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From: rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Request Info.:COVERT OPERATIONS PISTOL-SIZED CROSSBOW???
Message-ID: <11365@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 13 Nov 89 16:11:20 GMT
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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