Guns in early Air Mail Service ?

Colt 38 Supers were advertised for air mail service with TWA. They had nice full page ads on it.

Go over to the coltforum and there was a recent thread on several of them. Really neat guns to a 38 Super fan like myself.

+1
Here is one of the adds.



At that time, the Postal Service also had an inventory of Colt & S&W ..38 Spl. revolvers.

rc

WOW! What year is that eh?

Advertising media back then was about as good as it is today. No need to fear that the finger is on that trigger and the manual safety is disengaged. (as well as the grip safety)

Very neat ad for the Colt .38 Super! And the Railway Postal Service clerks used to carry Colt and S&W revolvers to protect the mail back in the day.

No fear.
It isn't cocked.

Its as safe as a claw hammer until it is cocked.


Year?
It is TWA ordered 40 .38 Super pistols in 1930.

rc

Advertising media back then was about as good as it is today. No need to fear that the finger is on that trigger and the manual safety is disengaged. (as well as the grip safety)

Click to expand...

Relax, it's not real. No one was hurt in the drawing of this ad.

A fairly significant number of Model 1917s (Colt and S&W revolvers in .45 ACP) were also issued to early airmail pilots and also the Border Patrol. Charles Askins wrote about how he sighted in every one of those 1917s, and built a jig to bend the front sights where needed. Another Border Patrolman complained when he got his M1917, "The front sight was bent and I had to straighten it out."

I'd sure like to have a couple of those!

I like that add RC. Some of the reference material you have just boggles my mind.

I wonder what the response would be if someone, today, wrote to Colt requesting “Catalog No. 25”.

Kinda depended on whether the pilots had company-issued guns or bought their own.

Down where it was warm, things were a bit informal:

1930?

The era of the big gangs like Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, etc robbing banks and outrunning and out gunning the police.

S&W had introduced the .38/44 cartridge for the larger frame .38 special cop guns of the time, able to punch through car bodies, and bullet-proof vests used by the big league BG's.

Colt responded with the .38 Super 1911 in 1929 in order to have something along the same lines.

I imagine the air mail people imagined having to take on Bonnie & Clyde type robbers trying to steal the mail then.
So the Colt .38 Super bill of goods sounded like the best invention since sliced bread in 1930.

You must also remember that most of those air mail pilots were veteran pilots who survived WWI.
And were quite well versed in carrying and using the 1911 pistol.

One with more penetration, and no additional training probably sounded like a real good idea at the time.

rc

Another reason for a .38 Super: It's a bit easier to shoot than the 230 gr. FMJ .45 round, especially when shooting one-handed.

I doubt a WWI vet/ fighter pilot would have noticed that.
As much as the increased muzzle blast.

If they hadn't have been half deaf already from engine exhaust pipes in their face, machine guns in front, and in the back cockpit.

rc

never mind

Somewhat later, 1966, the Highway Post Office running Highway 101 in California between LA and SFO had clerks who sorted mail as they travelled. The clerks were armed with .38 spl revolvers. Seriously protected the mail.

The tradition of pilots who flew the U.S. Mail being armed carried on until at least into the early 1970's. In 1974, I was a young pilot flying the U.S. Mail in old twin engine airplanes (Beech 18's, for the pilots on this forum!) for a small private air carrier, but under a government contract. I was told to get a pistol and carry it when I flew the U.S. Mail runs. And so I bought my first handgun, a Colt .25 Jr Pocket...... Not exactly the best gun to defend against gangs of Mail Robbers, but I just wanted something small and easy to carry, knew zero about firearms at that time, and wanted something that would at least comply with the instruction to be armed that I had gotten from my boss. Of course, I did take it out to the range, which was fun and which led to interest in buying and shooting other firearms, and from there, a lifelong association with shooting activities. All started out because of the requirement (and later, tradition of) US Air Mail pilots being armed.

Now, that right there is an inspirational gun owner story!!

Thank you msmp5!!

rc

Getting ready to retire from the U.S. Postal Service at the end of July, after 33+ years of service.
When I first hired in, Feb. 1980, we were issued S&W Model 36 Snub Nose when carrying registered mail. Of course the ammo they gave us was so old, the bullet would spin in the casing. I'm sure there wasn't any powder left in there so, I carried my own Mod. 36, which I knew would fire fire if needed.
That was a long time ago. Now of course, we can't carry or even have weapons in our vehicles if they're parked on Government Property, which I think is wrong.
A lot of things have changed in the last 30 years, looking forward to July.

never mind