safearm
US Veteran
I finally have one example of all of the handguns (only one original) that I carried as a police officer in suburban Chicago over four decades ago. When I started, the department issued S&W Model 15s with the "Chicago" load, W-W .38 Special 158 grain LHP+P. Once you passed probation, you could carry a personally owned weapon as long as it chambered the issue ammo and had a four inch barrel.
The weapon of choice among most police officers, both in the city and the suburbs, was the Model 66. A majority of the jurisdictions, including Chicago, required officers to purchase their own weapons, so finding a Model 66 for sale at retail price was nearly impossible. The largest city in Lake County (northern suburbs) had recently converted from Model 39-2s to Model 19s, so even finding a good Model 19 at a reasonable price was a challenge.
While there was nothing wrong with the Model 15, like all of the younger guys in the department I wanted to carry my own gun, and I really wanted one in the wonder metal, stainless steel, and .357 Magnum. So the first personally owned firearm that I carried was a stainless Ruger Security Six.
All of this came back to me last week when I was returning from a class that I taught in the southern part of the state. I was making my way from the training site to the highway that would take me home and I had to travel through the low rent section of town, both sides of the street lined with auto repair shops, tire stores, and three pawn shops within a block, just the kind of places to shop for gun deals.
I didn't find much at the first store, just a bunch of cheap plastic guns, but at the second store, there was a stainless Ruger Security Six in the case wearing Hogue grips and looking pretty good. I asked to see the gun and overall, I thought it to be in the 90% range, used but not abused. Based on the carbon rings on the cylinder and barrel throat, the gun had been shot, but not extensively. The asking price was $399, which I thought was a bit high. I left the store and went to the third store; not finding anything of interest I returned to look at the Security Six again. I made a cash offer on the gun and we settled on $375 out-the-door.
I got it home and removed the early style Hogue grips. They were not the spongy rubber material that current grips are made of, but were hard plastic, very similar to the Rogers-Safariland grips of the early 80s. The grips had never been removed as there were some corrosion spots on the inside edges of the grip frame. I cleaned up the entire gun and replaced the grips, knowing that I would be putting something else on it.
I did a quick search for Ruger grips and found a set on eBay that matched exactly the grips that I carried on my Security Six years earlier, right down to the cut-out at the bottom so you could see the serial number.
A few years back I acquired a Model 15-2 as a sentimental gun, having carried one both as a civilian police officer and in the Air Force, first as a Security Policeman and later as a combat aircrew. It wears period correct Pachmayr grips on it, just like I had on it in suburban Chicago (Note: While I was in the Air Force, we could put our own grips on the gun while we had it in our possession, but to turn it into the armory, it had to have the standard magna stocks on it).
The third gun that I carried as a police officer in Illinois was a Colt Python that my wife gave me as a combined second wedding anniversary/birthday present (the two dates are nine days apart). At the time, she worked as the Lead Dispatcher for a different municipality than where I worked. She got her Chief to buy it at the agency price and had it shipped to her department so I wouldn't know about it until she gave it to me (she's been sneaky that way her entire life!). I didn't carry that gun too long; I got the gun in September and was selected for flight training in the Air Force the next June, and went on active duty in December for 25 years. The Python, along with the original grips, box, and papers, has been with me ever since I received it. It may not be the last gun I ever get rid of, but it certainly isn't going anywhere soon, even with the outlandish prices that Pythons are getting.
I guess the Security Six was kind of a grail gun, and I'm glad that I went back to get it.
The weapon of choice among most police officers, both in the city and the suburbs, was the Model 66. A majority of the jurisdictions, including Chicago, required officers to purchase their own weapons, so finding a Model 66 for sale at retail price was nearly impossible. The largest city in Lake County (northern suburbs) had recently converted from Model 39-2s to Model 19s, so even finding a good Model 19 at a reasonable price was a challenge.
While there was nothing wrong with the Model 15, like all of the younger guys in the department I wanted to carry my own gun, and I really wanted one in the wonder metal, stainless steel, and .357 Magnum. So the first personally owned firearm that I carried was a stainless Ruger Security Six.
All of this came back to me last week when I was returning from a class that I taught in the southern part of the state. I was making my way from the training site to the highway that would take me home and I had to travel through the low rent section of town, both sides of the street lined with auto repair shops, tire stores, and three pawn shops within a block, just the kind of places to shop for gun deals.
I didn't find much at the first store, just a bunch of cheap plastic guns, but at the second store, there was a stainless Ruger Security Six in the case wearing Hogue grips and looking pretty good. I asked to see the gun and overall, I thought it to be in the 90% range, used but not abused. Based on the carbon rings on the cylinder and barrel throat, the gun had been shot, but not extensively. The asking price was $399, which I thought was a bit high. I left the store and went to the third store; not finding anything of interest I returned to look at the Security Six again. I made a cash offer on the gun and we settled on $375 out-the-door.
I got it home and removed the early style Hogue grips. They were not the spongy rubber material that current grips are made of, but were hard plastic, very similar to the Rogers-Safariland grips of the early 80s. The grips had never been removed as there were some corrosion spots on the inside edges of the grip frame. I cleaned up the entire gun and replaced the grips, knowing that I would be putting something else on it.
I did a quick search for Ruger grips and found a set on eBay that matched exactly the grips that I carried on my Security Six years earlier, right down to the cut-out at the bottom so you could see the serial number.
A few years back I acquired a Model 15-2 as a sentimental gun, having carried one both as a civilian police officer and in the Air Force, first as a Security Policeman and later as a combat aircrew. It wears period correct Pachmayr grips on it, just like I had on it in suburban Chicago (Note: While I was in the Air Force, we could put our own grips on the gun while we had it in our possession, but to turn it into the armory, it had to have the standard magna stocks on it).
The third gun that I carried as a police officer in Illinois was a Colt Python that my wife gave me as a combined second wedding anniversary/birthday present (the two dates are nine days apart). At the time, she worked as the Lead Dispatcher for a different municipality than where I worked. She got her Chief to buy it at the agency price and had it shipped to her department so I wouldn't know about it until she gave it to me (she's been sneaky that way her entire life!). I didn't carry that gun too long; I got the gun in September and was selected for flight training in the Air Force the next June, and went on active duty in December for 25 years. The Python, along with the original grips, box, and papers, has been with me ever since I received it. It may not be the last gun I ever get rid of, but it certainly isn't going anywhere soon, even with the outlandish prices that Pythons are getting.
I guess the Security Six was kind of a grail gun, and I'm glad that I went back to get it.
