A trip down memory lane

[Puncha]

I was watching a made-for-TV movie last night. It was a murder mystery/Sci-fi piece released for an Asian audience and the story was basically about a present day police detective who's father had died in an unsolved murder during the early 70s. Anyhow....aforesaid present day cop manages to discover a portal into the past which would allow him to travel to a point 3 months before his father's murder. Needless to say, he takes the trip and attempts to avert his dad's killing.

My question for this thread is if any one of you had to spend a few months back in the early 70s, what would you carry as a sidearm? Please consider the logistics requirements (ammo, spare parts if things break) and the need to blend in (glocks and XDs would look rather strange).

On a realistic note, one of my old elementary school classmates is now a diplomat and he remarked to me once that when he was temporarily posted to Nepal some years ago, locals who could get hold of handguns only managed to obtain older sidearms styles like copies of webley revolvers in .38S&W and crude copies of 1950s-1960s semi-autos in .32 ACP and 9mm short.

 

[Trebor]

Early 1970's? That's too easy.

I'd bring back a correct S&W K-frame with a 3" barrel. I think the Model 13 was around then. If the M 65 was around, I'd use that instead.

Add a small clip-on IWB holster and I'd look right at home. (Hey, that's my current set up....)

If I really wanted more firepower on tap, I'd bring back either a Colt 1911 (Pre-series-70) or maybe a Browning High Power. Actually, I think the Brownings still had the small safeties then, so I'd go with the Colt or possibly a S&W auto like a 39-2.

 

[lee n. field]

My question for this thread is if any one of you had to spend a few months back in the early 70s, what would you carry as a sidearm?

S&W K-frame .38 or .357. "Cop gun" for a looooong time.

 

[Puncha]

How "out of place" would a 2005 manufactured S&W model 67 revolver be if casually examined by a gunsmith from the 1970s?

For that matter, have current day walther PPKs changed much from their WWII bretheren?

 

[Brian Williams]

I would go with a list of the winners for a set of races for a certain horse track back in that day and make the money I needed and purchase what I needed when I got there.

I would take a S&W 13 with a 4" pencil barrel installed, would look like a 10, but sting like 13.

Probably set up to buy a few 1911s from NRA/CMP and a few NFA machine guns before the hassles of today. Create a corporation, to hold the NFA stuff and have it buy a few shares of Apple and IBM when they hit the market.

 

[hanno]

S&W Model 15, the same sidearm I carried in the early 70s.

 

[sm]

I had money to win on Secretariat who won the Triple Crown...

Concealed I carried these times:
Gov't Model of 1911, Colt Combat Commander, Colt Lightweight Commander.
BHPs
Beretta Jetfire
Model 10, Model 19
Model 36

Some others...
I remember Seattle Slew, and I know about his "War Dance" and had money on the nose ...winnings provided for a new toy.

Ah the 70's, Yellow with black racing stripe, Muscle car and real guns, ...
Non of this 4 banger , front wheel drive ,rice burner and plastic gun stuff...*smirk*

 

[Black Knight]

I didn't start carrying until 1978 with a borrowed H&R topbreak in 38S&W. In 79 my dad got me my first hand gun, a 6" Colt Python. If I went back to the early 70's I would carry one of the following:

4" S&W Mod. 10HB
2 1/2" S&W Mod. 66
Colt Series 70 MK VI Govt. Model in 45 ACP
4" or 6" Colt Python

 

[bannockburn]

Puncha

Back in the good old days, my favorites would be a Colt Commander and a S&W Model 36. Both were very plentiful, easily concealable (I liked the Bianchi Berns-Martin shoulder rig for the snubbie), and relatively affordable.
In regards to your comments about the handgun selection in Nepal; most probably come in from Pakistan, where making copies of low powered revolvers and semi-autos is extremely commonplace. The low powered calibers were usually chosen to make up for the lack of proper heat treating and metallurgy that would be necessary for more powerful ammunition.

 

[magsnubby]

Colt Lightweight Commander or a S&W Model 19.

 

[WoofersInc]

Gotta go with a 4 inch 357 mag. standard for the time.

 

[nitestocker]

i would take my beretta 92fs but it did not come around till 72:banghead: so id go with a custom 45 auto and a 38 snubbie a browning auto 5 and a m1a feel comfy

 

[Rokyudai]

I would go with a list of the winners for a set of races for a certain horse track back in that day and make the money I needed and purchase what I needed when I got there.

Shame shame Mcfly for attempting to use time travel for such things! Emmit Brown is revoking your DeLorian driving privileges!

 

[Tom Fury]

Sonny Crockett wasn't too far off: S&W 4506 and Detonics for a back up; Novak Custom Lightweight Commander would have gone easier under the Armanis' tho. Does anyone remember the series opened with Tubbs with a sawed-off? Classic dangerous!
Cheers, TF

OOps: you said 70s: LW Commander then, with a New York reload...

 

[armoredman]

Pair of Model 10 3inch, with the 158 LSWCHP - was that available back then, or would that be a handload? What good ammo was avilable then? SuperVel? No 9mm for me, just if it's just FMJ, but if loaded with SuperVel, maybe a P38, or Smith 59, (was that avilable then? 39 would be OK, too.), but I'd probably stick with the two 38s, with good ammo.

 

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

Are we talkin Back To The Future rules or Terminator rules here? Sorry couldnt resist. 70s? I would take back a 4in revolver, .357. I would also take back a Bren Ten, give it to Cooper and tell him to not waste his time.

 

[dagger dog]

Sonny Crocket carried a Bren Ten the first season . Model 27 Highway Patrolman. HEAVY DUTY S&W

 

[foghornl]

Mdl 10 S&W or Colt Trooper MKIII for a wheelgun, Browning High Power or 1911 for a slide-gun.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Hah,
I'd go about it the other way. Since we're already talking about messing up the time stream I'd take a Glock and a Five-seveN, get them blueprinted and patented, and make MILLIONS on the patent infringement lawsuits when I got back to "today".

 

[tinygnat219]

That pesky Rollins-White Bored through Cylinder patent is what I would want...

 

[Timthinker]

If I were to travel back to the early 1970s, then I would want a pair of handguns that would blend into that time period. Two snubbie .38 Specials would fill that bill. In addition, ammo for them would not constitute a problem. Here is something else to think about. You could understand the nature of police investigations at that time and outsmart the authorities if your time traveling mission required it. But I digress.


Timthinker

 

[Robert Hairless]

Taking a Glock back through time with you might not be such a bad idea.

Paint it green, put it in a kydex holster painted red, slap a few "Flower Power" decals on the holster, and make yourself look like a hippie peace protest veteran with a toy gun.

Then dash over to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and look up a young Harvard dropout with acne. Become his buddy, get him a couple of dates, invest in his company, and hold onto your Microsoft shares for about twenty years so you can sell them at their record high.

Soon after your return buy Chicago from Richard Daley.

 

[Shawnee]

Series 70 Gold Cup, 2nd choice - S&W Model 19

 

[weisse52]

That is /was easy! Colt series 70. Wish I still had the one I carried in the 70's.