Not in the holster, and not strange but worrisome.
A municipal PD I worked for equipped each patrol unit with department issued pump 12 gauge shotguns.
I generally worked 3 to 11 shift but occasionally had to pull late shift. I remember the first traffic stop I made working 11 to 7. Had contacted the Driver and was returning to my unit for a check on the subject. I saw the shift Sgt. Setting in his unit, drivers side door toward myself and the violator. He was smoking his pipe and as looked a bit closer saw the twin black holes of a very short double barrel shotgun resting on the open window pointed at the violator and me.
Always dreaded working the late shift after the other troops told me that was standard SOP for him.

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LEX ET ORDO

I realize it'd never work in 2018, and that "commonality of arms" makes logistical and legal sense. Still though, I fondly remember vividly when serious armed professionals carried the quality, personally owned, meticulously maintained firearms of their own choosing for the tasks at hand.

"Unusual / unlikely" by today's standards that I saw?
S&W .45 Colt revolvers
Winchester 30-30 Lever Actions
Double-Barrel 12 Gauge Coach Shotguns(the ultimate cure for attention deficit disorder in violent felons)

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Ad Astra Per Aspera

Great thread, to memory lane!
In my neighborhood back in the 70´s, cops have to buy their own guns. The cop that guard our street used a Llama 22 L.R pistol, another one an old S&W Military and Police with faux mother of pearl grips. The "comandante" of the local municipal police carried a Colt 1911 in 38 super. Dont remember shotguns in that time, only the occasional M-1 Carbine with wood stock.

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"lets be careful out there"

Growing up our town Marshal carried a Ruger MKIII .22 pistol. Yes, it was a very small town.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

An ex-LEO named Don Mundell once told me he carried an 8-3/8” Model 53 .22 Magnum. I think he told me that he found it in the dumpster at S&W.

One of my best friends was married to a cop who worked in a small town near Dallas. We met for dinner one night, he was carrying a Jennings SS .25acp pocket pistol. I had one, but sold it because the .25acp is a piss poor round, a .22lr would be better. It surprised me that he would carry such a worthless gun.

There are a couple of comments above about police units utilizing Ruger Mini 14's.

A former chief at my department absolutely refused to allow us to have any "military, type black rifles". As a result our patrol rifle and the rifles used by our tactical team were the Ruger AC556. Basically a Mini 14 with full auto capability. We used them for 15 years or more and didn't feel handicapped.

When a new administration came on board in the late '90's we transitioned to the M-4's. By then I was in charge of the weapons and was absolutely shocked by what we were given as trade in value for the AC556's. They were transferrable and we ended up getting four Bushmaster M-4 A-3's for each AC556.

An old game warden friend of mine carried a KelTec .32 in an ankle holster for years.

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John

Well, it could be that his .25 ACP was all he could afford at the time. Over the years, I carried .22s, .25s and .32s as back-ups because I couldn't, on a cop's salary, afford anything better. I worked part-time jobs for over 20 years so that I could afford a modest house and a decent vehicle

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Per a quick search at IMFBD says Andy (when he needed to) and Barn' belt carried Colt OP's.

There was a reserve at Highland Park MI PD that carried a FN 5.7

Back when police departments were still issuing snub nose .357 magnums as service pieces, I had a cop girlfriend who carried that as her back up pistol in an ankle holster and a Ruger Vaquero 45 Colt with a 6" barrel on her hip.

The world's greatest, most handsome, sexist Police Officer Jimmy (cause my mommy says so) have use on duty:
1. U.S. M2 .30 caliber Carbine
2. U.S. M3 ..45 acp SMG
3. German 9 mm SMG
4. British Sten Gun 9 mm SMG
5. Russian AK 47 7.62X39 selective fire carbine
6. Ruger 5.56mm selective fire carbine
7. Reising .45 acp SMG
8. WWII Italian 9mm SMG (model w/2 triggers1 for semi and 1 for full auto)
9. Mac 10 .45 acp SMG

When I began LEO in 1962 the FHP replaced patrol car shotguns with U.S. M1 .30 caliber Carbines with folding stocks with one 30 round magazine and two 15 rounds magazine. The State of Florida paid $10.00 per Carbine from the Government

Quote : I think just one US newspaper ran the comics, which were not family fare by strict US moral codes.

Must have been the Detroit Free Press, as I recall reading Modesty as a teenager.

Quote: I read and run images of scenes in my mind as I read. I can "see" her with a Cobra. I don't think Colt made the Agent in .32. Well, they did, but called it the Courier.

Arrested a hooker/drug mule outside a convenience store one night who had a .32 Detective Special (old style) under the car seat. No modesty in that situation at all.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Once we get into long guns, our narcs used an old Lefever double, cut down to about 12" and nickel plated, as a raid gun. Extractors didn't work, but they weren't worried about reloads.

Mine was a Winchester 94 .30-30 "Trapper" with 16" barrel. And no, I don't look a thing like Chuck Connors.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I'm sure you were trying to be funny but I find the Glock to be one of the best LEO firearms in use today. My department has been using .40 caliber Glocks now for at least 15 years and they have provided admirable service.

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- Change it back -

Smith & Wesson full size M & P 45.

..............oh wait, wrong thread.

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

Local sro JimmieJ’s county carry FN 57x28. Someone said when JimmieJ was young he carried a musket and a cap and ball as a duty gun!!! LOL
Semper paratus

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NRA Life Member
CPO

Local sro JimmieJ’s county carry FN 57x28. Someone said when JimmieJ was young he carried a musket and a cap and ball as a duty gun!!! LOL
Semper paratus
Sorry JimmyJ (not JimmieJ)

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NRA Life Member
CPO

Not sure it counts, but a local detective carried a Springfield XD chambered in 45 GAP.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

At the San Quention prision museum they have a Winchester 94 in 32-40 they say they used in the 1970 Marin County courthouse shoot out escape attempt. Interesting story, Anglia Davis was later found not guilty of anything even though she provided the weapon used to kill court officials. The SF bay area has been lost to the left for a long time

One of my academy classmates used a Hi-Point 9mm as a deputy Constable primarily serving civil papers. I also worked with a sworn dispatcher who carried a Taurus 24/7 9mm.

Hi-Point 380 carried by a uniformed rent-a-cop circa 1994.

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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

Amazing thread! I can't believe some people were carrying cap n' ball revolvers!!

Back in the '80s I was a combat Engineer in West Germany sent by Uncle Sam to protect the Western World from the USSR. Our demolition material (mostly 25kg blocks of C4) were stored in bunkers or vaults all over the country side. German Vaultmeisters were in charge of securing the vaults and were armed with 9mm Uzi Submachine guns with detachable wooden stocks. They were generally a happy bunch and let us handle their weapons.

The biggest problem the Vaultmeisters had were the peaceniks always crazy gluing the key holes of the vault doors shut.

Some of the German airport security would also carry Uzis, but they never were very friendly...

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My sgntr is mor thn 30 chrctrs

When I was a Court Deputy, we had to supply our own gear,, early years Model 19, last few years Model 629-1, 3" barrel. Loved to go to range. They pop-pop, me boom-boom.

Well, They are better armed than the .22, .25, and .32 Jennings and Lorcen/Bryco pocket guns.

Saw an ol court bailiff carrying an old mauser 7.65............


Not a sidearm,

But, I'd drag this'n outta the trunk of my car on dope raids sometimes....

Jest for old time sakes.




.

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

And you didn't marry her, why?

Back when Dirty Harry was the rage, I met an off duty cop at a social that was packing an S&W .44 Magnum under his jacket. The gun printed badly.

An NYPD anti-crime detective I knew always carried a Browning HP.

You're apparently referring to my post about fictional and comics heroine Modesty Blaise.

Yes, it was the Detroit Free Press that ran the comics in the USA. It also appeared in 57 other nations that are less restrictive on censorship.

You knew Frank Serpico???

I would love one of those! There are many of those Mini 14s being used by leo's across the country still today. I think CA dept of Corrections still has them?

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S&W BG380, S&W 915 9mm

McCloud was played by Dennis Weaver who also played Chester on Gunsmoke.

A Dallas cop I know used to carry a 6 inch 629 .44 mag. Impressive.

Many years ago, I would hang out in a small LGS that cops would frequent. One carried off-duty a cut-down snub nose Colt New Service in .45LC. It was not "Fitzed," it had the full trigger guard. His partner, a gunsmith and the shop owner, carried a Model 58 .41 Magnum on which he had installed adjustable sights. Was the 1st handgun I ever fired!

I also knew a NYPD officer who carried a Dan Wesson .38.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

There's a local deputy in his late 70s still working. He still carries a Colt 1911. Once that was pretty common, but it is VERY unusual these days when just about everyone else carries a Glock.

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Or something like that . . .

My local PD uses the 1911 exclusively. Mostly stainless. Just remembered another detective who carried a Radom.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Back in the olden days of the 50s and 60s a tiny little police department under the city hall didn't have standard sidearms. Lt. Cowles carried a three-fifty-seven Colt. Another part timer carried a Victory Model Surplus and "The Englishman" carried a .38 Enfield DAO. He used the Enfield once on duty which Lt. Cowles called the best pistol shot he'd ever seen. Two hits on a rabid dog at sixty feet withing five feet of a little girl.
We kids used to go to the police range by the lake every Saturday and see if the police were shooting.
Geoff
Who notes the Lt. never made Chief, so we elected him Mayor a couple of times.

I was in Cancun Mexico a few years ago and was at a money exchange kiosk and the young, skinny guard standing next to it was holding an old bolt action hunting rifle with full length Mannlicher stock.

Back a few years we had a active sniper randomly killing innocent
people. This is a rural area and it was some scary times if you
had to work outdoors. During the period this guy was on the loose the LEOs were carrying everything but the kitchen sink.
Deer rifles, Varmit guns, Assult rifles, all types of shotguns and
a lot of long barreled revolvers. I lent out a couple 30/06 deer
guns to Deputies. Sadly they didn't get to shoot the guy, he was
arrested without a fight.