rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET (11/14/89)
From: rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET In the Volume 15-4 issue 6/8/89 of MANIONS Intl. Auction House,Inc of military antiques, page 50, there is the following: " (lot #) L-422 VIETNAM COVERT OPERATIONS TRIBAL STYLE CROSSBOW PISTOL 7 1/2" wood pistol stock w/4" turned wood handle has heavy spring steel bow w/ metal track & cable bowstring. Crude metal trigger w/ simple locking lever. Metal bracket in back. Made to resemble a Montagnard weapon. Allegedly carried by SPECIAL FORCES troops on secret operations. Very strong tension. Above tribal quality. Rare. II (a rating of II = above average condition)... $65.00 *" (* = pictured elsewhere in this issue... this picture, on page 37 was a low contrast b&w three-quarter profile of it... there is no way to discern what the scale was...) My questions are... Although there are no markings to positively say where this was made... Is the allegation true or false? Were such crossbows made for operations in Viet Nam? The "above tribal quality" leads me to wonder if construction was performed somewhere close to the action in VN... maybe improvised in the motor pool or service platoon? Is there a real government issue of a pistol sized crossbow? Why wouldn't an operation requiring 'silently launched' projectiles use a silencer on a conventional weapon? BTW, don't bother to mention the one you saw on a recent episode of MACGYVER... I bid on a hard-bound edition of _THE CODEBREAKERS_... got it for $25. that's -OWARI- from GLOWWORM-7-9-4 best regards, rbeville@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM Bob Beville, Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR 97077
woody@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Wayne Wood) (11/15/89)
From: eos!woody@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Wayne Wood) In article <11365@cbnews.ATT.COM> rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET writes: > > > " (lot #) L-422 VIETNAM COVERT OPERATIONS TRIBAL STYLE CROSSBOW PISTOL > 7 1/2" wood pistol stock w/4" turned wood handle has heavy spring > steel bow w/ metal track & cable bowstring. Crude metal trigger w/ > simple locking lever. Metal bracket in back. Made to resemble > a Montagnard weapon. Allegedly carried by SPECIAL FORCES troops > on secret operations. Very strong tension. Above tribal quality. > Rare. II (a rating of II = above average condition)... $65.00 *" > the montagnards and other "irregular" troops did make such weapons and various fun people like the snake-eaters picked up the technology for their own uses. "plausible deniability" goes back a lot further than iran/contra... if there are no markings on the artifact then it is efffectively "sterile" and cannot be traced back to an "official organization". this is an extremely important virtue if you have people wandering around where they don't belong spreading hate and discontent. this is also why a silenced pistol/rifle/other is unacceptable. did you ever see the combat boots with a sole moulded to look like a bare human foot? how about the ones with a sole like a tire tread (hint: leaves a track just like a ho chi minh sandle). why do you think *somebody* *MAY* have had such things? {tongue firmly in cheek} /*** woody **************************************************************** *** ...tongue tied and twisted, just an earth bound misfit, I... *** *** -- David Gilmour, Pink Floyd *** ****** woody@eos.arc.nasa.gov *** my opinions, like my mind, are my own ******/