Hey there everyone, glad to be back on here as it been a while. Ive been on and off here mostly to read about info related to my many Smith's.
I started a thread a while back about carrying my 4506-1 on duty. Since then I was waiting for the LAPD de-cocker transition school. For those who don't know, we are currently issued M&P-9's. If you'd like to carry something other than an M&P or Glock, you have to go through a transition school. Either de-cocker school for older Smith&Wesson's and Beretta's, or 1911 school. The de-cocker school is typically only ran once a year, and there was no school in 2018. I had pretty much given up hope to carry the gun.
Then a few months ago I received an email stating I was attending the next school. I was so excited I was ready to jump back on the forum. But I thought to myself, what if I don't make it? What if the gun is not for me? Fear of not making it thorough the school sent me straight to my favorite ammo store and drop my credit card for 1000 rounds of .45 ACP. I shot the gun as much as I could before the course, and spoke to old timers that carried or still carry the gun.
The school was in depth, as it should, to teach us the LAPD way of using a traditional double action pistol. The instructors were dedicated on getting us to fully understand the gun itself, the double to single transition, being fast and accurate, and clearing malfunctions. By the end of the second day almost every student in the class had worn their thumbs raw working the de-cocking lever up and down.
With all the shooting the gun never failed, malfunctioned or have an any ammo related issues. For the school I used the same type of holster I had already been carrying, a Safariland ALS type. More for familiarity than anything else, but it worked well and I was able to draw extremely fast. A part of the last day we had shooting competitions. One had us drawing and firing two shots center mass on a target while using a shot timer. Another had us practice a hostage shot, either double or single action, to see which worked better for you, of course against a shot timer.
Carrying the Gun:
I worked the very next day after the school. The moment I got to roll call everyone noticed. Half in the room thought I had a 1911 on my hip. Those that knew immediately asked who I bought the gun from. I only had a standard double mag pouch, so my capacity dropped from 52 to 25 rounds overnight. You can definitely feel the difference of the gun on your hip compared to polymer. And on the street, EVERYONE notices! People are used to seeing all black plastic in Police holsters. Seeing 3 pounds of stainless steel catches their attention. Also made me aware how many people look at your gun throughout the night. A close co-worker responded to back up I put our for a stolen vehicle. He assisted proning the suspects out and taking them into custody. He admitted afterward he had trouble keeping his eyes off the 4506 as we cleared the vehicle!
On the range the gun is equally as impressive. Initially my qualification score dropped. Like it was scary how low. I started dry practicing daily after reading an article on lucky gunner on the subject. My score immediately went up. We are allowed to qualify as often as we want, once per day. We only have to shoot a qualification once every two months, but were encouraged to shoot as often as we can afford to, both in time and ammo. Shooting the bonus (advanced) course was more challenging but sped up my results and gave me a lot more confidence carrying the new gun.
Hopefully you all find this interesting and fun to read. It's been an experience switching to and carrying the 4506. Ive thrown in some pics of the gun as well, with one of a magazine I've noticed has started to crack. Something to look out for for anyone carrying the gun.
