police dept who used mod 27 3 1/2''
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Barbarian-CBX
Member
I don't know; but, I'd give most of my testicl... Well, I want one.
Austin PD issued 3 1/2" nickeled model 27's.
crsides
US Veteran, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
ADP #261
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If I was on the run from the Austin PD I would turn myself in at the station house if they would just let me look at one of those!
Nineteen Pre-Model 27's with 3.5" barrels were shipped from the S&W factory on March 31, 1950, and delivered to Board of Police Commisioners, Kansas City, MO.
On 7/3/1940 two 3.5" NRMs (in a 26 gun shipment) were shipped to the KCPD. One of them, serial# 61633, was for Chief Lear B. Reed. The other one, serial# 61632, is pictured below. Most of the pre-war .357 Magnums shipped to the KCPD were 4".
Photo Credit - Rock Island Auction
On 7/3/1940 two 3.5" NRMs (in a 26 gun shipment) were shipped to the KCPD. One of them, serial# 61633, was for Chief Lear B. Reed. The other one, serial# 61632, is pictured below. Most of the pre-war .357 Magnums shipped to the KCPD were 4".
Photo Credit - Rock Island Auction
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crsides
US Veteran, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
And this one comes with a story. Found at local gunshow on pawnshop dealer's table. $500. Talked him down to $450 cause somebody ruined it stamping numbers all over it. Told him to put it under the table, I had to go to my table to get some cash. came back and another guy was holding it. He was hemming and hauling, turning it over, looking at it from all angles, and you could tell he didn't know what he was looking at. I was sweating bullets standing behind him. He finally laid it down and i was on it like a duck on a june bug.
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usmc2427765
US Veteran
In 1967, I visited with my cousin in Hondo, tex who was a Texas Highway Patrolman assigned to Medina and Bandera counties. He introduced me to the Chief of Police of Hondo, Tx, and sadly I do not remember his name, and he carried what I remember to be an early and possibly a pre model 27 with a 3 1/2"bbl. I did not get a good look at the revolver but it seemed to have been around for quite a while. He carried it in a S.D. Myres hand-carved holster rig that I remember to this day. He couldn't shoot very well, but that is another story. These are memories that flood back to me from the days of mesquite fires and good whiskey.
Didn't Chicago PD use 3.5" 27s? I remember the photos from the disturbances at the Democratic Convention in 1968 and the police revolvers looked like 27s with Magna grips.
Kaaskop49
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Kaaskop49
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Technically not a "police dept", but...a popular sidearm of the FBI.
Here's a photo of FBI shooting instructor Hank Sloan with one- maybe a RM ?
Regards,
turnerriver
SAFireman
Member
This one is a bit older than a pre-27, it is a NRM shipped in 1940 to the University Park Police in Dallas, TX.
It letters with the HBH, but in blue. I guess that it needed a bit of freshening up after a period of time riding patrol. The stocks number to the gun, but the SD Myres is my addition. The brass knuckles are my own addition (they are legal here again).
It letters with the HBH, but in blue. I guess that it needed a bit of freshening up after a period of time riding patrol. The stocks number to the gun, but the SD Myres is my addition. The brass knuckles are my own addition (they are legal here again).
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UncleEd
Member
It's possible you saw a few officers with them.
Technically it was not authorized because
regulations called for a 4-inch barrel. But
I knew of a couple officers who had them and
carried them.
The most likely revolvers per regulation in
Chicago holsters were Colt Official Police,
S&W Models 10, 15 or 19.
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
Prior to the 1980's or so it was fairly uncommon for police agencies to issue sidearms. Most officers were required to purchase their own, either privately or through the department's purchasing agent.
When I left the Army in 1972 and joined a local police department in a mid-sized city we were required to provide our own handguns (and practically everything else). The requirements of that time were: S&W or Colt, 4" barrel, blued steel, .38 Special or .357 magnum.
Many of the older officers were "grandfathered" from days prior to these requirements. Some carried .44 Specials, quite a few carried .38-44 Outdoorsman, and some carried 3.5" Model 27's (or pre-27's).
In those days a brand new S&W M&P Model 10 .38 Special revolver was about $85 retail, or about $70 on a law enforcement purchase order. A new Model 19 was about $130 retail, or about $110 on a LE purchase. The Colt Python could be had for around $185 retail, or about $165 on a LE purchase. For comparison only in this discussion, a brand new Colt Government .45ACP was about $140, and a brand new Browning Hi Power was about the same.
Putting this into perspective, my entry-level monthly salary was $657 and after federal and state income taxes, retirement fund, and Blue Cross-Blue Shield were taken out my take-home checks were $192 every two weeks. There was no overtime pay. My house payments (new 3 bedroom 1 bath home with attached garage @ $17,700 price) were $182 PITI, no money down VA loan.
A new middle-of-the-road Chevy or Ford could be had for about $3000, but most of us drove used cars. My first new vehicle was a 1975 Ford 1/2 ton pick-up, base model with 6-cylinder and 3-speed, purchased at year end close-out for $2495 plus taxes, and financed for 3 years by my credit union for only $77 per month after my piece-of-nothing trade-in.
Hamburger was 3 pounds for a dollar. We shopped the "day old" shop of the local bakery and bought bread for 15 or 20 cents per loaf. Canned vegetables were usually 10 cans for a buck. A can of Spam was about 49 cents (just looked last week, they are now ten times that price). Two or three families would go together to purchase a side of beef or a butchered hog for 25 or 30 cents per pound.
In Colorado I could purchase a resident "sportsman" license (fishing, small game, deer, elk, antelope, bear) over the counter for $35. Now I have to put in an application for each species prior to the annual drawing in May, and MAYBE get a deer or elk license one year out of four, only about $50 or $100 if successful in the lottery (more licenses are reserved for non-residents at higher fees than are issued to tax-paying year-round residents).
This may sound like a rant, but my intention is only to clarify that the $135 Model 27 of 1972 is still out there, but it will cost you ten times as much to own today, and you will keep it in your $2000 gun safe (which none of us could afford back in the day) inside your $350,000 house.
Today's dollar just ain't the same as a buck used to be!
When I left the Army in 1972 and joined a local police department in a mid-sized city we were required to provide our own handguns (and practically everything else). The requirements of that time were: S&W or Colt, 4" barrel, blued steel, .38 Special or .357 magnum.
Many of the older officers were "grandfathered" from days prior to these requirements. Some carried .44 Specials, quite a few carried .38-44 Outdoorsman, and some carried 3.5" Model 27's (or pre-27's).
In those days a brand new S&W M&P Model 10 .38 Special revolver was about $85 retail, or about $70 on a law enforcement purchase order. A new Model 19 was about $130 retail, or about $110 on a LE purchase. The Colt Python could be had for around $185 retail, or about $165 on a LE purchase. For comparison only in this discussion, a brand new Colt Government .45ACP was about $140, and a brand new Browning Hi Power was about the same.
Putting this into perspective, my entry-level monthly salary was $657 and after federal and state income taxes, retirement fund, and Blue Cross-Blue Shield were taken out my take-home checks were $192 every two weeks. There was no overtime pay. My house payments (new 3 bedroom 1 bath home with attached garage @ $17,700 price) were $182 PITI, no money down VA loan.
A new middle-of-the-road Chevy or Ford could be had for about $3000, but most of us drove used cars. My first new vehicle was a 1975 Ford 1/2 ton pick-up, base model with 6-cylinder and 3-speed, purchased at year end close-out for $2495 plus taxes, and financed for 3 years by my credit union for only $77 per month after my piece-of-nothing trade-in.
Hamburger was 3 pounds for a dollar. We shopped the "day old" shop of the local bakery and bought bread for 15 or 20 cents per loaf. Canned vegetables were usually 10 cans for a buck. A can of Spam was about 49 cents (just looked last week, they are now ten times that price). Two or three families would go together to purchase a side of beef or a butchered hog for 25 or 30 cents per pound.
In Colorado I could purchase a resident "sportsman" license (fishing, small game, deer, elk, antelope, bear) over the counter for $35. Now I have to put in an application for each species prior to the annual drawing in May, and MAYBE get a deer or elk license one year out of four, only about $50 or $100 if successful in the lottery (more licenses are reserved for non-residents at higher fees than are issued to tax-paying year-round residents).
This may sound like a rant, but my intention is only to clarify that the $135 Model 27 of 1972 is still out there, but it will cost you ten times as much to own today, and you will keep it in your $2000 gun safe (which none of us could afford back in the day) inside your $350,000 house.
Today's dollar just ain't the same as a buck used to be!
.357magger
Member
Back in the day, my agency in SE Louisiana had several officers partial to the 27 3.5". And a few I know carried the 6" from time to time. As with Lobo's post above, we danced with the girl we bought. Bought our own leather too.
Was a K Frame Man myself. Still am, at least for 38/357 loadings.
Was a K Frame Man myself. Still am, at least for 38/357 loadings.
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The Dept. I worked on in Kansas in the late 70's & early 80's let you carry whatever you wanted as long as it was a revolver & at least 38 special. My shift sgt. carried a 3 1/2 inch Smith that I always lusted after. I'm sure he is long gone & that gun is too. Finally got myself one a couple years ago & questions about it was why I joined this forum.
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