L.A. Sheriff's Department 1940

[Club Gun Fan]

Here"s some more photos showing "gunbelt" style carry. First, a Colt DS in a Lewis rig:

and a policewoman after serving as a decoy for a rapist;

Hope this is of interest...
Regards,

Tecolote

I think I saw her this past weekend in Concord NH. It was on the way to the gun show. She was working as a common night walker near the Senior Center. Nice gams!

 

[Old cop]

I still have and use (from time to time) my Lewis holster. The Colt Cobra & all my J frames fit in the holster.

 

[05CarbonDRZ]

Here"s some more photos showing "gunbelt" style carry. First, a Colt DS in a Lewis rig:

and a policewoman after serving as a decoy for a rapist;

Hope this is of interest...

Regards,

Tecolote

Is the Rapist the Guy in the back with his Hand on his Hip and the Bannana in his Pocket?

 

[ironhead7544]

With possible rough handling, that trigger guard could be bent up jamming the trigger.

 

[SG-688]

Here"s some more photos showing "gunbelt" style carry. First, a Colt DS in a Lewis rig:

...
Tecolote

I think that may be an Official Police rather than a DS.

Great pictures.

 

[Art Doc]

Eighty years ago cops probably didn't worry about lawsuits. They sure do today and a butchered gun wouldn't help if there was ever any sort of questionable shooting. My feelings on guns that have ruined in this fashion are well known so no need to repeat them.

 

[66 shooter]

Ahhh, my Model 37, my cross draw and one of my John B's... (Stetson that is) and I'm good to go.

 

[Tom K]

Sgt. Tom Fleming (pictured in the original post) may be in the video linked to in this post: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...27211-1936-l-sheriff-dept-training-video.html
At least it looks to me like that's him on the far right at the start of the video.


Here is the front page from the Torrance Herald, Jan 21, 1937 with an article that describes the same kind of shooting as shown in the video. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Here's a closer shot of the article.

 

[Tom K]

Eighty years ago cops probably didn't worry about lawsuits. They sure do today and a butchered gun wouldn't help if there was ever any sort of questionable shooting. My feelings on guns that have ruined in this fashion are well known so no need to repeat them.

So SP, I guess you weren't the winning bidder on this Gunbroker auction for this 4" 1958 Model 29?
S & W model 29 44 Magnum Made in 1958 : Revolvers at GunBroker.com

(FWIW, I agree with your position on "Fitzing" a gun. It may have made some sense back in the day when Fitzgerald himself was doing it, in the interests of experimentation, but today it's just senseless butchery.)

 

[Jack Flash]

Cross draw holsters used to be the norm apparently. On old TV shows (Dragnet for instance), they were often seen in use by plain clothes policemen.

Is there a reason they have fallen out of favor?

 

[Doug M.]

Harder to conceal a real fighting gun; harder to do weapon retention techniques; harder to draw fast and safely, especially when it is not at all consistent with the hip carry that goes with a uniform assignment. Of course, there were agencies that carried their cross draw in uniform even into the 60s and maybe 70s, which was completely clownshoes. We've learned a lot about fighting with sidearms since the days of Cooper and his friends doing the old Leatherslap meets in the 50s.

AWIB is probably the fastest concealed carry mode, but it requires dedicated equipment and training and is not to be adopted lightly.

 

[Old Corp]

To think that there was a time that officers could wear their weapon in the "here, take my gun" fashion, certainly points to a simpler, more civilized time.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

All the men and women in my department used cross draw holster. That was in the 70's up until the 1990's.

 

[Pig Hunter]

Why without that part of the trigger guard , why it would just go off by itself, not like those modern high capacity plastic guns with no safety that NEVER have accidental discharges while re-holstering because it has an intact trigger guard! Try a Fitz sometime, there was a reason some of the old timers did what they did.

 

[Hoppe's no.10]

Photo follow up...

Photo follow up gleaned from another forum.

.

Florence Coberly is the 26 year old policewoman pictured here in 1952. She successfully decoyed the rape suspect, was attacked but he fled at the sound of other approaching officers including Coberly's policewoman partner. Coberly got off one shot at the fleeing suspect.

The suspect, one Joe L. Parra, was killed at the scene by Detective F.A. Marz who fired four shots after yelling, "Police officer, halt or I'll shoot."

Parra evidently didn't halt:

.

Coberly received an "Outstanding Policewoman Award" from the LAPD in 1952.

Unfortunately Coberly (by 1958 a married Mrs. Stanton) was dismissed from the Department following shoplifting charges filed against her:

.

Hoppe's no. 10

 

[Stephanie B]

Of course, there were agencies that carried their cross draw in uniform even into the 60s and maybe 70s, which was completely clownshoes.

Didn't they also used to put the arrestees in the right front seat if it was a single-officer car? So with a crossdraw, the perp would then have a harder time reaching the gun?

 

[RILEY31]

Look at this link of Texas Ranger Manuel "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas it shows a good pic of his working guns. I guess he didn't like trigger guards either

"Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, Texas Ranger -American Oil & Gas History

 

[Old cop]

That just looks like a ND waiting to happen, crazy dangerous especially on a 1911 platform.

 

[baxtersmith]

Hoppe's no. 10:
Thanks for posting that follow up on the policewoman...that's quite a story.

 

[LOBO]

Didn't they also used to put the arrestees in the right front seat if it was a single-officer car? So with a crossdraw, the perp would then have a harder time reaching the gun?

Mississippi Highway Patrol puts arrestees in the front passenger seat the majority of the time, although I don't know if it is their SOP or not. I do know that the Troopers do not carry crossdraw.