TheFrontRange
Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2003
- Messages
- 542
With the Glock 22 in .40 reigning supreme in American police duty holsters, having largely supplanted the Smith Model 10s, 19s, etc. of a generation before, I'm curious if anyone would like to share any unique or unusual firearms they've seen their local police use (or that they themselves have used if in LE). (And, for what it's worth, I ain't knockin' the Glocks or Smith wheelguns - they're darn good guns in their own right!)
When my father was a sheriff's deputy and later a police officer in the late sixties / early seventies, he was issued some variety of S&W .38 Special revolver (most notably a Model 15). I grew up as police sidearms began to transition to the semi-auto. I got to "officially" carry one myself years later during a short stint as a reserve deputy sheriff.
Where I live (Central AL), most departments appear to require their personnel to supply their own handgun. Glocks, of course, are the most common, but sometimes a glimpse of something different is seen..to whit:
* Various N-Frame Smiths in the duty rigs of some county courthouse security personnel, usually in 4-inch trim...once saw what looked like a 6-inch N-Frame riding on the belt of a local deputy.
* On the hip of what I *think* was a Birmingham PD officer, a Smith semi-auto (possibly a grand old Model 59) with, of all things, an American flag decal near the backstrap of the grip.
* A Jefferson County sheriff's deputy packing a 1911 with faux pearl / ivory / other white-colored-material grips and a compensator that protruded from his open-bottomed duty rig. Though this was the first and only time I've seen someone carrying a compensated 1911 as a duty gun, a part of me always cheers when I notice a cop with Ol' Slabsides, as it's one of my favorites!
* Sometimes a Ruger semi-auto. When I was doing the reserve thing, I carried a P95...a good gun, but pretty off-beat as any kind of duty weapon around here. I once saw a sheriff's sergeant packing a P90.
Any others? This is all just for kicks, just something I was thinking about the other day while getting ready to head out the door...
When my father was a sheriff's deputy and later a police officer in the late sixties / early seventies, he was issued some variety of S&W .38 Special revolver (most notably a Model 15). I grew up as police sidearms began to transition to the semi-auto. I got to "officially" carry one myself years later during a short stint as a reserve deputy sheriff.
Where I live (Central AL), most departments appear to require their personnel to supply their own handgun. Glocks, of course, are the most common, but sometimes a glimpse of something different is seen..to whit:
* Various N-Frame Smiths in the duty rigs of some county courthouse security personnel, usually in 4-inch trim...once saw what looked like a 6-inch N-Frame riding on the belt of a local deputy.
* On the hip of what I *think* was a Birmingham PD officer, a Smith semi-auto (possibly a grand old Model 59) with, of all things, an American flag decal near the backstrap of the grip.
* A Jefferson County sheriff's deputy packing a 1911 with faux pearl / ivory / other white-colored-material grips and a compensator that protruded from his open-bottomed duty rig. Though this was the first and only time I've seen someone carrying a compensated 1911 as a duty gun, a part of me always cheers when I notice a cop with Ol' Slabsides, as it's one of my favorites!
* Sometimes a Ruger semi-auto. When I was doing the reserve thing, I carried a P95...a good gun, but pretty off-beat as any kind of duty weapon around here. I once saw a sheriff's sergeant packing a P90.
Any others? This is all just for kicks, just something I was thinking about the other day while getting ready to head out the door...
. It did not seem to bother her any.
