One Adam 12 Officer Pete Malloy Reloading his S & W Model 15

Here are some of the old Hunt Engineering Inc speed loaders my dad carried back in the early 1970's. I like them and still use them at the range now and then.
4k1MJvNl.jpg
 
B
JayCeeNC said:
... the AMC Matador was a superb patrol car. It came with a 401ci engine and outperformed many other makes.
Click to expand...

We had some Matadors in the Army (Military Police) and they were much better and faster than the Ford and Plymouths that came along afterwards.

As a civilian LEO, my first patrol car was a new 1979 Impala. I really got used to being outrun with that car,it came out of passing gear at 60 mph. Next car I had was an '82 Diplomat and it was just as slow and one of the biggest piles of junk ever foisted onto LE. My '85 LTD-II was a lot faster but it was uncomfortable and unreliable. I blew three engines and four transmissions in that car. Even blew the heater core while accelerating onto the freeway one morning.

My '88 Mustang was a dream, only had to replace the clutch a couple times on it. The fuel tank was kinda small so I'd have to refuel 2-3 times a shift. My '91 Caprice was a pretty good car and was the first to come with ABS, which came in handy a few times. After that I had a series of (four) Crown Vics and every one of them was a good, reliable patrol car. When Ford discontinued the Crown Vic in 2011 I knew it was time to pull the pin. I never could get comfortable in those Exploders.

When I graduated from the Academy, we were issued (and required to wear) dump pouches. I bought a couple Bianchi speed strips and that made reloading much easier. A couple years later the agency issued speed loaders and that was even better.

Like LoboGunLeather, I have a tendency to take the exit to Memory Lane but I enjoy reading of his experiences so I figured I'd add some of mine.

I don't know that I'd do it again if I had it to do over but it was a pretty exciting ride while it lasted.
 
Last edited:
Such a great post . Good info and car talk.I outran a PA State Police 440 back in the day with my 62 Chevy SS 327 4spd . I ran his speed trap about 120 and some big rigs got in passing lane . I made it to side street alley pulled in drive saw him fly by . never herd any thing . young and dumb.
 
SRT said:
Attached are Dade Screw Machine Speed Loaders for a K frame S&W. Compared to the speed of dump pouches I carried in 1973, the Dade was supersonic! The green tipped rounds in the third photo are KTW armor piercing.
Click to expand...


KTW ammo was started in Lorain, Ohio by Dr. Kopsch (Lorain County Coroner), Sgt. Dan Turcos of Lorain PD, and Don Ward, who was an investigator in the Coroner's Office.
 
S-W4EVER said:
B

We had some Matadors in the Army (Military Police) and they were much better and faster than the Ford and Plymouths that came along afterwards.

As a civilian LEO, my first patrol car was a new 1979 Impala. I really got used to being outrun with that car,it came out of passing gear at 60 mph. Next car I had was an '82 Diplomat and it was just as slow and one of the biggest piles of junk ever foisted onto LE. My '85 LTD-II was a lot faster but it was uncomfortable and unreliable. I blew three engines and four transmissions in that car. Even blew the heater core while accelerating onto the freeway one morning.

My '88 Mustang was a dream, only had to replace the clutch a couple times on it. The fuel tank was kinda small so I'd have to refuel 2-3 times a shift. My '91 Caprice was a pretty good car and was the first to come with ABS, which came in handy a few times. After that I had a series of (four) Crown Vics and every one of them was a good, reliable patrol car. When Ford discontinued the Crown Vic in 2011 I knew it was time to pull the pin. I never could get comfortable in those Exploders.

When I graduated from the Academy, we were issued (and required to wear) dump pouches. I bought a couple Bianchi speed strips and that made reloading much easier. A couple years later the agency issued speed loaders and that was even better.

Like LoboGunLeather, I have a tendency to take the exit to Memory Lane but I enjoy reading of his experiences so I figured I'd add some of mine.

I don't know that I'd do it again if I had it to do over but it was a pretty exciting ride while it lasted.
Click to expand...


Our Dept. special ordered '76 Ford Torinos and they were built at the Lorain, Ohio Ford Plant. They had heavy duty everything and a big Ford engine. The transmission was locked out for 1st gear, because when they tested them, the car would burn tires if the accelerator was put to the floor.
 
oink said:
A few had speed strips in their dump pouches.
Click to expand...

I still used speedstrips loaded with .38 Specials in a double dump pouch on my duty belt to reload my backup. I carried 4 speedloaders on my belt for my .357 Magnum service revolver.

In fact, I still use the speedstrips in a double dump pouch when I want to keep a lower profile.
 
I watched that episode yesterday afternoon. I remember it because Malloy was reloading and his life was saved by other officers who saw his situation, vulnerable while reloading. I love the program, and watch it every day except Sunday on ME TV.
 
triaxle said:
Such a great post . Good info and car talk.I outran a PA State Police 440 back in the day with my 62 Chevy SS 327 4spd . I ran his speed trap about 120 and some big rigs got in passing lane . I made it to side street alley pulled in drive saw him fly by . never herd any thing . young and dumb.
Click to expand...

I misspent my youth running fast women and faster cars. My AO was under PSP jurisdiction and even running GTO's and big block Torinos I (and my cohorts) were in fear of the big block PSP Mopars and did our best to try to avoid confrontations. The locals were running 318 cars and then transitioned to LTD II's but those guys all knew who we were. The Statie's were a different breed entirely, no nonsense, no sense of humor, no prisoners!
 
SPEEDGUNNER said:
I misspent my youth running fast women and faster cars. My AO was under PSP jurisdiction and even running GTO's and big block Torinos I (and my cohorts) were in fear of the big block PSP Mopars and did our best to try to avoid confrontations. The locals were running 318 cars and then transitioned to LTD II's but those guys all knew who we were. The Statie's were a different breed entirely, no nonsense, no sense of humor, no prisoners!
Click to expand...

I often think about all the money I spent on women, and cars, and liquor, and poker games. I guess the rest of my money was just wasted.
 
I started LE when speed loaders were the norm, and we trained with speed strips as well. At the range, we were timed to get us to reload as fast as possible. I alway carried two speed loaders on my duty belt, and an extra speed strip tucked in my waistband for quick partial reloads behind cover. I love watching the Adam-12 reruns I first enjoyed when I was young, but I cringe whenever I see them slowly reload from dump pouches. We came a long way since those days.
 
Last edited:
JayCeeNC said:
A friend is a retired LAPD patrol sergeant.
He said the AMC Matador was a superb patrol car. It came with a 401ci engine and outperformed many other makes.
Click to expand...

I came along a couple of years after my department retired the last of their Matadors. An old salt told me "Those Ramblers were the best cars we ever had".
 
JayCeeNC said:
A friend is a retired LAPD patrol sergeant.
He said the AMC Matador was a superb patrol car. It came with a 401ci engine and outperformed many other makes.
Click to expand...

Not a cop but I knew a lot about the cars .. That Matador was in use by our local town police. The PD (at that time a 100 sworn officers) was a very progressive agency and always had the best and many times was given items from the Feds and manufactures to check out.

My buddy owned a speed shop garage and many LEOs were our customers with their own cars. We had a good reputation on building and tuning "Go Fast" vechicles. Starting about 66 we did the tune up and major repairs on the cop cars. It first it was Plymouth's, with most being the 440 motor, then the AMCs.

I worked part time for my friend on and off for years, it was good money and I got everything I need for my cars at his cost!.

We found the AMC cars to be very capable/fast but we always had 1or 2 in the shop for major engine work. They did not have the reliability of the earlier Mopars. I worked on and road tested many of their fleet. As a very serious Dodge 440 owner (both street and strip racing) I knew the Mopars quite well but learned a lot about the AMCs.
 
Walter Rego said:
Officer Reed often grabbed the Ithaca Model 37 shotgun when they exited the vehicle expecting trouble. I have always wanted one of those in the riot gun, no nonsense configuration like Reed carried.
Click to expand...

Way cool, go buy one! Follow your passion!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNFzlbJyQHc[/ame]
 
Last edited:
As awesome and nostalgic as this thread is, I for one am SO glad our modern LEOs have better firepower available to them.

Check out this video (the 3:00 mark) from a documentary made in '73 about the NYPD in the Bronx:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0EMu2I_yoM&t=164s&app=desktop[/ame]

The instructor reiterates to the undercover officers that they are armed with a weapon virtually unchanged since the Indian days. Even way back in 1973, the writing was on the wall: the police service revolver was rapidly becoming obsolete.
 
You can thank a guy named Glock for figuring out what was needed and what would work. Then Glock marketed the new gun brilliantly. That is what made the high capacity Semi auto the mainstay of law enforcement. Smith & Wesson quickly rolled out a competitive gun.

But the point is that we did not get where we are today without the brilliant revolvers designed by and made by Smith & Wesson
that paved the way.

I would like to think that those of us who are members of the SWCA respect and cherish the history of our guns.

Have a Nice Easter.
 
Walter Rego said:
Officer Reed often grabbed the Ithaca Model 37 shotgun when they exited the vehicle expecting trouble. I have always wanted one of those in the riot gun, no nonsense configuration like Reed carried.
Click to expand...


We had Ithaca Model 37's and Remington 870's. After taking over as Range Officer and Armorer for our Dept. (we had approx. 80 sworn Officers at the time), I had the Dept. buy all 870's and equipped each Officer with one. We sold the 37's. I wanted uniformity for all Officers so they only needed to train with one model shotgun.
 
The only way the cop did not catch up was the big rig got in the pass lane beside another one . Back then I had 69 Road Runners, 68 Cuda 340,69 Cuda 340 4spd. those old State Police 440`s sounded mean .
 
Richochet said:
I found this picture several years ago of Officer Malloy reloading his S &W revolver after facing down a gang of burglars. His S & W Model 15 has a pair of Fuzzy Farrant stocks. Both Malloy & Officer Reed carried Smiths fitted with Fuzzy Farrant grips. I was inspired by the program to buy a pair of Fuzzies and put them on my K38 Combat Masterpiece. Nice feel and fit my hand well.
Click to expand...

Watching Kickok45, he unloads his Smith revolvers the same way, ejecting the rounds into his left hand. To me a very strange way to do it. Natural to him.
 
Nightowl said:
Watching Kickok45, he unloads his Smith revolvers the same way, ejecting the rounds into his left hand. To me a very strange way to do it. Natural to him.
Click to expand...

That's the way I do it, except that I take the gun to my left hand, then empty the brass into my right.

(I've always been too lazy to pick up brass if I didn't have to. One of many reasons I like revolvers over semi's.)
 
Doesn't seem strange to me since that's what I do, but I have never had any extensive training. Still, if I had to perform a reload in a very stressful situation, I can't imagine that I would first dump the empties into my hand and look around for a bucket to drop them in!
 
Last edited:
I'm left handed. I use the right thumb to work the cylinder latch, use my left hand fingers to open the yoke/crane, slap ejector rod with right palm, brass goes to the ground, then shift right hand to get speed loader/strip from where I carry it on my right side. Hold the revolver with left hand, cylinder gripped between fingers and thumb while loading with right, use left thumb to close, adjust grip, and re-engage targets. All done is far less time than it took to describe it.
 
Great post it will on Monday back East here at 5, I will be watching it .
 
JayFramer said:
As awesome and nostalgic as this thread is, I for one am SO glad our modern LEOs have better firepower available to them.

Check out this video (the 3:00 mark) from a documentary made in '73 about the NYPD in the Bronx:

YouTube

The instructor reiterates to the undercover officers that they are armed with a weapon virtually unchanged since the Indian days. Even way back in 1973, the writing was on the wall: the police service revolver was rapidly becoming obsolete.
Click to expand...

I watched this and was stunned. What a tone-deaf and anti-gun perspective! At the 13 min point, or there about, the officer depicted simply arrests anyone with an "illegal" gun. He can't even conceive of the Constitutional rights of law abiding citizens.
Imagine if that precinct devoted some of their resources and personnel towards training citizens in the use of firearms and then issued them borough-wide carry permits.
On the other hand, what a dysfunctional, horrible community!

Nonetheless, those officers are to be commended for their service and courage.
 
LAPD never used the extended magazine version of the model 37/87, that Im aware of. We had all sorts of modified versions 14" barrels, folding stock w/pistol grip, for motors for a while, and rifled barrels for beanbag guns. Of course with the 870 and Benelli there were more approved accoutrements than I can list here.
My wife and I were lucky and got these before we retired.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN1537 (1).jpg
    DSCN1537 (1).jpg
    75.5 KB · Views: 53
  • DSCN1539 (1).jpg
    DSCN1539 (1).jpg
    107.8 KB · Views: 46
  • DSCN1540 (2).jpg
    DSCN1540 (2).jpg
    144.3 KB · Views: 43
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

George_in_SD
  • Locked
**Added Pre War Maroon Boxes** 2nd Model K-22 Masterpiece Hammer, Pre War S&W Paperwork, Sights & More!
Replies
5
Views
758
RT44nut
R
S
I let one get away yesterday…
Replies
12
Views
972
Major 2
Major 2
C
  • Locked
**SOLD** S&W Model 15-3 snub 2” barrel .38 special revolver
Replies
1
Views
949
Bill In Texas
B
S
Ruger Redhawk replacing S&W 25-5 (.45s and family)
2
Replies
49
Views
3K
Mike SC Hunter
M
S
  • Locked
***Withdrawn***For Sale S&W Model 15-3 model 15-4 sold
Replies
2
Views
971
Sealevel
S

Latest posts

Back
Top