LEO Revolver Carry?

Glenn R. McMannly

Glenn R. McMannly

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Do any departments out there issue or allow carry of revolvers anymore? I haven’t seen a service revolver being carried by any local agencies in a long time.

Is the revolver dead in law enforcement circles? God bless,

Glenn
 
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I can’t think of any agencies in SE PA that issue revolvers. I believe Philly PD still allow officers hired before a date in the 1990’s to carry them. There are a few PA State Constables who carry a revolver. Ocean City Maryland issues revolvers, maybe Model 64’s, to the officers who work the summer season only.

Oh, and I still carry a revolver. My small county agency requires us to provide our own firearms. Our current firearms policy authorizes double action revolvers, and all semi auto pistols. This year I qualified with the SP-101, 340, 12-2, 64-2, 65-3 and Colt auto’s in .38 Super and .45ACP. I also qualified with a Glock 32. The other investigators in my unit carry striker fired pistols, either Glocks or M&P’s.

I feel well armed carrying a revolver, and have never felt ill equipped in almost 28 years. I can shoot a revolver really well, and I’ve been shooting them a long time. My job primarily involves knocking on doors and talking to people. If I need a gun it will probably be at point blank contact range, where a revolver has the benefit of not being pushed out of battery. If I need more than five or six shots I’ll use my back up gun. I realize I’m viewed as a dinosaur by most people, but it works for me.
 
tops said:
I don't think many people know or think about that. Larry
Click to expand...

I had a Deputy Sheriff buddy back in the ‘80’s that carried a revolver because this happened to him in a struggle with a bad guy. He and another Deputy were shot but survived. (They’re both dead now though. R.I.P.).
 
I have not seen a revolver carried by a uniformed officer in over 25 years now. Last ones I saw were actually carried by reserve officers, full-time officers had already switched to pistols.
 
Revolvers may show up on the authorized personally owned firearms list for some agencies, but I can’t see any agency/department issuing a revolver these days. Too much liability (meaning any major issue would expose the agency to legal issues by the officer/agent regarding the issuance of a firearm that is inferior to current LE standards). 18 rounds for a duty carry revolver (including two reloads) and 18 rounds per magazine for semi-autos doesn’t really make revolvers a legitimate choice for today’s LE standards. I was issued one back in the ‘90s for duty carry, but by late ‘90s it was all semi-autos.
 
Truth is Glocks and 9mm are cheaper........................... :)

Guess "legitimate choice" would eliminates my, if not most, .45 autos .

Sig 220 and 245s
1911 pattern Sig C3
S&W 4566

In a bad breath distance struggle an auto can become a single shot weapon.
 
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Remember the LE hit rate is around 25%. Now red dot sights seem to be making quite a change on that stat, but more reason for more rounds. And LE (and mil for that matter) must train to the lowest common denominator.
 
DHernandez said:
Remember the LE hit rate is around 25%. Now red dot sights seem to be making quite a change on that stat, but more reason for more rounds. And LE (and mil for that matter) must train to the lowest common denominator.
Click to expand...

That's a national average....agencies that spend more time/money on training do better.
 
We had one deputy who was our circuit judge's favorite court bailiff who was our last uniformed officer holdout who carried a revolver. He retired about 5 years ago. The last time our department issued revolvers was 1995.

I still qualify annually with my 3 inch S&W 65 that I carry on occasion for plain clothed duty. There are occasionally situations when I just feel a .357 magnum would be appropriate.

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I saw an older Chicago PD officer at O'Hare some years back carrying a revolver. I think NYPD ended their grandfathering of revolvers a few years ago. It is, IMHO, harder to train officers to a fighting standard with a revolver. Reloading is harder and slower for most.

If one works in a rural area in which backup could be slow, it is harder to carry more ammo for a revolver. When I carried my .41, I had 3 speed loaders. My last issue platform, was a Glock 21, which I carried with 3 spare mags on me, my BUG (G33 with spare mag), and a few mags in my duty box, plus the AR and some mags. Some years back, the agency had an event in a residential setting in which they had to use suppressive fire due to circumstances. They had to send runners to the armory for more ammo. Really rare outlier circumstances, but not impossible.

As for training/equipping reserve/seasonal officers differently, that is well beyond stupid and a certain path to liability. Command officers who do that need to be fired with a quickness.
 
The FBI allowed revolvers as POWs until the end of 2000 - after that they were all disapproved and not grandfathered. By that time everyone had transitioned into semi-autos and the remaining revolvers were almost all personally owned J frames. I remember it well because one idiot I worked with submitted a voucher to be reimbursed for the cost of his PERSONALLY OWNED Model 60. He was dope-slapped back into reality post haste.

The ICE guys I worked with in the early 2000s (all legacy BP) were still allowed .38s as back up guns. I used to be able to cadge some ammo from them once in a while. I’m sure that has changed by now.

Its just not worth it for departments to stock .38 or .357 ammo, and run separate quals for the hold outs.
 
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