1950-1970's ERA[before plastic, what would you carry?

9mm

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1911 high noon 38 on akle/pocket.



Note, we? didn't have the supertuckable holsters back then.
 
1911 government model, Browning High Power, S&W Chiefs Spl., or S&W model 10. Most in home made pancake type holster.
 
Colt hammerless pocket pistol either in 32acp or 380.

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Lots of good choices back then.

How about...a 6 1/2" S&W 44 Magnum on the shoulder, and a PPK on the ankle...the more things change, the more they stay the same.
 
My LW Commander. I built it in 1975. Note the serial number: my initials and the year. Yeah, I know; the beavertail GS was added in the '90s.

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I carried a Colt Diamond back .38spcl with 4" bbl. after I could afford it. As a USAF pilot I carried a Hi-Standard Sentinel .22lr for survival purposes when not in combat.
 
My picks....

For the posted era, I'd use a S&W model 27 .357magnum with a 3" barrel or maybe a stainless model 657 4" barrel .41magnum.
If I worked in plainclothes or concealed a lot, I'd buy a 2.5"/3" barrel S&W model 66 .357magnum.
As for semi auto pistols, I'd get a all steel Colt Cdr 1911a1 with arched back-strap(Bobcat type) in .45acp.
Gun writer & former LEO: Evan Marshall(left handed like me) wrote that on duty in the 1960s/1970s, he & his patrol partner packed a S&W model 57 .41magnum & a Browning Hi-Power 9x19mm on Detroits mean streets.
Many cops & armed security officers working in cold weather or at night would carry a 2nd gun in a shoulder rig under a vest/coat.

The .41magnum never really caught on but it has great specs & does very well as a LE or armed citizen round.

Clyde
 
During that period I had only owned two different examples of the same gun, which were Browning Hi-Powers, so I suppose that what it would have been because that's what it was. Today it would probably be something different, possibly just to be different.
 
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I think I probably opted for a Colt Detective Special, but with more money, a Colt Single Action Army, which became more available in 1955. Or maybe one of Hy Hunter's Great Westerns, maybeso the Deputy.

Bob Wright
 
Other picks...

With more thinking, I'd add a stainless or nickeled Colt Python .357magnum with a 2.5/4" barrel.
Pythons were considered by most of the gun industry & gun buying public to be the "Cadillac" of .357magnum revolvers.
They aren't cheap either, ;).
A Colt Detective Special .38spl would be a great BUG or concealed wheelgun. Sworn LE officer, legal use of force expert and trainer; Massad Ayoob wrote a few articles, back in the day, about how the D frame Colts were better than S&W J frames.
Id add that I like the "Baby Browning" .25acp semi auto pistol, even though I loathe most "mouse guns".
I was thinking of wearing it as a deep concealment pocket pistol as I worked nights & in cold weather(early 1990s). I never purchased a Browning .25acp but it's a good design. The Beretta line of .32s & .25acp pistols have merit also.

Clyde
 
Probably a Colt series 70. 45 acp IWB at 3 o clock. Maybe a s&w model 19 or a colt python 4'' in a shoulder holster. Then maybe a Hi power to feel like Serpico :D
 
GEN George A Patton, Colt .380acp BUG...

If I recall, WWII era General, George A Patton, would often tote a stock Colt .380acp hammerless pistol as a "second gun".
I've seen a few b-w photos of General Patton wearing a small Colt pistol & actor George C Scott wore a Colt pistol in a few of his Patton(1970) scenes.
Scott had his hammerless Colt tucked into his waist.
GEN Patton was well known for carrying many "non-issue" sidearms in combat. Mostly the S&W model 27 revolver & a SA Colt .45LC with "ivory grips".

CF
 
The Colt .380 was an issue pistol for general officers at the time and continued to be down until after I was in the army. I believe, however, that he had a Remington .380, a Model 51, if memory servies as a hideout gun. It was an especially thin pistol. He wore his revolvers so the troops would easily recognize him, as the story goes.
 
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