Duplicate duty pistols?

[secondstoryguy]

Do any of you guys have a set similar/identical duty pistols? Do you practice with one and carry the other? If so, why?

I’ve always had a spare duplicate that mirrors my duty pistol but I’m beginning to think it’s superfluous. I shoot more than most but it’s not like I’m burning through 50k rounds a year or anything.

I know some will say it’s needed if you get into a UOF but I think you will be on admin leave for long enough to procure another...

[41magfan]

I might be prompted to have a "spare" if it was my responsibility to provide my own duty gun. I didn't carry a POW too often during my career so if my "duty gun" was out of commission for any reason, they would simply issue me another one.

Am I misinterpreting the question? Disregard this post if I am.

[psalms144.1]

My finances won't let me have a suite of pistols with duplicates or triplicates, so I try to build redundancy other ways. For me, that means a family of GLOCKs, G19 (primary), G26 (BUG and off duty summer carry), and G34 (nightstand with WML). I feel if I lose any of these to reliability issues or evidence, I can press one or more of the others into service. If my 19 goes away, I can carry my 34 in a JMCK IWB for a primary carry gun until my LGS gets me another G19 in stock, or, I can "down gun" to the G26 loaded with a G19 magazine and G17/34 mags as reloads. If the G26 is out of action, I can always work a little harder at concealment and carry the G19 in its place. Holsters interchange, mags interchange, parts interchange - easy peasy.

[John10-19]

I have a pair of Gen 4 Glock 17s with gadgets, X300s, and TrijiconHDs. One is my primary duty pistol and the other is the backup primary and training gun. I also have single copies of the Glock 26.4(back up), 19.4(Off Duty) and a pair of 43s, those are all set up with HDs and Gadgets.

I’m not comfortable carrying a dirty gun on duty, so I like having a training gun which I can go use for an hour and leave dirty between uses. It’s a little thing, but the easier and faster you make it to train the more often you will go do it.

I think psalms 144.1 makes a good point and agree for the non LE user a Glock 19 carry gun could be the back up to their USPSA, training, home defense Glock 17/34. The 19 is close enough in performance and handling I would rather own a 34 or 17 and a 19 than two 17s and not have the compact carry option.

[WobblyPossum]

My duty gun is issued by my agency so if it has to go into evidence the agency will provide another. I do have an identical backup to my primary off duty G19. I carry one that I vetted and do most of my practice and training with the other.


–————————————————
My posts only represent my opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of my employer. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.

[HCM]

Do any of you guys have a set similar/identical duty pistols? Do you practice with one and carry the other? If so, why?

I’ve always had a spare duplicate that mirrors my duty pistol but I’m beginning to think it’s superfluous. I shoot more than most but it’s not like I’m burning through 50k rounds a year or anything.

I know some will say it’s needed if you get into a UOF but I think you will be on admin leave for long enough to procure another...

I carry an optional approved POW, a Gen 4 Glock 17. I have a duplicate which is identical except the duplicate has Trijicon HD XR sights vs HD on my “on the books” gun. Ok, I admit it, I have three Gen 4, 17s, plus a 17 MOS, Plus .... ok damn it I have a Blue Label problem!

Seriously, when I carried Agency issued guns (HK USPC and P229R) I normally kept a personally owned copy for training as we are only supposed to shoot GOV issued ammo in GOV guns.

Along the lines of the OP’s question, I used to work in a smaller office where a co-worker got into a shooting. We sent him home with my Agency issued gun because A) I was the only one with a second gun / POW authorized and B) the nearest Agency spares were 5 hours away. Your situation may vary.

[1slow]

Identical practice and carry pistols. Shoot 1000+ ball and 200 or so JHP to prove the carry pistol and put the 10,000 rounds a year on the practice pistol.
This is with HKs and pre problem Glocks.
If affordable have 3, Carry, practice, spare. Also when evils friends show up and pistol is in the evidence locker, I want a tested spare.

If I were vetting a system I had less experience with, I might test more.

[txdpd]

Once you've put your duty gun through it's paces and your confident it works, the less you mess with it the better.

If you have a range/dry fire gun you won't be putting unnecessary wear and tear on your duty gun with practice, you won't be screwing up your duty ammo cycling it, and you reduce the risk of an ND or empty duty gun from dry fire practice.

[1slow]

Yes to the above.

[BehindBlueI's]

Yes. I bought a retiree's gun. Other than 4 digits of s/n, it's exactly the same.

[JR1572]

I have a duplicate of my duty gun. Matter of fact, all my glocks are setup the same including my 17R.

JR1572

[TGS]

No. Sidearms are issued to us, and currently as a pair of G19 and G26, so there's significant commonality between the issued pair as is. If I need a replacement, I get one from work.

If we provided our own weapons, I'd have a duplicate.

[TheNewbie]

I have a 26, but I am thinking selling/trading it for a 17. I had rather have two identical guns at this point.

[jnc36rcpd]

I carried a SIG 226 for most of my career. My off duty pistols were the 228 9mm and later the .40 229. (That said, I usually carried the duty pistol off duty.) The pistols were close enough in size and operation that I felt practice with one sufficed for practice wit the other. As confessed here, I feel uncomfortable carrying a fired weapon on duty. I realize that's OCD, but a lot of you feel likewise. I don't think everyone needs an exact duplicate of their primary pistol, but a smaller version may serve the same purpose.

[TheNewbie]

I like a clean duty weapon. Yet, after cleaning my duty gun I like to shoot 1-3 magazines through it to confirms function. Maybe this is OCD too.

[Erick Gelhaus]

When I carried a 1911, I always had a near identical spare (it was also a traininggun). Carrying a personally owned 9mm M&P or an issued G17, no. If something happens to either a replacement will be fairly easy to acquire & make into a duplicate.

[Trooper224]

Duty gun is issued, so will be replaced by the agency if needed. For Off duty/POWs I go by the rule of three: one for carry, one for training and a spare.

[El Cid]

I have a spare of my duty pistol and rifle. And they stay in the safe at home unless training with them. Depending on each agency’s rules for evidence collection your guns could be taken for processing even if you don’t shoot but are at a shooting scene. Also I know LEO’s who have had every firearm in their vehicle seized as evidence after a shooting. And they were near, not in their vehicle.

[Sherman A. House DDS]

On duty gun is POW, but I have pairs of my pistol and carbine. 870 is issued with the car.


civiliandefender.com

[Beat Trash]

Duty pistol is issued. My agency keeps loaner spares at Homicide. If involved in an OIS incident and you do not leave in handcuff's, you're issued a loaner gun before you leave the building.

If I had to purchase my own duty pistol, I would have an identical twin that was vetted and set aside. I chose to carry a personally owned, departmentally approved Patrol Rifle. I have a spare set aside, that is tested and vetted. I've seen weapons involved in an OIS incident released within 4-6 weeks, but in my city, the average time is closer to around 4-6 months. I've seen it take as much as a year before the prosecutor's office released the gun.

[Grouse870]

I don’t have a spare. But that is going to change here in the next month or so. With my recent foray into competition shooting (which I love) I’ve decided that a very close duplicate is a good idea.

[MI Law]

If I had to purchase my own duty pistol, I would have an identical twin that was vetted and set aside. I chose to carry a personally owned, departmentally approved Patrol Rifle. I have a spare set aside, that is tested and vetted. I've seen weapons involved in an OIS incident released within 4-6 weeks, but in my city, the average time is closer to around 4-6 months. I've seen it take as much as a year before the prosecutor's office released the gun.

I guess that's about the only good thing about our OIS SOP...we don't get to come back to work until the Prosecutor has denied murder charges against the officer. So once the criminal case is over we can get our gun(s) back and go back to work. The time frame has ranged from 3 months to a little over a year.

[deuce9166]

I remember as a kid reading a Guns and Ammo story about Armand Swenson. He highly recommended to have two identical pistols. One to carry and one to shoot with. Always stuck with me.

[sierra 223]

My duty gun is a personal G-17 gen 3 with Trijicon HD sights. Also qualified as a backup/off duty with my G-19 gen 3 Trijicon HD sights. Off duty I carry the 17 99% of the time and keep the 19 empty for dry fire practice so that I don't chamber rounds over and over.

Have two similar AR's set up for patrol in case primary were to go down or seized for evidence.

[Rex G]

Yes, a pair-and-a-spare is nice to have. Generally, a pair was the minimum. I owned* my duty pistols, and changed sysems several times over 34 years. If one of them had reliability problems, it would be the designated training pistol. (I became very good at clearing 1911 malfunctions.) In some cases, one had a better exterior finish for rough duty, so would be the usual street gun. Otherwise, each pistol filled any role.

*Recently retired, so, past tense.

[JATA]

I carried a POW, for years. Rather than have a duty/duplicate, I just opted for a g23 so it would be (almost) a full size carry gun AND small enough to carry (concealed) off duty.

[MD7305]

All of my duty guns have been issued. I always had a personally owned copy that I carried off duty and trained with (off duty). Recently I'm more inclined to have platform commonality with my issued gun than a specific number of guns.

[deputyG23]

My duty handgun has been either an issued 9mm or .40 Glock since '89. It is currently the G4 G23. I currently own no other Gen 4 Glock for practice since I currently own five G2/G2.5/G3 Glocks. Am tempted to pick up a G4 G22 for a .40 practice gun set up the same way as the issued piece as far as trigger (dot connector and standard trigger spring) and no back strap. I realize that the G22 would not be an exact copy but I am seriously considering retiring 1 December and don't feel the need to have two identical .40 Glocks since I will get to buy my current issued one for $1 when I pull the pin.

[KPD]

I am issued a VP9. I wanted a spare VP9, but I found a P30 for less than a VP9 thanks to a very generous friend.
My rationale is that I want a identical spare in case something happens to my issued gat. As it stands now the only similarity is compatible magazines! I may trade it for a VP9 and I really should, but that P30 is nice!
Anyway, I encourage everyone to have an identical spare for lots of reasons. The first and most important reason is that you most likely have the most trigger and training time with whatever you are issued. Having the same as your issued gun gives you something you already know very well

[Bcj128]

I carry my own pistol (G17 Gen 4) and I have 3 G19’s as backups to that gun (Gen 4, 5,and a 19X). We issue the G22/23 but after 26+ years and getting older I like the 9mm better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[theblacknight]

Only by circumstance. I personally dropped M&P's for Glocks long before I was hired at a place that ended up doing the same.

My main range 17/old USPSA gun is only different from my work 17 in that it had adjustable Dawsons instead of the Chargers, and my work gun has less then 1k on it, while the range gun has 30k+.

If work went to some stupid gun, I wouldnt buy a spare.

[SamueL]

I have an identical to my issued duty pistol. I use it for practice and demoing when running the range so I don't have to constantly clean my duty pistol to meet department regulations.

[ST911]

so I don't have to constantly clean my duty pistol to meet department regulations.

What does that mean?

[DpdG]

Unfamiliar with his employer, but policies mandating completely clean weapons for duty use are not uncommon.

[SamueL]

What does that mean?

My department, by regulation, requires all issued pistols and department weapons to be cleaned after firing and other conditions.

[alanrhodes001]

I'm on military leave for long term orders (stateside) just bought a police trade in of my duty pistol (Sig 229 DAK). Ill have to requalify as soon as I am back so seemed like a good idea.

[tcba_joe]

With the rules for USCG LEOs, I don't have access to my duty gun unless I'm about to go on an LE operation.

I bought a P229-40-DAK for dry fire and training (which I need to do more). If I was local LE I'd have a copy of my duty gun for the same reason. We're supposedly going to the M17, so I'll pick one up as soon as it's available commercially.

[txdpd]

Unfamiliar with his employer, but policies mandating completely clean weapons for duty use are not uncommon.

It's a good idea anyways. We had a shooting where 9 or 10 officers fired rounds. Everyone at the scene got their guns checked. There were a couple guys that roped themselves into the investigation by not having guns that were clean or dusty enough to exclude them from them as having discharged their weapons. Either completely clean or dust bunnies in the barrel.

[Jim Watson]

An FBI friend says he may only shoot issued ammunition in his issued pistol. So he has a duplicate for shooting more than agency training and qualification.

[Sal Picante]

I think is the reason that Matt Little doesn't shoot awesome Berettas and keeps running that Austrian trash...