L.A. Sheriff's Department 1940

[TexasRaider]

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

I'm from Texas. Super proud of it. I'm a LEO in Texas. Proud of that. Worked with Rangers. Proud of them. Have immense respect for the Rangers, what they do and their history. Also, I dearly love old S&W wheelguns and 1911's like mad.

Having said all that, Mr. Lone Wolf's guns are without a doubt the UGLIEST guns I've ever seen. Seriously, it's like someone got out not just an ugly stick, but the ugly crowbar and beat on those things for a week. Those are puke stained abortions with a gold finish and ivory grips. They're so bad they made me sad.

Woof.

 

[Doug M.]

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?

*
I've known of agencies that would do that, although with education, prisoner cages and the like, that faded out in most places. Of course, I still see idiots handcuffing in front and wearing hats. You can't fix stupid if someone is really determined to be a dummy.

 

[S&W Fan]

Great thread!!

When I moved to the Denver area in 1984 there were still plenty of uniformed guys on DPD carrying revolvers in cross draw holsters. I believe they were grandfathered in. They were usually old badges, never saw anyone with a "Fitzed" though lol. Mostly S&Ws though I knew a couple that carried Pythons before either retiring or making the switch to a semi of one sort or another. If memory serves the PD had a long list of approved pistols.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Speaking of Fitzing a trigger guard, when I was packing a Model 36, I found the gun was so small that my trigger finger would sometimes hang up going into the guard. This caused me to clearly see the purpose of the Fitz modification, but regardless it is ugly. My solution was to "Half-Fitz" my trigger guard. I milled off half the guard, on the side, basically making more of a scallop. The guard was thus thinner where my trigger finger entered, and no longer got hung up. But the guard did not look butchered up either. Alas, I never took a pic of the mod, and switching to a Model 12 solved the problem better anyway.

 

[Tom K]

Speaking of Fitzing a trigger guard, when I was packing a Model 36, I found the gun was so small that my trigger finger would sometimes hang up going into the guard. This caused me to clearly see the purpose of the Fitz modification, but regardless it is ugly. My solution was to "Half-Fitz" my trigger guard. I milled off half the guard, on the side, basically making more of a scallop. The guard was thus thinner where my trigger finger entered, and no longer got hung up. But the guard did not look butchered up either. Alas, I never took a pic of the mod, and switching to a Model 12 solved the problem better anyway.

That is a modification that Bill Jordan endorsed - see pages 71-73, "No Second Place Winner". He had about the biggest hands possible and did not approve of Fitzing the triggerguard.

 

[ironhead7544]

IIRC, the Florida Highway Patrol used a 4 inch nickel Python in a cross draw spring holster back in the 70ties. The cross draw works very nicely when seated.

 

[Skeptic 9c]

The desire for absolute safety drove the cross draw out of favor. You sweep 90 degrees as you draw. Geoff
Who favors the Galco lite, despite the 180 degree sweep.

 

[Doug M.]

IIRC, the Florida Highway Patrol used a 4 inch nickel Python in a cross draw spring holster back in the 70ties. The cross draw works very nicely when seated.

*
While true, it has been made largely irrelevant by improved training. In most agencies, it's a major safety violation and certain to cause a failure for the day in FTO if you let someone walk up on you while you are sitting in the car.

 

[tecolote]

SG-688,you may be right; I'd never noticed the square butt before(unless it's a square DS from the early days or WW2 orders) and it does look like my OPs' butts.
Hoppes,thanks for the additional info on Officer Coberly. I knew about her downfall and even have the pics of the dead perp and her hearing(in which she's definitely aged in the 6 years) but didn't connect her with the perp photo. They took plenty of photos of her after the decoy op of other (male) officers fussing over her,unsurprisingly...

Regards,
Tecolote

 

[vonn]

Interesting posts,thanks for the info,learned some things.

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
An "Old Cop" Method prior to belt keepers was to thread the pants belt though the holster loop to keep the holster stationary in the desired position whether uniform or plainclothes.Plainclothes / Investigators/Detectives wore the weapon, ammo, and cuffs on a separate belt for ease of taking it off or on when doing paperwork.

 

[theoneff]

Seems like it would be very easily disabled with a slight bump and bent guard. Police work can be rough stuff. Hmmmm...