster, and upon rotating home, fired the gun without a hitch. No one would have the stones to try that on a 1911.

Editor’s note: Clay was so inspired while writing this article that he actually trashed his very own 1911. Yup. Threw it right into the garbage — right where it belongs. Because, as he so eloquently points out, a 1911 is a terrible choice for a combat handgun!!! #TeamGlock #JK(Photo: Clay Martin)

What else? Well, a Glock is significantly lighter. That does matter. Every ounce counts in a mountainous environment. Special Operations Forces are much more likely than anyone else to be using a pistol as the primary or only weapon, thus further underscoring the need for reliability above all else. A double stack Glock is both easier to reload, and less likely to need reloading with its 15 or 17-round magazine. It’s a dual-use weapon, it works for urban assaults or low visibility concealed carry. It’s one of the most prolific weapons on the planet, the G19 can be found the world over. It doesn’t break easily, it rarely wears out, and it doesn’t need a special armorer to work on it.

Last summer, I spent a few months in Okinawa as a contracted instructor for the USMC Special Operations Training Group. For 3 months prior, I shot only my 1911s in preparation for that job. Still, with months of work, once or twice I forgot the safety or had the beavertail safety eat my lunch. Reloading was both more frequent (single stack gun, 8 rounds) and slower than my normal gun.

Finally, my last week in country we did an exchange day with the Special Forces group on the Island. The brotherhood of Green Berets runs deep, even after you retire. Picking up a loaner Glock from 1^st Group to teach my pistol class to them was like finding an old friend. Even after months of 1911 work, it was a seamless transition back to the plastic framed glory of the Glock 19. With zero warm up, I was faster and more accurate, and not one issue with malfunctions over the day. That is a pretty apples to apples comparison, and I applaud the USMC for its choice.