howdy, what sixguns did the louisiana state police issue
during the glory days of sixguns

Not sure about the state police, but here is one from Shreveport, a Model 66, s/n 4K51xxx issued by the Shreveport PD sometime in 1973. Sold on the surplus market in March 1977. It sold used for $210, and according to the reseller, the Model 66 was available "in quantities" that year. They were expecting another 5~600 in the following months.

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I can answer this. I was a young policeman for SPD ( the other one, Sulphur P.D ). At that time LSP issued either a 4” or 6” 66 ( Trooper’s choice ) as well as a 2.5” 66. They also issued , believe it or not , a High Standard 22 Magnum , over and under derringer.

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S&WHF 483 , S&WCA 1699

The time I was referring to was early 80s. I started in 1983.

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S&WHF 483 , S&WCA 1699

hi , were the 66 stamped or marked for the LSP ?

Yes , I believe they were.

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S&WHF 483 , S&WCA 1699

So one police department in Louisiana was buying the Model 66, while another one was having a practical fire sale on theirs... LOL. I wonder what Shreveport replaced them with!

This was only 83. Revolvers still ruled. The L Frames were coming out and many people wanted a 586 or 686. Autos didn't really catch on until the late 80s and early 90s. My first was a 66. Young guys that lived at home with rich parents or were married to a woman with a good job had Pythons.

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S&WHF 483 , S&WCA 1699

I know revolvers were a standard issue at the time, which is what makes me wonder why the Shreveport PD, and apparently other departments, were getting rid of perfectly good ones, and hundreds at a time. Aaaanyway, thanks for the information!

Here is a 66-1 stamped LA State police
And a 64-3 stamped BRPD (Baton Rouge Police Dept)

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	64-3 BRPD.jpg (127.7 KB, 90 views)

I've got one of the 3" model 65 BRPD revolvers. One of my favorites. I carried it mowing my grass yesterday. I have two Ithaca 37 riot guns marked LSP. I was told these were originally carried by Louisiana State Police and later transferred to the prison system. Mine are from Angola. Two more Louisiana marked guns I have are a Glock 22 40 cal. engraved (not laser) on the slide New Orleans Police Dept. with their crescent moon and star badge and a EBRPSO (East Baton Rouge Parish SO) model 64 bull barrel. The NOPD Glock has an unusual serial number that Begins with NO, four numbers, and ends in PD. I live and retired from law enforcement in Mississippi but have only one gun with Mississippi law enforcement markings. It is a Ithaca model 37 marked "HPD" (Hattiesburg), one of the two departments I retired from.

When the 586 and 686 (don't forget the 581 / 681) in 1981 they made all the K Frames obsolete. We still issued the 15 but savvy gun enthusiasts got a L Frame. At that time it was "S&W Perfection".

I have a 66-2 2 1/2 inch which I bought from a retired Louisiana Trooper.

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I am actually old enough to remember that, even though my pockets were not deep enough to just run out and buy one (or two, ) at the time.

The reason why I ask is because my Model 66 was apparently retired and sold on the surplus market along with hundreds of others, in 1977, several years before the L-Frame became available. With all the interest in PD stamped guns, I would think someone would know the reason why.

See date on the receipt:

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When the 66 came out in 1971 the problem was Revolver-Smiths could not achieve the trigger jobs like they done on the blue guns. I was a LEO then and the thought around the locker room was the stainless steel revolvers were faulty and blue or nickle was dependable.

I remember my father and some of his friends having discussions about stainless v. carbon steel guns, and I know for a while there were issues with machining, and faulty stainless guns being returned. Nevertherless, if there was a reason why a big city police department retired so many Model 66 revolvers, I would like to know the story. The receipt implies they were available in the hundreds (!)

$210 in 1977 is over $1000 today, so it would not have been a cheap surplus buy.

The story is a Chief got a kickback.

The PD I worked for kept the same issued revolvers for 30+ years. (we had Victory Models in the Armory until the 1980s) But other Departments changed them frequently because they could. Their were Departments who issued the Colt Pythons. How could they justify that?

We still see it today. Glock released the Gen 5 pistols five years ago and they are available as Police Surplus now. Departments got rid of 9mm for .40 S&W and now they are going back to 9mm.

LSP issued a 4” 66/2 1/2” 66 combo in the late ‘70s that became a 4” 686/2 1/2” 66 in the ‘80s. The pilot program of personal purchase semiautos turned into a choice of a SIG P220 .45 or P228 9mm.

Re: the trade-in 66s, a friend worked for the Madison Heights, Michigan PD in the ‘70s. He said that used 66s were in such high demand that a distributor offered them a sweetheart deal on trading their old ones for brand new. That became a problem when they shipped off the old guns and there was a delay in receiving the new ones, so they had to borrow 4” 28s and holsters from s neighboring town.

Don’t have a LSP gun (wish I did), but I do have a couple S’port issued ones. 66 2 1/2” and a 686 4”. Both date to 1982.
I lettered the 66 but not the 686 yet.

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NoExcuses,Trey
HF#667 CA#3421

I was an officer in the suburbs of New Orleans from 1981 till 1994. Nobody "issued" us our duty revolvers, they where personally acquired and paid for. And yep, the reputation was that you couldn't tune the triggers as well on a stainless gun as on a blued. That's why my duty 66 No Dash was set up as shown below.

Over time I think that rumor has been proven untrue imo, as I also owned and carried a 66-2 6" that was pretty accurate. But with that being said, this 4" is still the most accurate revolver I've ever owned. I purchased it from a Captain who had it set up by one of the department armorers. It is capable of phenomenal performance.

Now if I only had my 21 year old eyes back. 🙂

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I had a retired trooper tell me that at one time he was issued a 41 magnum and he did not feel under gunned.

Having said that, I managed to acquire a 66-1 2&1/2 inc barrel
marked LA State Fire Marshal. They had 14 of them in their vault until about 10 years ago when they traded them in. The one that I got had been shot very few times.

When the 66 model first came out (early 1970s) they had stainless hammers and triggers. Smith discovered that stainless did not hold a small edge (sear edge) as well as carbon steel, so they changed to carbon steel for those parts, but flash-chromed them to match the rest of the finish.
The rush to change from K frames to L frames in the late 1980s (just before the change to autos) happened because everyone was afraid to shoot Magnums in the K frames due to the thin forcing-cones.

Every PD was different back then. Some issued handguns so every Officer had a Uniform appearance while others had Officers buy their own. On the Departments that required you buy your own duty gun. Some had a "approved" list while others allow you carry anything. So one PD before they were disbanded had Officers carrying 44 Magnums and other Officers carrying third rate revolvers from Spain. No commonality at all.

Actually the L Frame came out in 1981. The waiting list was six months for civilians and three months for LEOs depending on barrel length.

1980 in the LE Community was still 98% revolvers. When the Army adopted the 9mm in 1985 that motivated a lot of LE to go to pistols. But some agencies mostly Corrections were still issuing revolvers at the start of the 21st Century.

Interesting, but I am still curious why a police department in Shreveport would get rid of hundreds of Model 66 revolvers that were just a few years old, in 1977. The L-frame was not available, and it would have been early to trade them in on a semi-auto, no?

Back in the Jurrasic, most local agencies surrounding New Orleans were private purchases, with the stipulation being (for uniform wear), " Either 4" or 6", S&W or Colt, chambered in 357 Magnum or 38 Special, blued finish or stainless". I recall that NOPD also allowed Rugers with same barrel length and caliber restrictions. IIRC, NOPD also ran a purchase program where you could buy from the department.

Like many, we didn't supply ammo either, except for qualification and practice. That ammo was free and unlimited (Boy do I miss that 🙂 ) but duty ammo was also private purchase with the requirement that it be " 38 Special +P, 125 grain JHP from a major manufacturer".

We occasionally had roll call ammo inspections to check that no one was carrying 357s. But it was rather informal compared to today because only the headstamp was checked. Myself and many were reloaders and were running basically the old 38/44 Outdoorsman load with those 125 grainers zinging along around 1200 fps or so. If you got hit with it, you'd know you got hit.

Today it's totally different with both guns, ammunition, and duty holsters issued. Private purchases are allowed, with department approval required beforehand.

I was hired by a Police Department in 1977 and some of the larger Police suppliers could get model 66 4” but there was more demand than supply in the civilian sector. Shreveport PD might have gotten an even exchange, old model 66’s for new model 66’s. The LE retailer usually kept the price down for department purchase but could sell used police model 66 for a premium to civilians.

There were a lot of deals between friends and political favors can not be discounted. If a Chief could get all new revolvers for $5 each and use existing leather gear why not trade, especially if your department didn’t have trained armorers.

That is about the best explanation so far. 1977, which is when these were sold on the civilian market, is when the Model 66-1 first shipped with the 2nd gas ring change. The department might have "traded up" to a newer model. I never thought of it that way before. According to the SCSW, page 269, there were also 4" and 2-1/2" 66-1's marked S.P.D., and "S'Port PD La", respectively.

A few years ago I picked up some LSP marked S&W 380acp Bodyguards with crimson Trace laser. I will try to get some photos. Would love to find a LSP marked revolver. Be Safe,

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I BACK OUR BLUE

I don’t have any LSP marked guns, but I do have a .41 mag stamped LDC. the seller asserted it came from a relative who served in the Louisiana Department of Corrections. I didn’t buy it for the story, but I did for it being a .41 with correct grips. Here it is with my 520 also sporting correct grips.

Beautiful pair.

Stainless guns had only started to appear when I was a kid, they were shiny and had the "new car appeal". I don't go out of my way to buy guns for the department stamps or stories, but I like researching the history, and how or why different features develop.

PeteC, I just looked at the receipt for a model 66 that you posted on 5/31. I am from Hattiesburg and know Charles Price very well. He's retired now, but still around and active. Mr. Price is my favorite all time gun pusher. He operated gun stores here for over 40 years and often dealt in new and used police guns. I still have several that I got from him. I probably handled the one listed on the receipt.

That's awesome! This gun, along with the almost-not-quite-matching box must have really made the rounds of a few states, LOL. I don't suppose he would know how so many of those got on the surplus market in 1977?

66's were very hard to get on the civilian market back then. Our first issue guns were for the 66-0. All of them had to be sent back for repairs. I don't remember what the problem was. They all worked fine after the repair. At some point in time S&W offered us a deal on the 66-1 and the dash O's were traded to S&W. The did the same later on the 686. I assume they did this with a lot of departments and I'm guessing they probably made money on the trade ins. Late 60's and early 70's all S&W stainless revolvers were hard to find. It took me a couple of years just to find a model 60 and I've had it since 1971. (I couldn't order one through my department) They were always back ordered and and law enforcement got first shot at them. I think the military got some also. Where are you from and where did you find this receipt?

That explains a lot of the conversation and opinions at the time, between my father who had a LE-adjacent job, and some of his friends. And also why I never saw them in local stores when I was a kid.

I live in the Midwest, and have no connection to Shreveport. Neither did the seller. The receipt with the s/n of the gun came in the box, which is NOT numbered to the gun, but somewhat close.

I have a well-worn 2.5" Model 66-1 that is marked LA ST POLICE.

I just found out that Barney's Police Supply in Metairie, La. and Lafayette,La. has model 66-1's for sale for $750.00. These are from the Louisiana prison system and I think the only markings on them are rack numbers done with an electric pencil. They also have a few more 64 bull barrels for $495.00. Expect these revolvers to be banged up cosmetically and probably have the wrong grips but they should function OK. I've already got these two models so I won't be buying any of these. Addresses and phone numbers can be found on Google.