Philly cops still using revolvers.

[carlrodd]

I went to a phillies' game tonite and saw two cops standing next to one another, both armed with revolvers. i'm surprised that a major metropolitan police force still issues revolvers, especially in a city like philly where violent crime is well out of control and cops are much more likely to have to discharge on the job, and maybe lots of rounds. is this common? the guns were of course holstered, so i couldn't quite make out what they were. i guessed .357 any body have a different guess?

 

[Car Knocker]

Or, perhaps, since they have limited ammo capacity, they may be more proficient than the spray and pray types.

 

[Sheldon]

Just curious if the officers in question were older guys?? My understanding is when a lot of departments changed over to automatics some officers were allowed to keep their revolvers, whereas new officers in training all trained and were issued automatics. That may have been the case with them officers you saw??

I have a sister on the force and trained and was issued the Beretta 92FS. Later the Glocks were approved as well as the S&W autos in calibers other than 9mm. She can get a Glock or S&W now, but has to buy the weapon herself along with the holster and then they'll train her on it and allow her to wear it on-duty.

 

[brerrabbit]

Maybe that they are trained well enough to hit what they are aiming at with less than six rounds. Quite unlike many departments were the police are not trained so well that they must unleash literally hundreds of rounds to stop a person without regard to bystanders, and thus must carry a large capacity weapon to compensate for their shortcomings. It sounds to me like they are confident in themselves, and all the glock crowd have strongs doubts about their ability to perform.

Or it could just be a reliability issue. I like my snubbie 38 because I know it will not ever jam.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

I was driving on one of the many freeways here in SoCal last year and saw a CHP officer on a motorcycle. I noticed he had a revolver in his holster (wooden revolver grips gave it away) but couldn't get an idea of his age. Most of the CHP officers have automatics, BTW.

 

[RON in PA]

The standard service weapon of the Philadelphia police is the 9mm Glock 17. There are a few Philly cops still carrying 38 special revolvers, but as they retire revolvers will disappear. Same thing in New York, where about 2,000 police are grandfathered into 38 special revolvers.

 

[rwc]

Same out here. I know one SPD sgt. closing in on retirement who still carries a revolver (cross-draw).

 

[larry_minn]

Thing is its the shooter (Officer) not the gun. I recall one of the top action shooters (Rob Laraham?) entered a box stock match. The range provided the gun and everyone shot it. He still won.
I started out with revolver. I like autos because they are FLAT (easy to conceal) and hold a reload in gun. (some 3x as much as old six shooter)
The two folks I knew who had used handguns on duty to remove criminals from the human race both carried revolvers. (at that time one did change to semi auto yrs later)
Didn't one of those Leathal Weapon movies have a line about this. "revolver heh? Lots of old timers carry them" I do know the authority that 357mag spoke with would feel mighty nice if SHTF.
I feel many depts would be better off Issueing revolvers and spending more money on training and letting Officers decide to qualify/train with semi auto before they are given them.

 

[gunsmith]

are you sure they aint security?

people often thought i was LE when i was in the biz

 

[Firehand]

A bunch of agencies did allow officers originally trained with revolvers to continue carrying them after switching to semi-autos. Have known a number who kept their revolver, and knew some newer officers who wished they could go to them.

 

[FilJos]

Without getting too detailed, I know a few officers that still carry a revolver because they can't qualify with anything else. It's not so much that they are "still" using a wheel-gun after all these years as it is that their agency doesn't want to can them for not being able to shoot and instead lets them slip by with a revolver fired in single action for qualification.

 

[GoRon]

I have seen a Chicago LEO with a revolver recently. In a bad part of town on top of it, you would think he would want the extra capacity of a semi.

 

[Jkwas]

I work with a retired cop from Newark NJ. He was head of one of the tactical squads. When they needed extra capacity, they used a Remington Pump action. He carried a Model 10 most of his career and actually used it with lethal effect on several occasions.
They were only allowed lead bullets, No hollow points. The department was worried about innocent bystanders getting shot via deflections etc.

 

[Lonestar]

Last I checked uniformed Philly cops are issued Glocks...Pro Football & Baseball duty is actually a favored by senior levels as an easy couple hours of OT. Let me guess, unlike other philly cops the guys were wearing white shirts and not a full blue uniform? Lt. and higher wear white shirts. So most likely these guys don't wear a uniform on their usually 9 to 5 police gig. Probably the last time they wore a uniform full time, the philly police were issued revolvers (I think they changed over in the lat 80's or early 90's). Also like others have said, its my understanding that the semi auto carry is not manditory for the higher levels, I see a lot of uniformed senior levels of the police force with revolvers when they are at special events.

 

[Pilgrim]

When I started as a reserve for the Kings County, CA Sheriff's Department in 1982, the issue pistol was the first generation Smith & Wesson Model 59. Many of the deputies didn't like it and were permitted to carry personally owned revolvers provided they were Smiths, Colts, or Rugers. Reserve deputies were issued Model 19 Smith & Wessons as that pistol was the issue pistol before the Model 59. I chose to carry my own Model 66.

Some of the best shots in the department carried revolvers. The qualification course was revolver neutral.

In 1990, the department was running out of Model 59s to issue and the new hires weren't willing to buy their own revolvers. The decision was made to upgrade to Smith & Wesson Model 5906s. All deputies would carry the 5906. There would be no personally owned revolvers.

The 5906 was a big improvement over the 59 and even the dedicated revolver shooters were happy to transition to semi-autos.

Pilgrim

 

[Just_a_dude_with_a_gun]

My Grandfatehr was a "special", or Auxilliary policeman. He carried a Security Six, which I now own, where the other everyday police had Ruger P85's or 89's...I can't remember. Could be the same as these gentlemen you speak of.

Others I often see carrying revolvers are Armored car personel, and armed private security.

 

[Greg L]

are you sure they aint security?

people often thought i was LE when i was in the biz

That was my thought too. A couple of places around here have armed security that look remarkably like the local police (perhaps with police powers within the specified area (sports stadium in this case). One older guy carries a well worn .357 & looks like he knows exactly how to use it .

 

[kahr404life]

I'm a cop and I carry a Sig 229 .40 on duty. I have carried a Ruger Sec Six on duty a loooong time ago but I would not feel undergunned if I used it for a duty gun now (hit what your aiming at).

 

[birddog]

My family and I were in a taco joint the other day and four armed Brinks Security guys came in, all carrying the exact same revolver -- S & W's maybe? Looked like stock rubber grips on all of them. My Taurus snubby felt a little inferior, and my wife's 1911 felt a little out of place but damn, that restaurant was secure!

 

[MrZ]

"I was driving on one of the many freeways here in SoCal last year and saw a CHP officer on a motorcycle. I noticed he had a revolver in his holster..."

Was Ponch with him?

 

[bosshoff]

Armored car guys

Not to hijack, but I read that armored car guys carry revolvers so they can shoot out of the little "gun portholes" on the side of the truck and doors. An auto would jam with the slide contacting the sides/top/bottom of the port.

Next time you see a cop with a revolver, I think you could just assume (s)he may just be a very good shot. Lots of Chicago Police carry revolvers. I don't know if it has something to do with budgets, but I would not be suprised if back in the day when they switched to autos if they only made the move to 50% of the officers, and did so volentarily.

 

[Aggie's Revenge]

My Department lets us choose what we want to carry within reason. We can select revolver or semi-auto. There is some restriction on brand types. Colt, S&W, Berretta, Ruger, Glock, and Sig being the main ones we can choose from. The one complaint I have about our policy is we are not allowed to carry any 1911 frame weapons. The administration feels a hammer back carry is too aggressive and sets the wrong image for the department. So I just have to make due with a Sig P220. Incidentally only the old timers carry revolvers, about half carry glocks, a quarter carry sigs, the rest are a mix of S&W/Walther, HK, and Berretta.

 

[Devonai]

Not to hijack, but I read that armored car guys carry revolvers so they can shoot out of the little "gun portholes" on the side of the truck and doors. An auto would jam with the slide contacting the sides/top/bottom of the port.

BS. Those are not "gun portholes." They are for passing packs of Newports to the driver.

 

[Autolycus]

I too have seen a lot of revolvers on the gunbelts of Chicago PD officers. It is the older ones mainly while the newer ones carry Sigs or Berettas in my experience with one or two carrying a SW Automatic. Not so many Rugers in the force that I have seen.

 

[whm1974]

They were only allowed lead bullets, No hollow points. The department was worried about innocent bystanders getting shot via deflections etc.

Were the lead bullets LRN by any chance? Even HPs will deflect off hard surfaces, they just won't go as far.

-Bill