WHAT GUNS WOULD GENERAL PATTON CARRY TODAY?

So here's just a silly thing to think about. But I was, for some unknown reason, thinking what guns General Patton would carry if he were alive today and at about the same age he commanded in WWII.

I've read an article in some magazine while waiting in the grocery store about the guns that Patton carried. I know he had a nickle plated, ivory handled  Colt SAA in .45 Colt and a Smith and Wesson ( Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum) Registered Magnum in .357. I read that at THE INTERNET FIREARMS DATABASE, which is a beaching heck of a website, but I've read most of this info about Patton's guns elsewhere as well. Can't vouch for it other than that.

As I recall, Patton's Registered Magnum, which later became the Model 27, sported a 3.5 inch barrel.

I'll note that I've see in the recent past one of these with a 3" barrel and a "classic" deep blue Smith and Wesson blueing job. It's "el expense", as my friend Roberto used to say, meaning very expensive at near $1400, and it hasn't moved for over a year. For me, it's one of those guns I'd love to pick up in a trade deal in a little used condition, but can't justify the price on a new classic model.

Yet, it beckons from that showcase window, and it is certainly one of the most beautiful handguns I've ever laid eyes on. And it's the blueing that makes it so nice to look at. That bull barrel, at 3" with nice full wood grips from days of old, with the absolutely what can only be described as stunning blueing job. I mean, I've some some GREAT blue jobs (at stores on very expensive guns), but this might be the very best I've ever seen.

It's a serious looking gun with serious heft to it and shoots the stiffer .357 loads well due to it's weight. It's stout. No wonder Patton thought it to be a worthy gun.

It's fun to go on IMFDB and see what guns were used in your favorite movies. They have quite an extensive database, but I'm still wondering what kind of gun Buddy Ebson toted as Barnaby Jones. It was some kind of .38 or .357 looking Colt or Smith with a tapered 4 or 5 inch barrel as my memory serves, and I haven't seen an episode of that in over 30 years. But yet, I'm curious as to what he was toting, and there is no listing for that show on the IMFDB.

Does anybody know what kind of heater that Barnaby toted?

But back to Patton. I've heard the story several places that he had a matching pair of Colt SAA's but gave one away as a gift.

I also read in an article that he referred to his .357 magnum Smith and Wesson as "his killing gun". Again, I'm not authority.

I thought he sometimes also carried a 1911 on occasion, but I could be wrong. The IMFDB says he also carried at times a Colt 1903, a standard military officers pistol at the time.

So I hope to get some responses here, but what would Patton carry in today's military if in Afghanistan or some other locale? They apparently called him "Two Guns" because of carrying the pair of Colt SAA's and then after gifting one of them, replaced it with the Registered Magnum. So let's assume he's carrying at least two guns.

And to make it more interesting, how about what kind of small assault rifle would he probably carry when "in country"? And let's assume he'd carry a backup gun of some sort, in addition to his two belt guns.

We know that the wonderful EL PASO SADDLERY COMPANY made Patton's holsters and belts, and you can still buy the identical model from a company in business for over a century.

To ramble a bit more, I'm a very satisfied customer of El Paso Saddlery. I have several of their holsters, bought both new and used, and they rock. Their pancake holsters for large guns like the 1911 Government and the Browning Hi Power make those guns virtually disappear under the right garments. I have an abbreviated pancake for a 3" 1911(also works with a Browning Hi Power) that makes it invisible under a thick t shirt and a full size one  for a Browning Hi Power (also works with 1911). The larger one is lined and both are very nice and carry well. Most importantly, they draw well.

So let's assume Patton would use the same belt rig for whatever he's gonna carry. He was a traditionalist, so the modern day Patton very well might carry the same sidearms, the "Colt .45" SAA and the Registered Magnum.

Then again, maybe he might actually see some point in having at least one high capacity firearm. I'd like to think he pack a 10mm Glock Model 20 or a Model 21 in .45 ACP, based on their well known reliability, accuracy and potency.

Or maybe he might like the FN 5.7 x 28 caliber in the FN FiveseveN. 30 rounds of a potent rifle caliber. These would be outstanding combat pistols but alas, you couldn't put Ivory grips on either one.

I guess you could put Ivory grips on some Sig pistols that allow grip replacement. Certainly, a Sig would be a respectable choice in any number of models, as would various other high capacity combat pistols from FN, Smith and Wesson and other makers. The new FN .45 looks to be an awesome gun, particularly with the add-on mini Eotec type sight on it.  

Maybe I'm wrong here, and notwithstanding the fact that Patton had some ornate pistols apparently, I'm thinking he's the kind of warrier that valued function over form. Perhaps that's why he carried revolvers instead of the 1911 or even the Browning Hi Power. So he might be carrying a more plain jane gun if he felt it was the most effective, and I submit there is a reasonable chance he'd find the performance of either the Glocks or the FN as impressive and outstanding.

Maybe he might be enamored with the Beretta 9mm's that our forces have been using since the 1980's (has it really been that long?) and might have a nickel plated version with Ivory grips

He might go the traditionalist route and pick a 1911. I'd also like to think he'd be impressed with the Colt Python, as it was introduced after his time. I think you're neck and neck in comparing the Python with the Registered Magnum in terms of both being great guns, and although I myself prefer the Python, I'd still like to own a Model 27 one day. He could have both form and function with the Python, and perhaps he would have thought it a great gun.

The Model 29 in .44 Magnum undoubtedly would have interested the guy who carried a Model 27 when he could carry anything he wanted. I think Patton would recognize the increase in power over the .357 and being a warrier, he might have wanted that power. Although some stout loads of the .45 Colt can come close to some lower level magnum loads, the stout .44 Magnum loads drawf them.

He could also have a mighty fancy but serious, and I mean serious  ammo (if you've ever shot a Model 29 with some superhot magnum Corbon ammo, you know what I mean). You could engrave it, and Ivory grips and such could adorn it.

Here's my suggestions for a modern day Patton in Afghanistan or the Sudan or Yemen or whatever hotspot he might be in. He'd carry at least two guns in public and in combat, but perhaps just one gun when behind the lines or at HQ. I think, in this day and age, a guy like Patton would have a back-up gun as well, either in an ankle holster or in a boot holster. He seems like the kind of guy who'd have a back-up gun in one boot and a boot knife in the other.

One gun might be a Glock Model 18 selective fire. Yes, it's 9mm but yes, it's small, it's reliable, and it's a submachinegun that can ride easily in a belt or shoulder holster and accurately spit lots of lead very quickly and accurately.  I think Patton would have the internal laser as well, making the most of technology. 

I'd like to think maybe Patton might wear some kind of Jackass Leather type horizontal shoulder holster (Made by EL PASO, of course)  with the Glock 18 (with extended 33 round magazine) on one side and another gun on the other. You could easily rig a couple of spare mags under the Glock holster and have the extended mag carriend in the gun, or carry the smaller Model 17 magazines.

With all the different vehicle and air travel Patton would do nowadays, seems like a Jackass type rig would be well suited for getting in and out of armored vehicles and aircraft and the like. All the police helicopter pilots I've known have used shoulder holsters because they say belt rigs get in the way of the seat belts.

For the other gun, I'm gonna say a Smith and Wesson Model 29 nickel with a 4" barrel and Ivory grips for the other gun in the shoulder holster. Sheer power.

If I were making his rig, I'd have some loops on the front part of the shoulder strap on the revolver side, and some kind of mag holders under the holster proper on the Glock side.

Maybe for his HQ gun, where he has access to other long guns and hopefully tons of well armed security, something in a shoulder holster, he could sport a SAA in a M3 shoulder holster. Or even a 1911 or Beretta, to make some kind of nod to tradition. Again, I'm thinking he'd go with the 1911 over the Beretta if given the choice.

Maybe Patton would like the Beretta, but given his preference for serious big bore and magnum calibers, I'm thinking he wouldn't care much for the Beretta, except for maybe the machine pistol version that seems to be based on the Beretta 9mm, the one with the folding foregrip. He might like that a lot.

So here's my guess: A Glock 18 with an extended mag in a horizontal shoulder holster on one side, and a 4" Model 29 on the other.

For a long gun it could be anybody's guess, and I'll leave that to some commenters hopefully. Maybe.