Current Law Enforcement Revolver Use

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big al - tennessee

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I know this has been discussed before, but I don't remember. Does anyone know of any law enforcement agencies that issue or permit new officers to carry a revolver for their primary weapon???
 
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It would probably not be a problem with a small agency, you would just have to ask. I carried a 4" M610 with Meprolight Night Sights in a Tex Shoemaker Semi Break-front security holster when I was a reserve deputy sheriff. At the time this was the only holster that was very secure, that you could make a fast draw from. As Chief of Police I would open carry my 638 when I came in on morning shift mainly doing paper work.

Some things to consider. The academy classes will all be geared towards Hi Cap semi automatics. Strings of fire will be geared around magazine changes at probably 12 rounds or more. I am not sure they would even let you use a revolver in the academy now days.
Then we have qualification. Also geared around Hi Caps now days. I have qualified with my moon clip 10mm and my 1911, but you have to really be on your game, and way better than average to make the times.
I really like revolvers, but a full size M&P in 45 acp or 40 S&W with a thumb safety would probably be a much better choice in 2011.

Bob
 
Only old school Det's and office types in NYC. After a certain entry date they must carry semi's. A Det. son still uses his .38sp centennial as his only carry and leaves his Glock in the locker. Not many left around.
 
I live in a town of about 125000 in Colorado. The local PD uses either Glocks or 1911's, per officer choice. There is one officer who still carries a M15. Very well worn gun, diamond magnas. Haven't had the chance to look any closer at it. When I first moved here in 1980 the M15 was the issue sidearm, and had been for many years. I think it was about 1983 or so that the officers were allowed to go to autoloaders, so he has carried that revolver for close to 30 years.
 
I recently served jury duty and noticed the bailiff wearing a 686. He said that they are required to carry revolvers there.
 
my agency switched to 92d beretta's in 1995...i haven't seen a revolver around here carried as a duty weapon in probably 15 years (which is sad) i was told a sheriff's dept.near here may still carry revolvers...i shall check....i prefer a 657 three inch in an ankle holster
 
A deputy friend of mine can still carry a wheelgun as long as he qualifies with it. So he grabs his 940, 640, & M19 in addition to 1911 and Glock on qualification day. He drives the range officer nuts and out shot him on a dueling tree. M19 vs Glock 17. Bottomfeeder lost. And to think the RO called the M19 "archaic". Wish I could have been there.
 
My agency is roughly 2000 sworn deputies. We have a very liberal firearms policy considering the size of the agency. Deputies are authorized a very wide variety which includes S&W, Colt or Ruger revolvers in .38 or .357 as long as they are not nickle plated (I don't know so don't ask, but probably a hold over from times past). Having said all this there are relatively few wheel gunners. There does seem to be a renewed interest though. Now if I can just find some duty gear for my M&PR8:D
 
I was in DC last year, and the security in an un-named, highly visited place all carried 686's.
 
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I know of at least one Sheriff here in ND that carries a Model 66 with a four inch barrel.
 
I would guess some older officers in larger cities still carry wheelguns. The NYPD still allows officers to carry the Model 10's, 64's, Ruger Service Sixes, SP101's or Model 60's if they had been carrying them previously, but does not allow new officers to choose the wheelguns. With every wheelgun carrying older cop that retires, there's one less guy that carries one.

I have a 4" .357 Ruger Speed Six that a local township cop carried up until 2008 or so,when he retired he sold it to a local gun shop and I bought it. Guess he wasn't a "gun guy" , I would be kind of attached to a gun that rode on my hip for decades. To some they are just tools, I guess.......

I just don't see LEO's fresh out of the academy, guys in their late teens-early 20's choosing revolvers anymore. I would guess it's mostly the older guys who had been carrying them for years.

I saw an armored car guard with a Colt Official Police about a year ago, and also some states require private security companies to only use .38 Special revolvers, thus the reason Taurus 82's are still in production. I have 4 Cook County Hospital, Illinois marked .38 Ruger Service Sixes that were just recently traded in.
 
"Beware of the old guy who only carries 6 rounds in a revolver. Chances are he knows how to use it well!"

I read people writing that thought but it doesn't square with my experience.

I was hired by my sheriffs office in 1981. Our department of about 350-450 armed issued the Combat Masterpiece/Model 15, mostly, but allowed personally purchased S&W, Colt and Ruger .38 and .357 revolvers that met department specs. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the deputies carried the issue revolver.

A new sheriff began our transition to semiautomatics in 1991. There was no money for new department guns at the time so he allowed a pretty wide range of personally owned semiautomatics in 9mm, 10mm, .40 and .45 ACP. You had to also buy your leather and spare magazines if you wanted to carry a semiautomatic. The department provided training and ammunition.

Eventually the department began buying and issuing semiautos, beginning with Model 4006's. They were initially offered on the basis of seniority. You still had to buy your own leather

After 2 or 3 years of this, we still had a batch of deputies carrying the office revolvers, and they were pretty well all older, long-time deputies who were not among the better shooters in the department; most didn't qualify by much on our easy courses, and some often needed to shoot it 2 or 3 or more times to pass. I talked to quite a few of them about it. To a man, they all eventually told me that the reason they hadn't swapped out for a semiautomatic was THE EXPENSE OF BUYING THE HOLSTER AND MAG CARRIER and the trouble of learning a new gun!!! They hadn't ever been involved in a shooting and didn't expect that they would be in the few years left they planned to work, and they weren't going to spend $100 or more just to carry a more complex gun for 2, 3, 4 or 5 more years!

I did not know of any deputy in my department or officer in any other local agency that were much above average shooters that kept carrying a revolver by choice and were really good with it.

I think there are some such folks in American law enforcement (we have a few on this forum), but they are pretty scarce.

I think it is a real stretch to say that carrying a revolver as your duty weapon is any indicator of skill-at-arms, or lack thereof for that matter.

I am in favor of an officer being able to choose his duty weapon if he/she can demonstrate proficiency and wants to bear the expense, and I love revolvers, but I went to something else as soon as I was allowed.
 
No longer a primary...

I fondly remember carrying my M66 2.5 when I began my career with my agency. Man, I miss those days! Although, I still have that beauty! In any event, while not a primary weapon, we are authorized to carry an assortment of S&W J-frames as back-ups to our Sig P229Rs.
 
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I'm not a LEO,but when I seved in the Army,we all had 1911a1 as the standard issue.Now that I been shooting Cowboy (SASS) for 5 years,I just love my revolvers.And with proper training,you become VERY good at drawing,acquire targets,and hit.I even taught my self to shoot left hand.All depends on what each person feel's comftable with.I think each officer should have a choice no matter what.
Thank you,
Henry
 
I live in a small tourist town where violent crime is rare and the threat level is about as close to zero as you'll find. A local LEO recently lost a magazine which was found by a civilian. Made the news. Turns out this dedicated officer's daily carry is five 14-round magazines. This guy, and thousands like him, needs a revolver and one round to carry in his shirt pocket. And, maybe, some therapy.
 
The agency I work for still authorizes revolvers, in several calibers. I like to take them up on this and qualify with 2 or 3 usually. The bigger calibers are going away, unfortunately, but we should still keep a couple in service. I'm currently qualified with my 627 Pro and the 625 MG in 45 Colt. These work out very well for me and don't feel the least bit "undergunned" with either.
 
I work in a large Dept here in OK. I am the youngest officer to carry a revolver. I carry an 8-shot model 627 in a Looper Leather hooded holster I was never a revolver person, it was always Glock for me and that's what we are issued in the academy. After probation I got on out departments pistol team and began shooting PPC competition. I soon found out an old 686 will shoot circles around a Glock. After begging for sometime I was allowed to carry a revolver. We still have about 10-20 officers that carry them from when they were issued in 1995. On another note all of our honor guard is issued and carry revolvers mainly model 65's. The honor guard still has to qualify with them out of a Jordan trooper style holster with a 12 round loop loader.
 
I talked late last year with a Dallas cop who was guarding a bookstore. (Off-duty) He wears a SIG P-229 .357 SIG.

Said that they had to convince the previous chief, now running for Mayor, that the .357 SIG wasn't overpowered. The reasoning was that they allow .357 revolvers, so it was unfair not to allow the auto of fairly similar power.

I don't see many revolvers in police holsters here, and those seen are usually NOT on the hips of people who look very proficient. I think they bought them cheaply from retiring personnel. Most probably regard a gun as mainly an expense. I don't think they have the ethnic/cultural background to be very gun-concious. Many are women. The city security people do have what look like S&W M-64's, and they are uniformly not what I'd consider to be pro-gun oriented. I can't say more on this board. Their revolvers were probably transferred over from the PD when they went to autos. I'm pretty sure that they don't want the additional training time and expense to carry autos and I think these people are better off with .38 revolvers. I think the public would be at added risk if they had hi-cap autos!

I work several nights a week in private security, and I do wear my S&W M-66-3. Very occasionally, I sub a Ruger GP-100, mainly for variety and because I like the gun. My leather is a Bianchi River Belt, with their No. 5BHL holster and speed loader pouch, black basketweave. The Ruger holster is the same model, just a bit larger. I have also used the old Safariland Model 29 holster, also lined, black basketweave. El Paso Saddlery still makes a very similar model.

I have a Beretta M-92FS, but no duty leather, and the pay is so poor that I can't warrant investing probably $150 in belt, holster,and mag carrier. I would also have to re-qualify next time with an auto to carry one at work. I just re-qualified and I was the sole person of about 15 who used a revolver.Most had never seen one! The elderly gentleman who was instructing seemed impressed that I was still carryig a wheelgun. But he brought to class only autos, about five.

It was very gratifying to outshoot every one of the other guards. I think they gained a new respect for revolvers. And for the capabilities of handguns in general... (One guy, who I think was from Nigeria, seemed afraid to even hold a gun!
I think he put three rounds in my target from a rental Glock, lowering my score. None of my hits were anything but center mass, but those three were at the edge of the silhouette and scattered.

I do not feel that that individual should be carrying a hi-cap auto! And some cops who qualify only annually may be in the same category.

T-Star
 
Good points from Buff and Texas Star, to hear the "other side of the coin" which seems to be true in some cases. Not every LEO you see carrying a revolver is a Bill Jordan or Skeeter Skelton:)

I know there is a VAST difference between armed security and LEO's. I was never a LEO but worked some armed security in my past. At my first one I carried a Glock 22, and all I can say is the overwhelming majority of my co-workers were NOT gun people, probably would have been better off with something simple and fool proof like DAO Ruger GP100 .38's. I later carried a Taurus 82 for a bried stint at my most recent rent-a-cop job, never even qualified with it, it was my own gun and I knew darn well I would never have to use it where I worked. My Taurus was cheap and I wanted to carry a gun I didn't have to care about.

In the Army Infantry it was a lot of the same thing, I won't get off topic but I knew some guys who I had to trust overseas with M249 SAWS,M4's,M2 .50's,249b's, and M203's, guys I would hardly trust with a Red Ryder in my presence let alone a machine gun......

I was talking to a retired cop this summer at my small local range, I had my Ruger Speed Six and a few S&W's and he was telling me he carried a "S&W .38" when he was a cop from the 70's-90's. I was like "what model was it?" and he was like "heck if I know,I'm not into guns I just hunt, I bought it used from some guy before I went to the academy because I wanted something el cheapo, sold it off after I retired". He said he only shot it once a year, the few guys from this local municipal PD would basically get together, blow some rounds off and call it an annual qual. He said he never bought an autoloader because he already had the revolver and wasn't about to pay for a new gun, he just needed to carry something and the PD said the revolvers were fine. Would have loved to have bought it from him, probably only had a few hundred rounds through it after decades of living in a holster:)
 
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This topic comes up every so often. Interesting to me.....and a bit sad, that as the years go by less and less revolvers are present in LEO holsters.

I was the last one to carry a six shot revolver as a primary handgun in Guilford County NC.

Probation & Parole had model 64's and 65's till 2005 IIRC. I used my 3" 66-4 till 2007 and a 3" 13-3 till 2009.

I spent many years going into terrible places looking for worse people with those sixguns and never felt under gunned.

My partner use to say, "You will be out of time before you are out of bullets." I think he knew what he was talking about. We were good shots back then - all of us on our squad anyway. Much higher scores than most of the kids we see today.

These days I still see some pre lock J-frames as BUGS/off duty guns. Not many though. Everyone wants high cap plastic it seems to me.

Miss those old days. Regards 18DAI.

I still stick my 2.5" 66-2 in a holster on my own time. :).
 
Ca. Dept. of Corrections uses 4" .38 special model 64's in the institutions, but transportation officers on the buses carry 9mm 6906's. Some of the 64's are stamped "CDC", some are not.
 
It's not really that much different today than when I started as a LEO in 1978. The guys that were into guns usually carried their own, even if the department issued guns. I was issued a NIB Model 15, that I was required to carry until I was off probation. After that, I could carry anything I wanted, as long as it was made by S&W, Colt, or Ruger, had a 4 inch barrel, chambered the department ammo (W-W .38 Special +P 158 grain LSWCHP), and I passed the department qualification. I started carrying a stainless Ruger Secuity Six, then I bought a Colt Python from a retiring investigator and carried that until I left the department.
When the department transitioned from M15s to Sig P220s, a few of the guys were "grandfathered" to revolvers, none of them were good shooters, and to a man, they didn't want to have to learn a new gun for the short time left before retirement.
 
"I don't see many revolvers in police holsters here, and those seen are usually NOT on the hips of people who look very proficient. I think they bought them cheaply from retiring personnel. Most probably regard a gun as mainly an expense. I don't think they have the ethnic/cultural background to be very gun-concious."

Wow, T-Star; Can you tell me how to spot someone who's not very proficient with their firearm? I'd like to know this because it would help me when instructing at our range. This would save a lot of time and ammunition, usually we have to wait and actually see them shoot before we can make a judgement like this. :)
 
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Up until about a year ago my local Sheriff's Department issued the 4" Model 64 and required that everybody carry one without deviation. They have just switched to some version of .40 Glock.

I always choose to carry a revolver for off-duty or backup. Whenever somebody denigrates the revolver or says it's too slow, I bring out my Model 64 or 66 along with the shot timer and none of the auto shooters can beat my split times.

Dave Sinko
 
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