An Old Friend Comes Home

[Art]

We went to the marriage of my wife's Vietnamese friend in Dallas a couple of weeks ago...perhaps re marriage is especially appropriate in this case since she's marrying her previous husband.

While there we visited an old friend who is a retired ASAC of the U.S. Customs service. Many years ago, 1987 to be exact she went from working for the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General to the Customs Service. At that time the DHHS-OIG was one of many agencies whose LEOs were "not usually armed." Under their rules they were only allowed to draw a firearm if they were going into a hazardous situation like serving a warrant. Of course with customs she would always be armed and wanted to brush up on her skills so on a work trip to "Big D" we went to the range and she shot my S&W Model 15. Well she loved it and ordered the stainless steel version, the Model 67, for her own use. My agency had just mandated that all Agents henceforth carry .357 Magnum revolvers and only .357 Magnum ammo would be used for carry and training. Well she was one of the best LEOs I ever met, one you could truly trust with your life, so I told her to keep the gun. She carried it through thick and thin until the Treasury Department mandated auto pistols for all Special Agents in the 1990s the old Model 15 then went into retirement at her house.

While visiting she told me her children had no interest in firearms and she wanted to give it back to me. At first I argued against it but then said "what the heck" and accepted it. She has very large hands so had replaced the old S&W checkered walnut service grips with a set of pachmyers other than that the old girl looked the same, in fact it looked better than I remembered it. There is substantial holster wear at the muzzle but other than that it looks very, very good for a gun that had been carried daily from 1975 to about 1993.

Some notes on the revolver since you guys will notice it's not your typical Model 15. When I got it the old INS mandated for plain clothes wear American manufactured .38 Special revolvers with 2" barrels, they'd let you fudge to 2 1/2" if you carried a Colt Diamondback. Most guys (and those few gals on the job back then) usually carried small frame S&W or Colt revolvers, the lighter the better. That wasn't my style so I purchased the Combat Masterpiece in the 2" barrel version. In late 1975 the INS dropped the 2" barrel rule which I hadn't liked. I wanted a 4" but didn't want to buy a new gun. Fortunately there was an alternative available. The Border Patrol gunsmith, Leroy Patton, did a lot of custom work and modifications. One of the more popular was converting "skinny barrel" Smith & Wessons to heavy barrel. I had seen a Model 15 he'd done this work on. Since the cost was a fraction of that for a new gun I sent it off to the Border Patrol Academy and it came back in the condition you now see it. Patton's Guns is stamped into the top of the barrel. This is the only weapon I actually ever drew with "mean intentions." Fortunately for everyone the bad guys decided to punt both times.

It's in my office now, loaded with the .38 +P semi wadcutter hollow points I carried back in the day. I imagine I'll pack it every now and again for old times sake.

One other note. When she gave me the gun she also gave me an old Safariland holster. This was the Safariland version of a paddle holster only using wire instead of the paddle which was patented, I believe by Bianchi at the time. Well the gun just swallowed the Model 15 (I think there's a story about that I'll share if anyone is interested.) Sure enough it fit my Model 28 Highway Patrolman perfectly. I have some really good gun belts so I wore the Model 28 in the safariland holster out today. I'm not a big guy but it concealed very well under the photographer's vest I usually wear for concealed carry and the weight wasn't a bit uncomfortable. The right holster and a good belt can make some guns you'd never think of routinely carrying a lot more practical, not that I'll routinely tote around an N Frame....

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[m1ashooter]

Memories. I wore one is the USAF.

[Art]

Memories. I wore one is the USAF.

Yep, the Air Force finally phased out the last of their Model 15s in 1992. Probably the last major military organization to issue a revolver. This is especially interesting because Air Force Security is not only the Air Force Police but the Air Force infantry. Our son who spent 8 years in Air Force Security and is now in the Services branch of the Texas Air Guard bought a pristine Model 15 not knowing it had been Air Force Issue. I told him that if he buys a Beretta 92 he will own all of the standard side arms the Air Force issued....both of them.

I'm sure they've all been destroyed but those Model 15s would be hot sellers for the CMP.

There was a time when these pistols were truly "the cat's meow."

[Andouille]

Art. What did Mr. Patton use for barrels for his 4" conversions?

The 4" K-framed Smith, in any caliber, is my favorite revolver. That size is "just right."

[Art]

Barrels weren't a problem. He used barrels for the heavy barrel version of the model 10. The real work was the sights.

The sight on the Mod. 10 heavy barrel was a serrated low sight pinned through a detent into a slot on top of the barrel. Guns I've seen with "Baughman Quick Draw" style front sight on adjustable sight S&Ws usually hat a blade pinned onto the lower ramped base that was part of the rib or the sight was actually milled completely out of the rib material. Obviously neither one of these options would work for this conversion unless he was cutting the complete front sight arrangement off of the ribs of other barrels and I'm sure that wasn't happening. I have, however, an S&W Model 17 .22 Masterpiece and on that sight the Patrige front sight was integral with a sloped base that appears to be silver soldered onto the rib. The only thing I can think of is old man Patton had a supply of Baughman style sights made for some S&W revolver that, like my Model 17 that had the front sight assembly silver soldered on.

The way it was done is really slick. The new front sight assembly, if you can call it that, is exactly the diameter of the flat portion of the top of the very low rib on the Model 10 heavy barrel and it truly looks like it was a factory product which of course it isn't.

As I said this was a conversion Mr. Patton made regularly for anyone who wanted their skinny barrel Model 15s, or other .38 K frames converted to the heavy barrel. Apparently enough people wanted the work that it was a staple for him and it was a lot cheaper than a new gun and the work was done right.

By the way, I took the old girl to the range the other day. I set up a Timed and Rapid Fire Pistol Target up at 25 yards and fired 5 Federal +P LSWCHP rounds taking a rest on my range bag. 5 shots went into just over 2" and the gun was still dead nuts on. Not counting the called flier in that group four rounds were clustered in the "10" ring in just over an inch with two clover leafed in the X ring. Obviously my friend looked at the sights the same way I do. I do not claim to be the world's best with a handgun and it set me thinking what a serious revolver hand could do with it. I then put a box of .38 Winchester white box practice ammo into a silhouette. The smoothness of the gun made me appreciate what I was missing all these years.

Anyone who wants a revolver to truly enjoy on the range, for a nightstand gun or even to carry can't go wrong with one of these. They aren't called "Masterpieces" for nothing. They may be obsolescent but are tributes to the gun maker's art.