What "Odd" Guns Have You Seen Used On Duty By LEO, Security Guards, Etc.?

[Wyatt Burp]

The recent thread by Otis24 motivated this one. What guns over the years were you surprised to see in use by lawmen, security guards, etc.? Mine go far far back but were a surprise none the less.
In the early 70's I went to concert at Winterland in S.F. and out front were security guards. This one stocky guy wearing all black, shades (at night), an old fashion style cop hat, and a black mustache was strutting around with a black two gun Sam Brown rig. On one side was a 4" S&W Highway Patrolman and on the other was a 4 5/8" Ruger Blackhawk. And in Sears I once saw a security guard standing by the door with a buscadero rig on and a Hawes SAA Colt copy 5 1/2" .38 in the holster. At the time I thought these guys looked pretty cool.
Have you encountered unexpected hardware in guys holsters like me and the Model 10 Otis24 just saw recently?

 

[G-Mac]

The convenience store around the corner from my shop has an armed security guard after dark. He usually carries a Sigma, but one night I noticed he had a stainless Taurus .44 Mag revolver with a super-looooong barrel. It looked foolish...not sure who he was trying to impress....maybe "da boyz in 'da hood". LOL.

 

[Bullseye 2620]

A bailiff in Maryland who carried a Model 52 loaded with 148-gr. HBWCs backwards to make an enormous hollow-point moving at 825 fps. Home-brew, of course.


Bullseye

 

[Grayfox]

Just a couple of months ago I saw a security guard carrying a nickle 1911 copy with imitation pearl grips. It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing.

 

[bshnt2015]

Lake County SO, deputy had a Ruger 9mm.

 

[Snowbandit]

Back about 10 years ago, during a time of unemployment, I took a temporary job with a large, well known security company in Denver. When I discovered they intended to issue Taurus 38 Special revolvers and refused to allow use of any privately owned weapons, including second weapons, I jumped ship in about 2 seconds flat. These folks were wacked-out morons.

 

[Alpo]

When I was a security guard, 30 or so years back, a guy I worked with carried a cap pistol. We weren't licensed to be armed, but I guess that made him feel tougher. Walking around with his nightstick and mace and cuffs and mirrored shades, and his toy gun in a holster.

 

[Lt JL]

saw a narc I know with a 9mm Colt Commander.

 

[Kevin G]

15yrs ago customs/immigration guards on the docks in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) were carrying very tired looking 12ga H&R single shot shotguns (Topper?) w/jury-rigged slings. I refrained from showing my amusement.
Other agencies were carrying more impressive hardware as the Tamil Tigers were raising hell.
Kevin

 

[ThirtyAcres]

Saw an elderly security guard at a private plane hangar carrying a Broomhandle Mauser.

Got to talking with him and he let me look it over. Waffen marks and all. He said he brought it home from the war. He said he had the original holster, cleaning kit and extra mag.

About six months later I read in the paper that his young co-worker was shot and killed on duty for the money in the vending machines.

 

[walnutred]

Last week I saw an armored car driver carrying a CZ82. Probably would have struck me as odd except I'd loaned it to him a few months earlier.

One of my uncles was a civilian security guard at Little Rock AFB from when it opened until he retired in the early 80's. Once I asked what he carried on duty and from the top of the refrigerator he pulled down a US marked Colt 1903. I asked him why he did not carry a 1911 and he said when he first took the job they took him to a closet that doubled as an arms locker. Showed him an assortment of second hand pistols and told him to pick the one he wanted. He took the Colt on the theory it would be easy to carry and there were plenty of guys with rifles to back him up.

As far as I know he kept the Colt when he retired.

 

[Centenniel]

Several years ago, A deputy in a nearby county carried a Model 27 with an 8&3/8" barrel. He finally traded it in on a revolver with a more suitable barrel length for duty use.

 

[Faulkner]

Here's a picture in which I made the local paper a couple of years ago. I was off duty and at home when I got a call from dispatch that one of my co-workers had a felon run from him during a traffic stop not far from my home. Obviously, I was not in unform but I grabbed some gear and headed out to backup the deputy. Included in my gear was my department approved, newly built, Springfield, Inc., M1A1 .30 carbine.

Later, as I was standing on the side of the road a local newspaper reporter snapped a picture of me and later came over to question me about my new fangled 'assault weapon', as he'd never seen one 'made out of wood' before. Obviously, he considered the carbine odd. Although I could appreciate his curiosity, I typically make it a point not to talk to reporters so I referred him to the department public information officer.

 

[cmort666]

When I was a kid in Chiocago in the '60s, a guy was running around shooting cops. There was a news report in which a cop showed his Universal "Enforcer".

When I was in high school in the early '70s, I went to see the opening of "Enter the Dragon" at the old "Coral" theater on 95th street. There were so many people that they hired a private security guard. He was carrying a Webley Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) revolver. He told me it was chambered for .455.

Once when I paying basic trainees at Ft. Knox in the early '80s, they withdrew all of the .45acp ammunition without having anything with which to replace it. We were given the option of either providing our own ammunition or carrying M-16s. I chose to provide both my own ammunition AND firearm. I carried my own Series 70 Colt, the first handgun I ever owned (and still have), and my own +P (and beyond) handloads with the Hornady Combat Target 200gr. Jacketed Semi-Wadcutter. I'd have been prepared for holdup men in BTR-60s.

 

[469Shooter]

Today at the bank I saw the Wackenhut Security guy and noticed that he had a revolver instead of the usual 40 cal whatever. It was a Model 15! In 2010 a Model 15 .38 Spcl. I couldn't believe it. When I was a deputy we had Model 19s and the City had 15s. But that was 1980!
A friend of mine who works HOA security uses a Ruger Security Six. I think they're both "odd" nowadays.

 

[Grog]

I'm in the process of getting back into security work. If I need to carry my own before I can get an auto, I would have no problem using my 66. It's not always the amount of ammo you have, it's the ability to deliver rounds on target and knowing your gun will work.


That being said, autos have other advantigies besides just "more ammo".



P.S. I wonder if a company would let me carry my Brazilian 1917?

 

[David LaPell]

Back in 1996-1997 I worked for the now defunct AMSA (Armored Motor Service of America) armored car service. The first half of the time I was there they had no restrictions on what you could carry. Me I had a Llama 1911 because it was what I could afford. But I saw at least two Desert Eagles, a Ruger Blackhawk, and the most outrageous was the Ruger Super Redhawk with the long barrel. The guy was only about 6 feet tall so it looked like a piece of field artillery. After a mishap in the Rochester plant where some guard sat down in a chair and his 1911 went off putting a round into the floor, the company came out with rules, only LE calibers only, but no SA pistols like the 1911. I ended up trading that Llama in on a Smith 19, wish I still had that gun.

 

[amd6547]

When I was attending community college in 1973, I met an old black campus security guard who carried a Webley mark IV 38. In that neighborhood, I bet he could use it.

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

I've seen a lot of them over the years....

I've had armed security guards carry, despite company regs stating Colt, Smith and Wesson, or Rugers in 38 spl only, carry the following on duty:
1. RG .38 special
2. Stallard (now called Hy-Point), both in 9mm and 45 caliber
3. North American Arms Mini-Derringer 22
4. H&R .32 revolver

The story about the toy gun in the security guard's holster DOES NOT suprise me in the least. And there are a million stories like that out there.

 

[Cyrano]

At the El Paso Archeological Museum, one of the night guards carried a 'Bavarian Municipal Police' 38 Victory.