Slider - thanks for the invite. I'm on the other side of the country but if I'm ever in Kentucky again my MP and I will look you up. I was in Lexington many years ago and you are certainly blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

DMC - I was referring to another agent, but your point is well taken. 1076s had to be hunted down and pried out of fingers in all corners of the Bureau.

The bitter divorce of the FBI from Smith and Wesson is a fascinating and painful subject. I remember the POW list when I came on in '91 was like a Smith and Wesson catalog - every steel frame .38 or .357 with a four inch barrel or less, as well as all the 9mm and .45 autos made at the time were approved. You could be in a bull pen with guys carrying Model 13s, the ever present 2 1/2 inch Model 66, an occasional Model 15, ankles weighted down with Model 36s ("five shots" in Bu-speak), 4516s, 6906s, and the crusty old guy in the corner with a blue worn 3 1/2 inch Model 27. Smiths were so dominant that the few guys with grandfathered Pythons and Dick Specials were looked at with awe.

Now - no Smiths anywhere. None on the approved list, and none of the older ones are grandfathered in.

And the issue pistol is, of all things, a Glock. The one gun the FTU swore for years would never be authorized.

What a topsy turvy world!

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“What you got, ain’t new.”