Were you law enforcement in the 70’s-80’s? What did you carry?

My brother got hired in 1982 on a PD in a wealthy suburb of Chicago. First weapon was a S&W 19-3, followed by a S&W 59 9mm, then a Beretta 96 .40cal. I inherited these upon his passing 3 years ago. His last weapon was a 1911, but he was getting ready to retire, so he didn't keep that one.
When the department bought the Berettas, it had the badge # of each officer incorporated into the SN of the gun. This one has a lot of sentimental value to me, and is my
 
Dump1567 said:
Sorry, I missed your cutoff. I got hired in 1990. But I went through the Academy with a model 15. After graduation, I strapped on my personally owned 4" 686. In 92', I took the Dept. required semi-auto transition course with my Glock 17. Back then, the Dept was transitioning to the 5904 for Patrol Deputies. If you were working in the Jail, you had a revolver. Unless you took the semi-auto transition course and carried your own gun. And eventually everyone was transitioned to the 5904 (5906 for Harbor Patrol).

Sometime in 91' I did buy a S&W model 36 for ankle carry but I was mostly a semi-auto guy. First a S&W 469, and then in 91' a Glock 19 for off-duty. I was an early fan of the Glock.
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I forgot to mention, our duty ammo for revolvers was the Winchester 158 Gr. LSWCHP +P. Original duty holster for the model 15 was the front break with thumb snap. I think it was referred to as the "widow maker", as it was really easy to do handgun take aways out the front of the holster. From the back, you couldn't pull the gun out. Academy staff use to love and try and snatch our guns out forcing us to work on our retention skills. When I went to my 686, I used a Gordon Davis thumb strap holster. Load out was 6 in the gun with 2 speed loaders (18 rounds). When I went to my Glock 17, the gun alone held as much ammo (17+1), backed up by 2 spare 17 round mags. I remember there being quad packs for speed loaders, but I never used one.
 
I went through my first Police Academy back in '86. I used a 4" Model 27-3 in a Bianchi "Hurricane" holster. Great revolver.

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I began my career in 1978 at a backwards dept in north Texas. They issued M10 but let me carry my M19 Smith as long as I carried 158 grain round nose lead bullets in .38 Special. I was the first to carry speed-loaders (HKS) and I was branded as "trigger happy" because I had speed loaders. I soon quit that dept because they were corrupt cops.
6 years later in 1984 I started at a larger department in the DFW area and they issued 4" M686 and Safariland speedloaders. We later went to M6906, then to M4006 ( no one liked that one). Then to two different Kimber 1911s in .45 acp. Now we are issued Glock 17.

I want my 1911 back.
 
I started in 1982 and finally retired for good in 2018. In the 80's I carried a 1911 mostly modified with sights and safety. I would also carry a M25-2 custom with a 4" barrel and full moon clips. Back then I was a Cooper / Keith guy and if the caliber didn't start with 4 I wasn't interested.
 
I started at a Sheriff's Office with 171 personnel in 1971. The Dept supplied uniforms. but no firearms. We were required to supply our own duty gear, including firearm & ammo. You had to qualify with whatever you carried, starting at the 50 yard line.
I started with a 4" blue Colt Trooper, 357, but switched to a S&W model 29, 6 1/2" after probation and carried that until 1976, when I switched to a nickel S&W model 58. I stayed with that until 1985 when I switched to a Colt Government model .45 acp. In less than a year, I switched to a Detonics Scoremaster, in .45 acp.

In 1992, along with about 50-60 other Officers I changed to Para Ordinance P-14, 14 rd semi-auto. I carried that until I retired in 2003. Along the way, I carried several different back up guns, mostly .38 or 357 snubbys. I kept everything, except the Trooper. The model 29, went to a friend.

The Dept switched over to Sig 225/226's in about 1986, but personal firearms were still allowed and anyone with one was grandfathered in. The Dept also later went thru M&P's & Glocks in 9mm.
 
I went into the academy in 1983. I was issued a Smith & Wesson model 66, 4" along with 18 rounds of .357 magnum. We carried our extra ammo in drop pouches. We qualified with .38 wadcutters and the last day of the academy they let each of us shoot six .357 magnums from our guns just to see the difference. Our issued ammunition was Winchester 125 grain JHP .357. We had a program through the department where we could order one of several different revolvers to use as our off duty/back up gun and they deducted the cost of it from our checks over time. I ordered a model 60 and a 2" model 64. We were finally issued HKS speed loaders in 1987. Almost everyone in my department carried a backup gun in an ankle holster while on duty.

I was in two shootings with the 66's and both guns were retired from service afterwards. I have both in my safe now to pass on to my sons.

In 1989 we transitioned to S & W 6906's as our duty guns. I hated that gun as I have very large hands and it just didnt fit me. We were issued Federal Hydrashock ammo and had several shootings with that load. We had some very dismal results from recovered bullets and switched to Gold Dot ammunition.

Shortly afterward we switched to S & W 4056 Tactical models when the .40 caliber phase hit. By then I was our department lead firearms instructor and armorer. After one qualification session in about 2006 we had 19 frames split and I had to replace them. We were carrying Gold dot ammunition in these pistols as well.

After our issue with the cracked aluminum frames we transitioned to Glock 22's still carrying Gold Dot ammunition. We carried those up until my retirement in 2015. At the time of my retirement, we were starting to transition to Glock 17's with Winchester 127 gr. +P+ ammunition.

I went to another agency for seven years and finished out 40 years in law enforcement before I retired for a second time. One of the first things I did when I went to the second agency was to transition them to the Glock 17 with the Winchester ammunition. Right before I retired the second time we transitioned again to Glock 45 MOS with a dot.
 
Club Gun Fan said:
A Model 29, Model 27 & or a Model 53. All three were 8 3/8 nickel with a gold bead front sight, smooth trigger with oversize Birdseye Maple smooth stocks. I also carried a Model 66, or a Model 19 both four inch. Off duty was a Model 19 2.5 inch.
Click to expand...
4" Model 19 with target grips were issued to all of us.
 
Jail Deputy for a couple years starting in '69.
Bring your own gun. It had to be 38spcl revolver, any bbl length up to 6" was OK.
I had a Post War HD 5" Nickle and used that at first. The Sheriff stop me at one point and What is that?
I told him. He said it 'Looked too big,,like a Magnum something. Get another handgun'".

I had already qualified with it once,,but OK,whatever the boss says. AFter all you didn't want to get fired from a job paying $2.32hr.

So I brought out my M&P 38. I had already chopped the 5" bbl down to 3" and round butted it, checkered the backstrap.
That was OK I guess as he never pulled me aside again.
I qualified with that too.\
Qual was out to 50yrds than. But 38spec WC were the ammo provided. It wasn't hard to 'pass'.
Even I qualified as Revolver Master each time.
The old 38caliber BIC pen helped quite a few ranking Officers qualify after a dismal performance on the range. Funny how they all shot mid to high 90 scores

Most Jail Deps didn't have a revolver, soS&W M36 3" revolvers were popular as a local distributor (Mathews & Boucher) had them for something $60 L/E price.
My M&P had cost me $25 IIRC about yr earlier. The HD put me back $45 in 1968. (it was LE marked too for the Town of Tonowanda (NY) PD).

The Road Patrol was issued S&W M&P 38spec w/6" bbl blued. Hunter Holsters. 12loop cartridge holders. All black leather.
A few would carry a personal 4" S&W or a 357Mag in the long holster, but if the OldMan caught you you'd be working in the Jail with me for a while or cleaning the Horse stalls for a month!!
P/C Deps issued S&W M36 2" though a few would sport a 3" edition around at times.

No shotguns in the cars up front. Only in the trunk and not in every veh. Might frighten someone.
The 'armory' contained 3 TSMG's and 2 Ithaca A&B guns 20ga.
They never went anywhere except to the range on qual days for giggle shooting.
Fun to shoot for sure and free ammo. What could be better.
Then they got sold to a Class III dealer a few years later I heard for $ to buy AR's.

The dept switched to S&W M66's about that time as well. 4" for the Road, 2 1/2 for P/C.
AFAIK, the Jail was still BYOG at that time.
 
I started in 87 at a small department with a 4" blued, Highway Patrolman. 125 full 357 HPs. Upon going to the SO I used the same but with 158grn +p 38 SWCs until we allowed autos. I next carried an Sig P229 with 134 grn HPs and later 124 grn +p. When we started allowing 45 acp I was the first to change(Sig P220 then HK USP Tac). A new admin. Allowed us the option of 1911 platforms. Again I was first to change, Wilson full size CQB with rail, then later a Nighthawk Enforcer Commander size…(day shift then retired) I worked mainly graveyards 25 years, last few years on days! I carried my Wilson for about 10 years in K9 and it was great with the surefire light! Loads were always 230 grn issued, mostly Fed HSTs. It was a great run but I'm glad I'm out……let's just say I'm old school and worked in the not so good parts of the City….yes I was county but being K9 for 14 years(2 partners), I was used in the city a lot in the ….less desirable( gang infested housing mainly) areas!
 
I was enrolled in a Junior College in Southern Indiana in a Law Enforcement program with an internship. I did a summer internship with a Sheriff's Department in 1975 and joined as a Reserve Deputy. A Deputy sold me his 39-2 which I carried as a Reserve. In the fall of 1976 I worked as a Town Marshall until I was hired by a small PD in southern Illinois.

I carried the 39-2 and also bought a model 65 4" I carried some as a TM. The small PD issued me a model 66 no dash, Jordan holster and Don Hume River belt, cuff case and dump pouches.

I was hired by a State Agency in 1988 and was issued a new S&W 439. In 1990 we transitioned to 5904/6904. In 2000 my Agency transitioned to Glock 22/23. I carried the Glock 22.3 until I completely retired from LE in 2012.

I carried several different backup guns and off duty concealed. I carried a Colt Combat Commander Satin Nickel 45 on some of my part time jobs plus a Detonics Combat Master 45.

I carried a Walther PPKs then later a stainless steel PPK. I traded the PPK for a then new S&W 3913 NL. Traded the 3913 NL for a Glock 27 when Agency transitioned to Glock.

I still have my 39-2 and purchased a 439 and 5904 after I retired which I still enjoy shooting. I wish I could've kept more of the handguns I used but I just couldn't afford it on a LE salary.
 
I started in 1968 and was only allowed to carry a .38 Special. Around 1970, the city permitted us to carry a .357, so I immediately purchased a Colt Python .357. A few years later, they approved carrying 9mm autos. At the firing range, the city only supplied .38 Special ammo, and if we used anything else, we had to provide our own. Just before I retired in '97, the city mandated Sig 10mm (I forgot the model) as the standard carry weapon. Unfortunately, the first batch had feeding issues, and all of them were returned to Sig. The replacements, however, worked properly.
 
I already mentioned what I carried in the early 90's and went to a personally owned Glock 22 in early 2000 (eventually a dept. issued G22) until retirement in 2017. My old dept. switched from the 5904's to the new SW99 in .40, in the late 90's, but those had constant problems & they went to the G22.

I just went back to my old depts. range in So. CA to do my 5 year CA CCW for retirees. I use my AZ CCW in AZ.

I'm not sure what they issues now, but I saw Glocks, M&P's, and someone was talking about getting a Staccato. One of the RO's was running a $7000 2011 Atlas. And someone was talking about taking the RDS transition course. Several deputies were qualifying with their BCM AR's with full rails. When I left, they had Colt 6940's. Sure didn't see any wheel guns. But they made everyone get rid of them for duty in the mid 2000's. I felt like a dinosaur, and I'm only 56.

Oh, how things have changed.
 
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