Pictures From the KCPD During the RM/NRM Era

[lestert357]

As many of you know, the Kansas City Police Department used 4” S&W .357 Magnums (Reg Mags & Non-Reg Mags) from the latter part of 1939 up until about 1957 when the KCPD replaced them with the 4” Heavy Barrel K-38 Masterpiece. Here is an example of these Magnums…..

Through a recent eBay auction I was able to acquire a substantial number of KCPD Annual Reports for the years 1942 through 1952 - all years on which the S&W Pre-War .357 Magnums were in service. Below I have pictured the cover of each of these Annual Reports followed by some excerpts from the reports that picture or describe activities associated with these Magnums. In several cases I have only pictured the cover of the report as I did not find anything of interest related to the Magnums. I have commented on some of the pictures; on others I just let them speak for themselves. Many of the pictures are not excellent quality as you might expect from 70 - 80 years old documents, but I hope you find some of these pictures of interest…..

This 1942 cover pictures the style of breast badge implemented by Chief Lear B. Reed in 1939…..

The below excerpt mentions 462 members in the enforcement branch, very close to the number of 4” .357 Magnums purchased by the KCPD (473) in 1939/1940…..

The 1943 cover…..

The 1944 cover is my favorite; it pictures an officer in the combat-shooting position as advocated and taught by KCPD Lieutenant (later Captain) Byron Engle at the time…..

Equipment included the Magnum as you can see…..

The gun room…..

The outdoor range…..

The indoor range…..

The 1945 cover…..

The 1946 cover…..

I believe this photo shows a Tyler-T style grip adapter mounted…..

Instructor wearing his Sam Brown style belt rig in class…..

The 1947 cover; this issue probably has the most extensive information about the Magnums and was referenced in Timothy Mullin’s book entitled “Magnum”…..

Actually I’m not sure this is a Magnum pictured as I see service style grips (rather than original Magna grips), and I can’t see an adjustable rear sight, but perhaps it has been removed…..

The 1948 cover…..

I thought this picture showed the cartridge loop configuration very well…..

The 1949 cover….

The 1950 cover…..

Even some senior officers apparently wore the Magnum in the Sam Brown belt setup…..

The 1951 cover…..

The 1952 cover…..

 

[two-bit cowboy]

Fantastic post, Terry.

Looks like you struck gold with that ebay find.

 

[RKmesa]

Terry:

Thanks for sharing. Very fun walk through history.

...Actually I’m not sure this is a Magnum pictured as I see service style grips (rather than original Magna grips), and I can’t see an adjustable rear sight, but perhaps it has been removed…..

I agree that the above gun under repair in the 1947 Report is NOT a Magnum - no barrel shroud either... My guess is that it is a 5" M&P, or a 44 Spl with an unshrouded barrel.

 

[quinn]

Those are great, Terry. Thank you for posting! Not often is material like this available.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Great Post and thank you for sharing.

 

[j38]

Very informative, Terry. Thanks much!

Jerry

 

[dobegrant]

Thanks for sharing some fascinating history to go with a really cool revolver.

 

[mchom]

Terry
Amazing post. You are the Godfather of Pre War Magnums

 

[S-W4EVER]

Impressive.

 

[lawandorder]

Great find Terry. Congratulations.

 

[mikerjf]

Amazing they spent so much time rebluing guns! Maybe they should have bought nickle?

 

[sophie]

Very interesting and good read. Lots of good information and great old pictures. Thanks for sharing.

 

[robvious]

the costs back in the day are amazing...

 

[Baxter6551]

Great post. Thank you

 

[paplinker]

Great post Terry!

Curious, looking at your first picture the Non reg mag is in a picture box. Was that the norm for KCPD magnums that they shipped that way? Wonder if large orders they might have cut a couple corners with that?

 

[gunbarrel]

Very cool post!

 

[lestert357]

Curious, looking at your first picture the Non reg mag is in a picture box. Was that the norm for KCPD magnums that they shipped that way? Wonder if large orders they might have cut a couple corners with that?

Rich, I asked Dr. Jinks that question back in 2016 and this was his reply…..

Also, when going through the old database on the S&W Forum a couple years ago I discovered this information…..

So I believe that the Magnums in the large shipments to the KCPD (250 Magnums on 9/7/39, 200 Magnums on 1/30/40, 26 Magnums on 7/3/40) were placed in individual blue boxes, however being an old logistician I have to believe that some kind of special crate or container was used to house the individual blue boxes.

Supposedly 4” Pre-War Magnums were shipped in the small sized blue box like the one I got for my KCPD Magnum pictured in post #1 above, however I suspect that both small and medium sized boxes were used for the large KCPD shipments depending on availability at the time. I was not able to verify the size of the KCPD box noted as sold on eBay in 2012.