Current Law Enforcement Revolver Use

[C/O]

The Corrections Department I work for currently uses model 10's and 64's. I developed my love for S&W revolvers over the years of using them. I am a firearms instructor, and an armorer for my institution.

Unfortunately, the powers that be have decided to switch to the Glock 23 over the next year. Not that it is a bad gun; I just don't shoot them very well.

JLWeems, I call my 30/30 rifles my AAR30's (Appalachian Assault Rifles).

 

[Texas Star]

I'm familiar with the "barbecue gun" term as well as the term "court gun". I'm sort of combining the two.

I'm a history buff, and revolvers and vintage duty gear just play right into that. I feel perfectly well armed with a good wheelgun. The only problems with carrying them daily is the beating such a gun in a duty rigs takes as well as being able to replace it if it goes into evidence after a shooting. I can replace a Glock within the hour.

I also firmly believe in the use of a lever action rifle for patrol work. Just to indulge my sense of humor, I had a Marlin 336 parkerized and put a black synthetic stock on it. Some of my buddies dubbed it the "Reneck Tactical Rifle". I do have a non-defiled levergun available though.

How long would it typically take for an officer to get his gun back if there's a shooting? Have any of you had that happen? Was the gun well taken care of by the evidence people?

T-Star

 

[Chili Vega]

Out of several the longest it took me was about three weeks before I got it back. it may have taken so loong because three agencies were involved. They were still dirty but not abused by any means.

How long would it typically take for an officer to get his gun back if there's a shooting? Have any of you had that happen? Was the gun well taken care of by the evidence people?

T-Star

 

[jlw]

How long would it typically take for an officer to get his gun back if there's a shooting? Have any of you had that happen? Was the gun well taken care of by the evidence people?

T-Star

It depends on who is doing the investigation. The state crime lab is backed up so bad that it may take six months or longer. We had a deputy involved in a shooting almost two months ago, and it has yet to be tested.

As for how well it will be taken care off, that depends upon the folks taking it into evidence and everyone who handles it along the way. All it takes is one person to screw it up.

 

[stantheman86]

If a LEO is on duty and he has to shoot, and it's justified, they take your gun into evidence!?!?

Do they expect you to just buy a new one in the meantime

 

[BUFF]

It doubtlessly varies from agency to agency, but most departments have spare weapons in inventory. Our practice is for the armorer to bring a similar weapon to the site the officer is at for the post-shooting investigation. The officer gives his gun and magazines to the armorer, they are unloaded, and the attending crime scene investigator/forensics person photographs them, to account for the rounds missing and thus presumed to have been fired. They are packaged as evidence and the armorer gives the officer the replacement weapon, magazines and ammunition. The officer then goes to the range sometime in the next few days, and qualifies with the new gun, before he can return to duty when cleared.

How long the weapon is kept in evidence depends on what issues may be raised during the investigation. Most of the time, especially in single officer shootings, the armorer examines the weapon to certify it is in proper condition, per manufacturer specs, especially for things like trigger pull weight and safety mechanisms operation, and may collect exemplar fired casings and bullets. At the minimum, this information is needed to confirm that the officer's weapon and ammunition used were within department policy.

What armorer does this will depend on whatever arrangments have been made by investigating agencies. Around here, we have an agreed-upon protocol that includes the shooting agency, the county prosecutors office and, if different, the venue agency (where the shooting happened), which all investigate the officer-involved shootings.

Unless unusual issues are raised, this goes pretty fast around here.

 

[jlw]

If a LEO is on duty and he has to shoot, and it's justified, they take your gun into evidence!?!?

Do they expect you to just buy a new one in the meantime

You can pretty well count on any firearm used in a shooting will be taken into evidence. Most agencies these days issue firearms. I have issued weapons, but I often carry one that is personally owned, but I understand what will happen if it gets used in a shooting.

My previous agency issued our firearms and didn't allow for the carrying of anything but the issued firearms.

 

[John Eilertson]

I believe that police should at least know about using sights and not just spraying and praying with semis. Too many gun battles end up with bullets spread all around, and innocent bystanders struck. Obviously, this complaint doesn't apply to all LEOs, but too many for my liking.

 

[jlw]

I believe that police should at least know about using sights and not just spraying and praying with semis. Too many gun battles end up with bullets spread all around, and innocent bystanders struck. Obviously, this complaint doesn't apply to all LEOs, but too many for my liking.

I am a POST certified firearms instructor. I am also an NRA certified firearms instructor and am a member of a shooting club. Based on my first hand experience, peace officers are superior combat shooters when compared to the average firearm owner.

Nothing in the above statement states or implies that peace officers are superior combat shooters to true "gun people" that have firearms as their hobby or are truly serious about shooting.

I recently had a discussion with a competitive shooter who was making statements about poor combat accuracy among peace officers. I pointed out to him that in actual combat shooting situations, we don't get walk throughs. We don't get just a few seconds added to our time for shooting a non-threat target. Also, the cardboard, steel, and paper menaces aren't actually trying to kill us.

The deputy that I mentioned in a previous post as having been involved in a shooting fired one shot from 55 yards on a suspect that had already shot one person and was pointing a pistol at another deputy. Two weeks later I beat him by 25 seconds at a GSSF match. I guess he's just a horrible shooter.

Now, I respectfully ask how the need for officers to use sights and not spray and pray relates to the carry of revolvers on duty. Do revolvers somehow magically fix poor marksmanship skills?

I'd also appreciate some statistics as to how often innocent bystanders are actually struck by bullets fired by peace officers. In what percentage of shootouts does this occur? How does that percentage compare to the number of bystanders hit by the bad guys?

 

[8-Shot]

Guess we do things alot different here in OK. The night/day of your shooting you go down and fire 3-4 rounds in the tank and thats it. You keep your gun with you. There has been an instance where a family sued an officer and he had his gun subpoenaed as evidence and he had to turn it over to a lab. They found he installed a 3.5 trigger in his glock and they tried to say that made his gun more deadly. It all worked out in the end though.

 

[stantheman86]

The old "hair trigger" thing......I guess even LEO's aren't immune to this.

This is the reason I carry stock revolvers with stock springs. If I were to use some of those hi-speed springs in my wheelguns,if I use my CC gun for a legal defensive shooting, and the "expert" who looks at it will say I altered it to make it "more deadly"......

 

[Frank46]

I live in a small parish town here in Louisiana called New Iberia,
For about the first ten years our city police and sherrif's department mostly carried Model 10's.When they abolished the city police most went with the Glock in 40 S&W. The Model 10's that I saw were all of the pencil barrel type. All had to purchase
their own gear. Frank

 

[dbarale]

When in uniform my BUG is still a .38 revolver (lately an early production Charter Undercover.... I know, I need a 642, anyone has one they want to donate?).
When I work plain clothes I often carry a snubby Ruger Security Six. People are amazed to see a revolver, you would think I'm carrying a flintlock!

And, yes, if I get in a shootout I fully expect to lose them to a dark, damp evidence room...

 

[MoPoPo]

If a LEO is on duty and he has to shoot, and it's justified, they take your gun into evidence!?!?

Do they expect you to just buy a new one in the meantime

Usually, the Dept. has a spare at the precinct you can use until you are cleared from the OIS. Then you get your gun back (that is if your department has the funds and resources).

 

[Armyphotog]

You can fight the new "trend" and you can't argue down the automatic users, so I don't try. I'm old school and still remember what our range officer told us in the academy back in 1968. "If you ain't brought 'em down by your second shot, it don't matter anyway, cause you are already dead."

 

[vipermd]

Armyphotog: I agree that the most important shot is the first one whether it be man or beast, and therefore practice is still first priority. Many "people" can not fire a 4" 357 or 40 S&W with out substantial practice. Many can empty a mag, but like they say " ONLY HITS COUNT ! " Be Safe.

 

[amazingflapjack]

yeah-did you happen to see the avalanche of trophies those cats have piled up over the years? That should tell anyone listening something I would think (?). Flapjack

 

[JOliver]

Our small department doesnt issue so its up to us as to what we want to carry,We have an older guy that carries a 4" Colt Ananconda in 45 LC.

I currently have a Glock 21 but I'm on the prowl for a 627 8 holer and then I'll have to find a duty holster