Any LE trade ins other than .38/.357?

[TTv2]

When it comes to LE trade ins most of the focus seems to be on semi autos, but revolvers do show up on occasion. I'd like to know are they all .38 or .357 or have there been some other calibers in the past?

Asking so I can keep my eye out in the future.

 

[tubeshooter]

Can't imagine it would be common.
Maybe, possibly up Alaska way in .44 Mag?


I don't suppose anybody has issued .45 Colt for a long, long time...

 

[TTv2]

Can't imagine it would be common.
Maybe, possibly up Alaska way in .44 Mag?


I don't suppose anybody has issued .45 Colt for a long, long time...

Doesn't all have to be rimmed cartridges. I bet there has been some use of 9, .40, and .45 ACP in LE revolvers for backup use.

 

[tubeshooter]

Sounds like more trouble than it's worth or than most departments would likely go through.
Especially for least common denominator ease of use/maintenance/etc.

Why not just get the semi instead, in that case?


But I suppose most anything is possible...

 

[Pat Riot]

I met a guy a month ago that claimed that he bought a LE surplus S&W model 57 .41 Magnum a few years back. I did not see the gun.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Definitely some former LE Model 58s exist in the wild.

 

[Riomouse911]

Way back in the late 1980’s, S&W 25’s in .45 Colt were somewhat popular amongst guys working at some smaller agencies in So Cal. Two guys I worked with that carried a .45 Colt were formerly at Compton PD (It’s now folded) and one from Beverly Hills PD.

Other than these rarities, all the other formerly revolver-issuing agencies I’m familiar with (who might still have trade-in type guns still around) had .38/.357’s.

Stay safe.

 

[jmr40]

I'm not aware of any LE agency issuing anything other than 38 or 357 mag revolvers. And the ones who issued 357 revolvers were usually issued very hot 38 loads. It was mostly a PC thing. The hot 38 loads duplicated 357 performance, but it was an easier sell to the public who didn't think officers should carry MAGNUM ammo.

BUT... up until the 1990's most of our local cops carried personally owned guns. They could carry anything they could qualify with. I can recall seeing just about everything, but none of those would turn up as trade-ins since they were personally owned.

Some rural departments still allow that.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

9mm Smith and Wesson M547 revolvers pop up occasionally. They were originally contracted by French PDs in the 80s and use unique spring "fingers" behind the ratchet to extract the cases.


Batches of them trickle into the US from time to time- they will usually be covered in proofing, property and import marks. There were also some overruns that never left the States, so I guess those aren't technically "surplus." These are neat guns, but clean examples can be $$.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

.38 S&W and the Colt version, .38 New Police, were very popular LE revolver cartridges pre-WW2, and for many years afterwards in S.America and Western Europe.
IIRC, Ruger shipped numbers of .38 S&W Service Sixes to India, but I don't think any ever hit the US civilian market.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Going back even further, the Colt New Police and S&W Regulation Police were chambered for .32 SWL (.32NP).

Don't know about "issued " but a great many old-timy lawmen would have carried .32-20s as well.

Then, of course there were many M1917s and Colt New Service that saw LEO use in both .45 ACP and .45 LC.

 

[PavelSJ]

.38 S&W and the Colt version, .38 New Police, were very popular LE revolver cartridges pre-WW2, and for many years afterwards in S.America and Western Europe.
IIRC, Ruger shipped numbers of .38 S&W Service Sixes to India, but I don't think any ever hit the US civilian market.

Re .38 S&W, the Webley & Scott Hong Kong police and S&W Victory models used by German police after WWII have hit US market in the past.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

At one time the NY State Police carried S&W DA .45s, but replaced them in 1954 with the Colt Official Police in .38 Special.

.45 Caliber Revolver Replaced

1954: The State Police replaces the .45 caliber revolver which was used since 1917 in the cross draw holster with the six-inch, .38 caliber Colt Official Police revolver.

troopers.ny.gov

 

[Jim Watson]

At one time the NY State Police carried S&W DA .45s, but replaced them in 1954

A friend bought a New York Colt New Service .45 last week. Reblued with Jay Scott "stag" grips, but the NYST and troop number stamps are still legible and the price was right even for a refinish.

I remember when J&G had a bunch of Colt Officers Model Target .32s, said to have been sent to the Massachusetts National Guard in 1939. Why did the National Guard want .32s? The legend at the time was that Colt was already tied up in military contracts and had nothing else to send out. Somebody later concluded that it was a clerical error, .32 instead of .38 and the Guard was left wondering what to do with them. A lot of the ones sold by J&G were NIB.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Those Officer's Model .32 are rare. I'd love to have one to go with my K-32.

 

[Outpost75]

.38 S&W and the Colt version, .38 New Police, were very popular LE revolver cartridges pre-WW2, and for many years afterwards in S.America and Western Europe.
IIRC, Ruger shipped numbers of .38 S&W Service Sixes to India, but I don't think any ever hit the US civilian market.

I worked at Ruger during the French and India revolver orders. Some of the .380 Rim Service Six revolvers did get into the civilian market to Ruger collectors, as employee sales and for export to British Commonwealth nations and the EU.

Mine was an employee sale. I replaced the front sight to zero with US 146 LRN Ammo or handloaded 148 HBWCs with 3 grains of Bullseye.

 

[golden]

I picked up three S&W model 15 revolvers at a very good price, $279.00 each. They LOOKED AWFUL with amateur engraving (more like gouging) I.D. numbers on them, but the actions were so smooth, they became my favorite range guns. These were Bureau of Correction guns and were replaced by semi-autos in my state.
I doubt you will find many revolver trade in's in any other calibers than .38 Special or .357 magnum. Few departments were using any other caliber in revolvers when I joined up. Now, even security guards carry semi-autos.

Jim

 

[lee n. field]

When it comes to LE trade ins most of the focus seems to be on semi autos, but revolvers do show up on occasion. I'd like to know are they all .38 or .357 or have there been some other calibers in the past?

Asking so I can keep my eye out in the future.

As in, are you hoping somehow to score a S&W .41 Magnum?

 

[Jim Watson]

Well, a friend bought a Colt New Service .45 from the New York State Troopers, so marked.
But that is not something that is going to pop up in the AIM Surplus ad next week.

 

[Speedo66]

Well, a friend bought a Colt New Service .45 from the New York State Troopers, so marked.
But that is not something that is going to pop up in the AIM Surplus ad next week.

New York would probably prefer to dump them in the ocean now, rather than have them get back on the market, regardless of the loss of sale money to the taxpayers.

 

[Wing master]

The Wyoming Highway Patrol were issued model 58's. I never have seen one for sale.