Vietnam - 9mm silenced pistol - The "hushpuppy"

[Artful]

http://www.guns.com/2013/02/04/mk-22-hush-puppy-pistol/

The Navy’s Mk 22 Mod O ‘Hush puppy’ Pistol
So you are a Navy SEAL crawling around deep in the enemy’s back yard. You are vastly outnumbered which means your primary weapon is stealth. You are a shadow—you have to be if you expect to get out of this alive. The thing is, the enemy’s camp has dogs that are bound to bark. What do you do to keep hidden?

Bring a Hushpuppy.

What was the Hushpuppy?
Today the US Navy’s 2000+ Special Warfare operators, commonly referred to as SEALs for their mastery of SEa, Air-and Land insertion and extraction techniques, are

Navy SEALs in Vietnam

Navy SEALs in Vietnam.

well-known. In the 1960s, however the concept was brand new and just a few hundred men formed two small teams of frogmen. The majority of these divers, trained to fight in small groups, were forward deployed in a nice slice of green hell and brown water known as Vietnam. Operating in an intensive and unforgiving environment, these early Seals were always on the lookout for non-standard firearms to help give them an edge. Besides the myriad of standard-issue military weapons in Uncle Sam’s deep closets, the Seals used Swedish K-guns, commercial shotguns, and non-standard pistols.

Among these was the Smith and Wesson M39, a 9mm handgun. Originally bought as a commercial off the shelf design this compact semi-auto pistol was coupled to an effective detachable suppressor and dubbed the Mk 22. Since its use was in taking out sentries and the occasional yapping stray dog, it was commonly referred to as the Hush Puppy.

Design
Carl Hellstrom at Smith designed the S&W M39 in the early 1950s. It was a lighter pistol, at 28-ounces than the popular (and heavy at 39-ounces) Colt 1911 style semi-autos of the time period. Unlike the 8.25-inch long single-action Colt, the DA/SA M39 fired the 9x19mm parbellum round and carried eight of them in a single-stack magazine. With a 4-inch long barrel, the all-steel S&W auto loader came in at 7.55-inches overall. Borrowing ideas from several past designs, it used a cammed barrel-dropping design with a Browning-style lock up and Walther surface controls for reliable operation.

It proved a slow seller for more than a decade and only gained in popularity once the

MK 22 "Hushpuppy" pistol

MK 22 “Hushpuppy” pistol with attachable stock.

Illinois State Police adopted it for duty use in 1967, the first large US law enforcement agency to adopt a semi-auto pistol as standard. This brought the gun to the attention of those in the Department of the Navy who bought the M39 in a small batch for testing.

The special warfare community inherited these guns and began issuing them out among SEALs in Vietnam who already had supplies of 9mm on hand for their K-guns. Originally, these guns were carried as sidearms with only a few given the Mk 22 modification to operate as a suppressed special purpose pistol.

The Mk 22 Hushpuppy modification performed by S&W gave the gun a threaded barrel to

accept the screw-on suppressor can. The slide was replaced with one that had pronounced high-profile front and rear sights that could be used accurately with the suppressor attached. A skeletonized butt stock was designed that could be attached to the pistol grip, giving the gun increased accuracy. The pistol grip itself was modified to use a 13-round double-stack Browning HP magazine to increase firepower. A holster was issued to carry the whole affair assembled and ready for use. The frame was modified with a slide-lock that would keep the top end of the pistol securely closed when firing. This feature turned the pistol into a single-shot weapon but eliminated the “click-clack” sound of the slide cycling when the gun was fired. This was important because, due to the very effective suppressor, the slide was the loudest part of the gun.

The Suppressor
Labeled as the Mk 3 Suppressor, the silencer used with the Mk 22 to make it the Hushpuppy is perhaps the weapon’s most impressive achievement. A screw-on can style

SEAL Mk 22 with ammo and suppressor internal wipe kit.

SEAL Mk 22 with ammo and suppressor internal wipe kit.

suppressor, it was five inches long and weighed just 8-ounces. To keep the can clean and water out (remember these were built for combat swimmers) a phenolic chamber plug and muzzle end cap was issued to be removed before firing. Special Mk 144 158-grain green-tipped FMJ rounds were issued with each gun. These superfat 9mm rounds with Super Vel headstamps traveled at subsonic (less than 900fps) speed to not produce a ‘crack’ breaking the sound barrier. The device used thick rubber wipes that were only good for about thirty rounds. Therefore, each 26-round pack of ammo (enough for two magazines) included a new suppressor insert tube to replace the shot out internals of the can.

Overall, with the suppressor attached, the pistol was 12.75-inches long. Total weight of the system including the suppressor, pistol, and loaded 13-round magazine came in at a respectable 40-ounces (almost the same weight as a Colt 1911).

The concept today
While the actual exploits of the Mk 22 Hushpuppy are still classified, it is believed that it

Original Mk 22 suppressed pistols

Original Mk 22 suppressed pistols are mostly seen in museums.

was used in operations and remained in the Navy’s arms lockers through the end of the Cold War. A few are around as museum pieces; a tribute to a quieter time in the SEAL’s past.

Smith and Wesson kept producing the same old single stack M39 updated with a lighter alloy frame. They later ran with the double-stack Mk 22 design that it produced on spec for the Seals and marketed the M59 pistol based on this relationship. This gun led directly to the classic Smith wondernines of the 1980s and 90s.

Today the Navy still issues a suppressed offensive handgun, the Mk 23, to its special ops guys. This gun, adopted in 1991, is made by HK and shoots .45ACP through a much more durable suppressor.

In concept, it’s more or less the Hushpuppy

[Historian]

Anyone hear of a variant with a 1911A1, threaded (Bar-Sto?) barrel, and
bronze disk baffles can?

So many of the Best of the Best are casting off their mortal coils and
with them their special stories and experiences. God Bless them.

"What the [ --- } do you mean that 1965 was FIFTY years ago?"

[Artful]

http://lf.2eme.gm.free.fr/site/defense/ ... story.html

Silencieux
Ici , un silencieux réglementaire, de fabrication "LAFRANCE", le fabricant des fameux camions de pompiers américains...
Here, a regulatory silent, manufacturing " LAFRANCE " , the manufacturer of the famous American fire truck ...

Rendre un 1911 silencieux est relativement aisé, vu que la munition de .45 sort du canon, a vitesse deja inférieure a celle du son...donc pas de Bang supersonique a redouter...Pas besoin de ralentir la balle, seul la detonation de l'explosion doit etre atténuée.
Making a silent 1911 is relatively easy , as the .45 ammunition leaves the barrel , a speed less than that already sound ... so no supersonic bang was afraid ... No need to slow down the ball , only the detonation the explosion must be reduced.

[Artful]

I know that Sonic sold can's to military during Southeast Asian War Games and they were used by the tunnel rat's - lots of interesting weapons showed up over there.
De Lisle Carbines - Silenced STEN's - Silenced M3 Greaseguns - Silenced Swedish K's
- US .Gov even had request in for UZI silencers










Here's a good 45 pistol story
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=6334

Combat Experience with the .45 ACP
Filed under: General, Gun Stuff, The real war, History — mostly cajun @ 2:10 pm

( I got this one off of CSP Gun Talk where it was posted by “smle-man)

Combat Experience with the .45 ACP

Oft times, comments on this net are about GySgt. Carlos Hathcock’s sniping adventures in Vietnam. Here’s one that very few know about, but is probably just as good as far as accuracy during combat is concerned.

A Navy SEAL Team was returning from a mission over North Vietnam in a chopper when it got hit pretty bad. The pilot and one crew member were killed and the copilot was wounded. Going into autorotation, the copilot managed to set the chopper down in a clearing. After landing, a few rounds of enemy fire were starting to come in. Seems the M60s were also damaged beyond use by the crash landing and initial RPG hit, the only M16 fell out on the way down.

The only firearms left was M1911s.The remaining crew member was carrying a match conditioned M1911 and had a few boxes of ammo. As more enemy small arms fire started coming in, the copilot and crew member also noted that the VC were coming out of the jungle and approaching them; shooting as they came. The crew member took out his .45 and took careful aim as he shot at each attacking VC. About 30 minutes later it was all over. Between reloading magazines and radioing for rescue, the copilot was pretty busy, but a rescue chopper finally arrived on the scene.

As the rescue chopper came in and landed, its crew noticed a lot of dead VC laying around. The downed helo’s remaining crew were picked up and on their way out, they counted the dead VC; 37 in all. Their distances from the downed helo were from 3 to about 150 yards; all shot by the crew member with his M1911 .45 ACP. About 80 rounds were fired by Petty Officer R.J. Thomas, a member of the USN Rifle and Pistol Team.

Petty Officer Thomas was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor, but by the time the recommendation got all the way up through the chain of command, the recognition was reduced to the Navy Cross.

This incident has been cited this as the only known of example of top-level combat marksmanship since SGT Alvin York’s escapades in WWI.

Submitted by Mark Eberhard-CEO & President
LtCol. USMCR (Ret.)
American Marksman Group
(850) 626-9963
Visit: http://www.americanmarksman.com

[jlwilliams]

The "Hushpuppy" looks a lot like a Stetchkin.

[jreinke]

Here's the hushpuppy's patent: https://duckduckgo.com/l/?kh=-1&uddg=ht ... FUS3677132

[Artful]

The "Hushpuppy" looks a lot like a Stetchkin.

Stechkin APS

[T78m6b]

Making a silent 1911 is relatively easy , as the .45 ammunition leaves the barrel , a speed less than that already sound ... so no supersonic bang was afraid ... No need to slow down the ball , only the detonation the explosion must be reduced.[/quote]



Back in the day a friend of mine had a Colt Gold Cup and standing in the adjacent shooting stall I COULD actually see the round leaving the muzzle

[doubloon]

Nice thread Art