The Onion Field and LAPD K-38s

hi guys , perhaps this is not the right place to ask this question , but with a large populace of the LAPD here , i thought I would inquire , [sorry, cannot spell , I have had many beers today ].
is there a way to adjust a clamshell holster ??
I have two k frame clamshel and the sixgun is loose ??
really could use a pizza , peppers & onoions .
many thanks, robbt
 
They were fitted for specific 38's. So sometimes the foam worked loose. We used a little foam down along the barrel to tighten it up. Also Safety Speed made the best fitting ones, some of the others weren't as good.



CALREB said:
Here photos of both a regular 4"14 barrel and a LAPD cutdown.
I think Harry or Phil told me that a local company did the cut downs , milling for the front sights, precision drilling of the sight pin hole and reblue,if you look they did nice work. I dont remember what company or who did the work. Same with the model 10/64 Heavy barrels they were milled at the same place . Bob
Click to expand...


Why does Chesire and Perez start ringing bells....

Mike
 
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I worked full time at Cheshire & Perez in '78-'79. Don't recall any such mods being done then, nor do I remember seeing any around the shop.

Alhambra PD had their K-38's cut down to 4" and the front patridge sights remounted by a local Alhambra gunsmith "Wayne" who had a shop in the shopping center at New and Valley in Alhambra in the late 70's/early 80's. My recollection is that these were shortened sometime in 1978. Workmanship was only so-so.

I was issued one of these as an Alhambra Reserve in late 1978, early 1979. Carried it in a left hand Safety Speed swivel clamshell that I still have. It shot really well and I hated to give it up when I went regular in 1980. They reissued me a Model 15 that I never carried.
 
dnater,

Boy, Cheshire & Perez brings back memories! I made many trips to C&P between 1977 and 1979. We probably know each other. Kerry Freeman did the trigger on my PPC gun, duty Model 19 and my Model 57 that ended up as my duty gun when we got a Sheriff who was a "gun person", while we talked at his bench. Kerry hand picked my Model 57 from the Ventura PD turn-in guns and put a 6" barrel on it for me. His brother, Bill, worked there before he moved to Northern Idaho. What ever happened to Angie? She was a sweetheart and a pleasure to deal with. Danny Woo was Kerry's equal when it came to triggers, too. Jerry Perbaugh fixed the choke on my personal shotgun for me. I miss that place............

When I made Sergeant, Henry picked out a 2 1/2" Model 66 and sold to me at his price as congratulations for getting promoted. They were rare as hen's teeth at the time. I've also still got some of the Peters Blue Magic shotgun hulls that Chuck gave me from his trap shooting......... I also still have the Model 39-2 that Henry picked out for me from the Santa Barbara PD turn-ins that looked brand new.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but there were just too many good memories there.......

Fred
 
Writing about LAPD, how about LCPD?
What revolvers did T.J. Hooker and Officers use?
Despite being fictional, it did shadow similarities with LAPD...
 
Topic drift alert:

Danny Woo moved to Salt Lake City and worked as a gunsmith at a police shop called Professional Armaments and served as a reserve and firearms instructor for my department, the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office, in the early 1990's. He did an awful lot of work gratis as we transitioned from revolvers to semiautomatics. He was a great guy as well as skilled pistolsmith.

Sadly he developed cancer and died in the mid 1990's, far too young.
 
Mike Grasso said:
They were fitted for specific 38's. So sometimes the foam worked loose. We used a little foam down along the barrel to tighten it up. Also Safety Speed made the best fitting ones, some of the others weren't as good.

Mike
Click to expand...


I carried a model 66 in a Safety Speed clamshell in the early 80's. We would re-line our clamshells with thin black or navy neoprene from surplus wetsuits. Worked well and held the gun secure, and quiet.

-TS
 
Checkman said:
NA225

We didn't have hand held radios the first 7 years I was on the road. You knew the phone number to the places you normally checked out at and advised dispatch. When out on a call you took care of business or went back to the car to call for backup. Most of us actually didn't want walkies to start with, Sam Brown belt was already too heavy and crowded. Today the younger deputies wouldn't know what to do with out a hand held.

Hey I resemble that last part! Actually my father was a cop from 1970 - 1994. For at least his first ten years that was how he conducted business. Times change.
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When I went through the academy, every morning when we stood at attention and raised the flag, the instructors conducted inspection. Rain, snow, sleet, it didn't matter (many a day, your index finger felt like it froze alongside the frame of your revolver, waiting for the instructor to get to you). They would check your notebook, whistle, handgun, then look at your ID to verify you had a DIME taped on the back should you need to make a phone call (from a pay phone) to the dispatcher. Walkies.....what was that.... Ahhh, the good ole days!
 
Old Corp said:
Thanks, Bob. And not to belabor a point - but that begs the question - why?

Every agency I can think of has an 'official' patch that is unique to that department. Some have some sort of relevant symbol, some just simple embroidered 'print' IDing the department.
Just seems a little strange.

Closest thing I can think similar to this is a friend who went to work for the state of Missouri. They don't have a actual badge, just a little nickel-sized pin.
Thanks again.
L.C.
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May mention that Kansas City, MO, Police Dept doesn't have shoulder patches on their Uniform shirt, only on their jackets. One reason is the cost factor and the other is that officers usually wash their shirts rather than having them laundered.

We often asked the higher ups why we didn't have shoulder patches on our uniform shirts, and simply stated it was too costly. Every other agency in the area had patches.
 
BUFF said:
Topic drift alert:

Danny Woo moved to Salt Lake City and worked as a gunsmith at a police shop called Professional Armaments and served as a reserve and firearms instructor for my department, the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office, in the early 1990's. He did an awful lot of work gratis as we transitioned from revolvers to semiautomatics. He was a great guy as well as skilled pistolsmith.

Sadly he developed cancer and died in the mid 1990's, far too young.
Click to expand...

I'm truly sorry to hear that Danny passed away. He really was a great guy, and very, very talented gunsmith.

Fred
 
Buckoo said:
When I went through the academy, every morning when we stood at attention and raised the flag, the instructors conducted inspection. Rain, snow, sleet, it didn't matter (many a day, your index finger felt like it froze alongside the frame of your revolver, waiting for the instructor to get to you). They would check your notebook, whistle, handgun, then look at your ID to verify you had a DIME taped on the back should you need to make a phone call (from a pay phone) to the dispatcher. Walkies.....what was that.... Ahhh, the good ole days!
Click to expand...

I kept my dimes, later quarters, taped to the inside of my gunbelt...
 
Coming in rather late on this, but, in re: the Ithaca shotguns, I bought a model 37 police special, that was marked "Los Angeles Police department" but was not a true LAPD gun as it had an 18" bbl rather than the actual 14" bbl that both LAPD, LASO, and NYPD used as duty guns. I bought this gun
at "F. Morton Pitt" in San Gabriel. Any of you LA area coppers remember that place?
 
LAPD Ithacas didn't have 14" barrels. Later on, older Ithacas were cut down to 14", refinished and a folding stock added for motor coppers (only). This was after the 870 Rem was adopted for regular patrol issue.
Bob
 
Eight pages of old home week. Outstanding to have you folks here. A few years ago I picked up a couple of Smiths from a dealer in Colorado. One was a 15-3 with Mershon grips and a pre 14 Target Masterpiece with Murad Pointers on it that I shoot to this day. The dealer told me that both guns belonged to a retired LAPD officer but he did not care to be identified. Whoever this officer was he was a serious shooter. The pre 14 is a real sweet shooter. I was able to attribute the 15-3 to the LAPD so I am sure that the dealer told me the truth. To bad I can't provide a name for you.
DW
 
I'm another veteran of the LAPD. I worked the same Division as Hettinger just before he was pensioned off. They had him working Detectives. He was visibly a broken man. I heard he was also an alcoholic. Of all places to retire, he moved to Bakersfield and started a gardening business.

I have my Dads (K-38, 6") that he had to purchase when he joined LAPD in 1950. When I came on in 1964 they issued both the 6" Smith and the 6" Colt Officers Model Match. I received the Colt. When they went to double action only revolvers in the 70s they picked up all the Colts and sold them because they didn't convert to the double action mode very well.
They would not give us the opportunity to buy them. A buddy of mine located his in New Mexico and bought it off the new owner. I wish I still had mine. When they picked up our Colts they issued the 4" S & W model 14 which I still have. The officers with the 6" pistols could keep them but had to have them converted to double action only. My Dads pistol has the "M" grips. So did my Colt. I wish I knew how to post a picture.
 
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