Dennis, I don't know if it was the case at the FBI or not, but many depts. issued .38+Ps for use in .357 magnums. Not everyone likes to shoot the magnums and many officers can't shoot them effectively. I've known many officers over the years that carried .38+P by their choice when allowed to carry anything they wanted.

I had never heard anything that pointed to a problem with the model 13s for the FBI. I carried a 3" model 13 for a long time and the only problem I ever had with it was an extractor pin fell out during some very intense shooting. My favorite duty handgun was the 13s stainless counterpart, the model 65, and I never had any problems with it either.

The only problem I'd ever heard about the firearms were their 6 round capacity and being slower to reload.

I do agree with your perfect storm theory, there's been a few of them and it's starting to rain again.