{"id":13409,"date":"2016-03-21T16:00:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T21:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=13409"},"modified":"2016-03-21T16:00:44","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T21:00:44","slug":"military-weapons-from-the-past-smith-and-wesson-model-39-suppressed-guard-dog-gun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/21\/military-weapons-from-the-past-smith-and-wesson-model-39-suppressed-guard-dog-gun\/","title":{"rendered":"Military Weapons From The Past: Smith and Wesson Model 39 Suppressed “Guard Dog Gun”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Model<\/h3>\n

Navy SEALs in Vietnam needed a quieter handgun<\/h3>\n
\n
\n

Smith & Wesson developed its Model 39 handgun in the early 1950s in response to requests from the U.S. Army for a new, lighter service pistol chambered in nine-by-19 millimeter. When the initial interest from the Army evaporated, Smith & Wesson was left with a modern semi-automatic handgun \u2014 the company\u2019s first modern automatic pistol since the 1924-vintage Model 32.<\/p>\n

Developed by Smith & Wesson engineer Joseph Norman, the Model 39 was the first American-designed, double-action semi-automatic pistol on the U.S. market when Smith & Wesson introduced it in 1955. The Model 39 has an aluminum alloy frame with a carbon-steel slide and weighs just 11 ounces. It features a relatively short, four-inch barrel, fed from an eight-round single stack magazine. The Model 39 boasts a slide-mounted safety that decocks the weapon.<\/p>\n

The Illinois state police acquired the weapon in 1967 and it eventually scored a military customer, too \u2014 when the U.S. Navy bought a special, suppressed version for special operators in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

In 1966, the Naval Ordnance Laboratory developed a specially-modified version of the Model 39 at the request of deployed SEAL teams. The SEALs wanted weapons for silencing enemy guard dogs and sentries. The result \u2014 a range of suppressed pistols the special operators called \u201chush puppies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Navy extended the Model 39\u2019s barrel by an inch and threaded the muzzle to accept a suppressor. Engineers added a simple slide lock to allow the pistol to be fired in a single-shot mode, in order to minimize action noise. The magazine and magazine housing were adapted to accept a 13-round, double-stack magazine.<\/p>\n

The large diameter of the suppressor housing required the Navy to raise the Model 39\u2019s sights. The sailing branch also dovetailed the pistol\u2019s backstrap to make it compatible with a wire stock for greater accuracy. The Navy designated the modified weapon the \u201cPistol Mark 22 Mod 0.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"The pistol came paired with the Mark 3 suppressor, which was five inches long and weighed eight ounces. The Mark 3 included a suppressor insert held in place by a spring retainer.<\/p>\n

The insert was made of an aluminum capsule filled with four quarter-inch plastic disks or wipes. The disks were whole until the first round passed through them, making a channel for subsequent rounds. The capsule could be easily replaced. It had an expected life span of 24 rounds.<\/p>\n

The Navy developed special ammunition, too. The Mark 144 round had a heavy, 158-grain, fully-jacketed projectile with a muzzle velocity of 950 feet per second. With the suppressor and Mark 144 ammunition, the pistol\u2019s report was a mere 129 decibels.<\/p>\n

Smith & Wesson produced between 110 and 120 pistols for the SEALs. Each SEAL platoon got a minimum of one Mark 22 Hush Puppy starting in 1967. The Mark 22 Mod 0 remained in service with the SEALs into the 1990s, when H&K\u2019s Mark 23 Mod 0 finally replaced it.<\/p>\n

This story originally appeared at Historical Firearms.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Read the Article as it Appears Here at War is Boring<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Navy SEALs in Vietnam needed a quieter handgun Smith & Wesson developed its Model 39 handgun in the early 1950s in response to requests from the U.S. Army for a new, lighter service pistol chambered in nine-by-19 millimeter. When the initial interest from the Army evaporated, Smith & Wesson was left with a modern semi-automatic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1286,4827,24],"tags":[360,10461,3913],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}