Can you keep/buy your service sidearm?

[NiteQwill]

It used to be possible, but not anymore. Back in mid-90's one could buy his service weapon (some of them, they wouldn't sell an M249) when honorably discharged. They closed that thing back in the 90's though.

+1

My uncle has his old trusty GI .45 from his Vietnam days.

Even if they did, I wouldn't want the M9 anyways, carried that BB gun POS for 15 months.

[11Z50]

+1

My uncle has his old trusty GI .45 from his Vietnam days.

Even if they did, I wouldn't want the M9 anyways, carried that BB gun POS for 15 months.

Being a combat medic, (above) I certainly have to respect your opinion!

[Stormfeather]

It used to be possible, but not anymore. Back in mid-90's one could buy his service weapon (some of them, they wouldn't sell an M249) when honorably discharged. They closed that thing back in the 90's though.

Im afraid this isnt fully true either. I know they didnt do it as far back as 1986, before that maybe, since I wasnt in the military before that. When a person gets out of the military, the weapon assigned to them is just thrown back into the TO&E and reassigned to the next guy coming into the unit. There are no provisions for "selling" a .mil firearm to its user who is discharged. As a military armorer, I can tell you this is pretty much standard practice. Trust me when I say, most .mil firearms you wouldnt want anyways. Theyve been shot all to hell, abused, thrown around, mishandled, and are bacially in all around poor condition astetically.

[Rob454]

No you cant buy your service firearm. I cleaned out my garage a few years back and found a bunch of old cammo gear packs kevlar boots hats and assorted crap. 99% of it went in the trash it wasnt really useable Mold and jsut old age etc. Most of the stuff was jsut boxed up and thrown in the rafters where it stood till I went and cleaned the stuff out. its been up there for at least 10 years. I kept one globe and anchor from a old uniform.

[11Z50]

I can tell you that since 1974 you cannot buy your issued military weapon. If you lose your weapon you will pay for it, but you don't get to keep it if it is found later.

There are people I have met that brought a .45 or similar weapon home from a war, but these guys "found" the weapon on the battlefield, and it belonged to somebody else that wasn't around anymore, and they had not signed for it. It was written off the books as a combat loss, and at the time nobody really cared.

[armygunsmith]

There is a program for retiring Generals to purchase their pistol. Info is here http://tri.army.mil/LC/cs/csl/genera...ol_program.htm. There was no program for enlisted personnel while i was in. Even if someone "lost" their weapon,the investigation by CID would really suck(They're thorough). Not to mention that everyone gets locked down until the weapon is found or written off.

[aplinker]

There is a program for retiring Generals to purchase their pistol. Info is here http://tri.army.mil/LC/cs/csl/genera...ol_program.htm. There was no program for enlisted personnel while i was in. Even if someone "lost" their weapon,the investigation by CID would really suck(They're thorough). Not to mention that everyone gets locked down until the weapon is found or written off.

I need to get my buddy to get one of those. They're pretty.

[mattman]

That would be like buying a old rental car. A bad idea. You know that things been beat to hell just get a new one.

[gn3hz3ku1*]

does your buddy's daddy have stars on his shoulders?