One of my dad's friends left this at my father's house for me.
This belonged to his father, who was a Naval Aviator in World War 2. This was his issued sidearm, and it's apparently been sitting in its holster next to one box of ammunition since he left the Navy. Since nobody in the family cared about firearms, this was handed off to me.
I don't know much about these sorts of firearms. Apparently this was manufactured during WW2 according to the serial number that starts with a V:
(More images are here, if interested.
So, some questions:
First, is it safe to shoot this thing with modern ammunition?
Second, my grandfather was a Flying Fortress mechanic in WW2, but before that he was a Master SGT in the Cavalry. Is this the same pistol that was issued to cavalry, or was that something else?
Third, this isn't one of those pieces of history that's too important to shoot with, is it?
This belonged to his father, who was a Naval Aviator in World War 2. This was his issued sidearm, and it's apparently been sitting in its holster next to one box of ammunition since he left the Navy. Since nobody in the family cared about firearms, this was handed off to me.
I don't know much about these sorts of firearms. Apparently this was manufactured during WW2 according to the serial number that starts with a V:
(More images are here, if interested.
So, some questions:
First, is it safe to shoot this thing with modern ammunition?
Second, my grandfather was a Flying Fortress mechanic in WW2, but before that he was a Master SGT in the Cavalry. Is this the same pistol that was issued to cavalry, or was that something else?
Third, this isn't one of those pieces of history that's too important to shoot with, is it?