Surplus handguns Many a WWI doughboy came back from the trenches with a souvenir Luger that wound up in a nightstand drawer as a home protection gun. Far more Lugers, Walther P38s, and other souvenir pistols came back from WWII. When I was a kid growing up, it seemed that every neighboring head of a household was a WWII vet, and that sort of pistol was everywhere. At that time, military surplus American guns were dirt-cheap, too. A Victory Model Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver, a 1917 model Colt, or a Smith & Wesson six-shooter that used moon clips to fire the rimless .45 automatic cartridge could be had for thirty dollars. Another sawbuck would buy you a released-for-sale-as-surplus GI .45 automatic. (Those $17 ones through the NRA didn't last long!) My first Colt .45 automatic, a surplus 1911 model built circa 1918, passed into my hands in 1960 for $37.50.
