I am aware that the model 15 was used by the USAF, LA police, Nassau County, NY police and maybe the Suffolk County, NY police. Does anyone know of other law enforcement agencies that used the model 15.

The Wyoming Probation & Parole folks used to have them. Those went to the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy when P&P changed to auto loaders. The Wyoming LEA sold them several years ago.

Attached Images

Mod. 15-4 L w-o stocks.jpg (90.6 KB, 149 views)

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Most American Agencies used the Model 10 or Model 15

I carried a 4” 15 as a USAF cop.

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213th FBINA

Nearly every police agency in north America used either the Model 15 or alternatively the model 10 at some time. The list of agencies that didn't would be far shorter.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

L.A. County Sheriff's Dept., concurrent
with LAPD, carried the Model 15.

Where officers purchased their own firearms
in the 1960s to mid 1980s, the basic
offerings of the day were Models 10, 15 and
19 along with the waning popularity of the
Colt Official Police or Colt. Trooper.

A lot had to do in purchase choice with what
the regulations were for caliber. Generally
big city administrators wanted
to limit carry to .38s, thus eliminating the
.357 as a choice.

In L.A. the powers that were got tired of
officers "secretly" carryng .357 ammo for
their 19s when the rules said only .38,
so the city made mandatory the Model 15.

If someone has S&W production numbers
for the 15 vs. 19 that might help
get a clearer picture of popularity.

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Ubi Est Mea

A shorter list might be for agencies that did not issue or approve K-frame 38 Specials.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

It was used down here for the Florida DOC, went threw the academy with one...

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This is the way....

I have a 15-2 that is marked ERIE PD.

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Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

Alexandria, VA police until replaced by the Model 64 stainless in the late ‘70s.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I bought a 4” nickel Model 15 that had been issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

I also had a blued 4” marked Farmington NM PD.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Dallas had them, issued and personal. Replaced with M-64.

One officer killed six felons with a M-64 and lead Plus P HP ammo.

I have a Model 15 marked "RPD". My best guess is that it's from the Rochester Indiana or Rensselaer Indiana Police Dept

I can tell you that the Quincy, IL police dept used Mod 15's prior to transitioning to 686's, then to Glock 17's in the mid 80's, and upgrading a couple times since, to 40 Cal, then back to 9mm.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Very popular model for police use. I have a nickel 15-3 that letters as shipped to the campus police at University of Louisiana.

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No life story has happy end.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued the model 15; replacing it with the 2 1/2 inch 66 in the mid 1980s

I was issued a NIB Model 15 (no distinct department markings) when I returned from the academy in August 1978 as a Police Patrol Officer with the Lake Forest Illinois Police Department.

Although we were sworn officers (I was sworn in on June 13, 1978) and were legally authorized to carry firearms, the department policy was to not allow on-duty carry until after completion of the academy AND successfully passing the department's firearms qualification. One of my classmates at the academy passed everything the academy required, but it took him two weeks to pass the department's qualification. I remember he had a blister on his right index finger from all of the shooting and dry-firing he had to do to pass.

You had to carry the Model 15 until you passed probation (one year from date of hire), then you could carry any revolver approved by the department's armorer, as long as it would chamber the department issued ammo (W-W .38 Special +P 158 grain LHP-the "Chicago load"), and had a four inch barrel. The hot gun on the street at the time was the S&W Model 66, but you couldn't find them, at least at a price a rookie cop could afford, so my first personally owned duty gun was a stainless Ruger Security Six. Later, I carried a Colt Python that my wife bought me as a combination first wedding anniversary/birthday present (I still have that gun and wife!).

I was also a Security Specialist (Sky Cop) in the Air National Guard and while we mostly carried M-16s for weapon system security, supervisors and security controllers also carried Model 15s. I was fortunate enough to be selected for Undergraduate Navigator Training and when I came back, I had to again qualify on the Model 15 as a combat-ready aircrew. The last time I carried a Model 15 was when I deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990 during Operation Desert Shield. As soon as I turned it into the armory, I was immediately issued a M-9, for which I had no holster. Our Life Support guys spent a lot of long hours sewing new holsters that would fit the M-9 onto our survival vests.

I was issued a Model 67 when I was sworn in. Accurate and comfortable to carry. Area agencies issued the Model 10, 19, 66 and Rugers. Not many Colts left by the early 80's.

Oklahoma State University Police up until about 1989.

I have a 2" SB Mod 15 that came from the Cal DMV.

Orange County Sheriffs' Dept. in CA issued them. And sold them off after they started issuing semi-auto's.

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Watch & Pray

Also Orange County (CA) Marshals. I confiscated one so marked from a traveling criminal a fair way from CA in the mid-80s. Never found the badge that was stolen with it. My department recommended but did not mandate the Model 15 - in fact the recommendation was a matched set of 4" and 2" for on and off duty carry respectively, but the only gun they issued was the Model 19. Go figure.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Missouri State Highway Patrol used the Model 15. In the early 1950s, they bought tapered barrel 5 inch Combat Masterpiece revolvers for every member of the Patrol, but as the Patrol grew, new hires were issued the 4 inch CM and later the 4 inch Model 15. Both the 4 inch and the 5 inch guns were retired in about 1976, give or take, when the patrol bought Model 66s and changed to .357 Magnum ammunition. The interesting thing about MSHP is that all troopers, whether they had the 4 inch or the 5 inch CM got a holster for the 5 inch. More uniformity. Leather was by Dehner's of Omaha.

Attached Images

	MSHP 5 in CM with Dehner's swivel holster and access.jpg (182.5 KB, 59 views)
	MSHP Pre-15 5 inch CM Lt 1.jpg (120.5 KB, 59 views)

While working for the Florida Department of Corrections as armorer, the department standard side arm was the model 15. The Model 5906 superseded the model 15 as their primary handgun. In my collection, I have a Model 15 and a Model 5906, in nice condition, that was issued to the Puerto Rico Police as lettered from Roy.

Nick

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NRA Instructor\GCA Gunsmith

McCoy and Reed used them.

Weren't those 6" Model 14s?

My wife's house gun is a 15....... I sold mine in the 80s and went to 19s and 66s for a wider ammo choice....... for no logical reason I still want a 2" 15....

Amity PD

Just for the first couple of seasons. When LAPD switched to the 4” Model 15, the show switched, too. That’s also when Reed and Malloy went to clamshell holsters.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Ahh...those were the days!

Yes Many departments in new Jersey used them; Vineland Police dept., Atlantic city dept. State police and many more.

Out west, many agencies used Model 67's. We have 2 ex-police 67's. One says "Property of Yolo County Sheriff #120, the other has no police markings at all but was used by a local officer as his duty gun.