Captured Mosin's in Vietnam

came across these pics.....................

 

The worst of the lot looks a bunch better than the bring back my father-in-law gave me (I have the papers too).

--wally

 

Somebody tell the guy on the bottom picture, far left to watch where your pointing that muzzle!!!

 

During the Cambodia Incursion 5/1970 thru 7/1970, we hauled thousands of cases of not only Mosin's but SKS's also. And this was a drop in the bucket when compared to all captured stuff.
The theft of legal bring home weapons was so wide spread that we had to start dropping sling-loads of weapons inside of fenced off areas, so it could be inventoried & destroyed. Real shame that.
We all got a brand new Russian SKS's, still paper wrapped, cosmoline covered, & with a wooden plug in the barrel.

Bruce

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Eeeps... kid in a candy store with that lot.

 

I brought war souvenirs home from Vietnam when I returned to the states in 1962, 66 and early 68 as did many others. SKS's and AK's were the favorites.

 

Wonder how many were brought back, or smuggled back...you wouldn't be able to bring back fully auto through channels could you?

 

Not after 1968 you couldn't, but there were quite a few GI bringback AKs that were registered in the '68 amnesty. It's obviously difficult to get accurate info about unregistered NFA stuff, but I suspect there's a whole bunch moldering away in attics and basements that were smuggled in and never registered.

 

I carried the AK47 home at sling arms wrapped in a Stars And Strips Newspaper
My AK47 was taken by me from a NVA soldier that was wearing a better, newer, cleaner uniform than me with exception of the two loads of 000 buck in his COM. Yes, it was a full auto. This weapon along with many other weapons was lost during hurricane Katrina.

 

chuckasaret...wow, now thats a story, sorry that you lost them. Wish my brother had brought some stuff back with him, but he came back alive, so that was good enough. I read somewhere that someone thought there was probably only about 250 real full auto AK's in civilian hands in the U.S.
I don't think now, thats the case at all, would have to say its alot higher....by the way my brother liked the shotguns in Nam......should I say good shooting...

 

chuckusaret, how did you like the shotgun?

I always felt that they wouldn't be as affective as an M16, was this the case.

Too bad you lost that AK, would have been neat.

 

I used to work with a Nam Vet that carryed An AK on the jet home... out of the airport past the MP's on to the taxi and nobody said a word....

and his was also Full Auto... from an NVA

 

I think that was ~250 milled-receiver AK-47 types, there are many more stamped-receiver AKM types that were imported as semi-auto only from China and Egypt and converted and registered in the US before '86.

 

Auborn1992....I know my brother got the chance to carry the shotgun for a short while..short version is he always an still hates the M16....he said once that he'd rather put 12 holes in a "guy" instead of just one little one...or something like that. I know he killed with M16, not sure about the shotgun, I didn't ask. Its just one of those things you hear, an just listen too when he decides to talk about things..

 

wow hearing your stories is great.Such a different mindset back then compared to today's military rules,it is my understanding that trying to bring back any type of weapon in the military today will land you in deep s***.Current military folk can confirm this or not maybe?

To hear you guys were allowed to bring back SKS and even AK's back in the day is boggling.

 

awesome pics, thank you for sharing them
the red 44's were a primary arm for the VC back then. more SKS's and M44's/T53's were in country than AK's for a while.

added: do you mind if i share these pics on some mosin forums?

 

No pics available but I served in I Corps with the 196th light Infantry. We captured a lot of absolete rifles including SMLEs, Moisins, Arisakas, and many of the French bolt action 7.5x55 with the two piece stock. In most cases souvenir rifles were confiscated by higher ranks for resale.

 

looks like one of the nice ones has a laminate stock, and one of the dudes there... not sure.... looks a lot like Art Garfunkel?

 

I was a read echelon type who left VN in 1970. I was just one of the guys with a dufflebag getting on a commercial charter. As best I recall, the searches for pot and illegal currency were sufficiently intimidating that it would have seemed silly to risk taking a gun. I was much more interested in getting myself home than taking an illegal souvenir.

 

hoppy share away they are public photos available by search on google images anyway.Which btw go to google images for LIFE archives,post a search topic relating to anything like "rifle" "Vietnam" "Korea" "WW2" "military" "patrol" "rebel" "revolution" or whatever and you'll come up with some great photos.

Speaking of the MAS French rifle,LIFE has alot of pics in Vietnam showing them in use along with Garands and specially M1 and M2 carbines.There were alot of different rifles used there besides the M16 and AK47 from what I see in photos.I even found a pic of a South Vietnamese patrol with M1917 Enfields and Arisaka rifles.

 

Confirmed: There are no bringbacks. If you are caught trying to bring back an unauthorized weapon out of theater you are toast. However there are some weapons brought back as museum pieces and wall mounts for commands.
Two soldiers got into more trouble then they ever wanted to get out of when they cut the bottoms out of oxygen tanks smuggling AKMs back into the U.S.

There are more than a few of those types of stories.

 

I have heard a few came back a few clever ways. Heard of a guy working in the armory who would place a few complete rifles into the bluing vats which would remove all traces of gun powder. These clean rifles would pass by dog inspection without setting off their nose. I'm far too young to have been there and not close enough with the guys telling the stories to know if any of these are still in possession but I could see how over a couple years quite a few made it back.