View Full Version : Why Does This Drive Me Batty?
My girl loves the show Criminal Minds. I find it pretty entertaining although formulaic.
There is one thing that kills me. The character Spencer Ried's holster....
36596
Was the exposed trigger ever a thing at the FBI or is this just really bad prop work?
Lost River
03-26-2019, 10:35 PM
I am on my phone but if you google FBI Hank Sloan holster I am Sure that you’ll find plenty of rigs with exposed trigger guards and covered hammers.
Interesting history. I knew it had to be a thing that was done. I would think a 1930's design would be a little out dated for a modern TV show.
Hollywood.
Was the exposed trigger ever a thing at the FBI or is this just really bad prop work?
Pretty standard holsters up until the autos came out.
I have one of our retired revolvers as well as one of our issued holsters for such, same deal. We started transition to the SIG in 1993, agents were still carrying these up until the new millennium with the last Model 19-5 being qual'd on in 2006.
Casual Friday
03-26-2019, 11:07 PM
I liked the seasons with Mandy Patinkin when the show was new, but that's been more than 10 years ago it seems like. Is it still in production? I know the past seasons are on Netflix.
okie john
03-26-2019, 11:40 PM
Open trigger guard is correct (maybe) but I’m guessing he can’t sit down with it like that.
Okie John
0ddl0t
03-26-2019, 11:55 PM
In season 1 episode 6 they kind of go into Reid's background, but basically he is an Asperger genius who got into the FBI on waivers and still struggles to pass the shooting qualifications. And despite a phd in engineering, he is also a bit of a technophobe and doesn't use email or their ipads. So a revolver in an old school holster fits his character - especially if he wears it wrong.
My girl loves the show Criminal Minds. I find it pretty entertaining although formulaic.
There is one thing that kills me. The character Spencer Ried's holster....
36596
Was the exposed trigger ever a thing at the FBI or is this just really bad prop work?
Back in the 40s/50s/60s/70s when they were common in LE in general. Back then the FBI issued the similar “Hank Sloan” holsters. Hank Sloan was a longtime rangemaster / instructor at Quantico. Being a bureaucracy, the chief selling point of the holster was it was a single type of issued holster which could accmodate both types of issued revolvers, those being Colt D frames like the Detective Special and Police Positive and the S&W K frames.
Covered trigger guards didn’t come into vogue for LE use till the mid 70s. The theory was you have a 10 lb DA trigger pull, and a strap securing the hammer preventing it from accidentally becoming cocked or the cylinder from turning.
By the late 70s / early 80s 80s the Bureau had standardized on 3” M13s and pancakes with covered trigger guards were issued.
The last FBI revolvers as primaries went away by the 90s. Even the grandfathered in j frames went away 15-20 years ago.
The FBI has issued Glocks since 1996, the revolver is a bigger issue than the holster.
In season 1 episode 6 they kind of go into Reid's background, but basically he is an Asperger genius who got into the FBI on waivers and still struggles to pass the shooting qualifications. And despite a phd in engineering, he is also a bit of a technophobe and doesn't use email or their ipads. So a revolver in an old school holster fits his character - especially if he wears it wrong.
Artistically, it makes perfect sense. In reality....
One thing about the FBI is they have more professional / support staff than any other LE agency I have seen. Some of those people are brilliant specialists in technical areas but they aren’t Agents. The FBI has about 35,000 employees but only about 13,000 of those are Agents / LEOs / gun toters. Plus a few thousand Task Force Officers from other local, state and federal agencies.
TLDR version, a guy like that could work for the Bureau in some capacity but he likely wouldn’t be an Agent. Especially the “don’t use email” part .......
I know a couple Agents who started with the P228 and would still carry it if they could. That means they started in 1995 or earlier as they started issuing Glock 40 calibers in 1996. Though the Glock 40 cals were issued from 1996 though 2016, and remain in service, the bureau has, for many years, issued G17s and 19s to Agents who struggled to qualify with the .40 cal Glocks. Like the 40s the 9mm are a mix of Gen 3 and 4.
As it stands right now Glock 17/19M and the Gen 5 26 are the only alternatives to the issued guns.
Previously authorized personal Glock 17/19/22/23/26/27 and G21s are grandfathered as are previously authorized personal SA Pros for current and former SWAT Agents. The 1911s have been replaced with green frame G17 gen4s with minus connectors for SWAT use.
PS- functional Aspergers types tend to do really well at things like shooting when provided competent instruction.
PSS - No email... yeah, Email is the life blood of modern bureaucracy, never happen.
I liked the seasons with Mandy Patinkin when the show was new, but that's been more than 10 years ago it seems like. Is it still in production? I know the past seasons are on Netflix.
Didn’t his character carry a 1911 ?
rathos
03-27-2019, 12:53 AM
No, he carried a glock in the pilot and a sig 226 after. Joe Mantenga's character carried a 1911.
Didn’t his character carry a 1911 ?
No, he carried a glock in the pilot and a sig 226 after. Joe Mantenga's character carried a 1911.
Ok, I remember somebody had a 1911.
For an older guy, a grandfathered personal P226 is plausible.
0ddl0t
03-27-2019, 01:02 AM
Artistically, it makes perfect sense. In reality....
Right, but it is fiction. Worse, Reid (the character) carried a semi-auto the first 4 seasons and then quietly switched to the revolver in season 5, apparently because Grubler (the actor) felt the style better suited the character.
Aisin Gioro
03-27-2019, 05:56 AM
Some images from the FBI Academy in December of 1989 can be seen at:
http://rarelyseenhistory.com/quantico-1989/
Scroll through for several photos of holsters in use at the time, plus lots of Model 13 goodness. Also, some very 1980s moustaches. The nostalgia level is right up there with popped collars and Wayfarers. :D
Stephanie B
03-27-2019, 01:33 PM
I watched an episode where two of the Feebs were pointing their guns at a BG who was holding a hostage. The distance was about six-ten feet. The BG took his gun away from the hostage. The Feebs kept talking to the guy. I was yelling: "Shoot the fucker! Shoot the fucker!"
But no, they kept flapping their jaws.
Wondering Beard
03-27-2019, 01:57 PM
I watched an episode where two of the Feebs were pointing their guns at a BG who was holding a hostage. The distance was about six-ten feet. The BG took his gun away from the hostage. The Feebs kept talking to the guy. I was yelling: "Shoot the fucker! Shoot the fucker!"
But no, they kept flapping their jaws.
That happens in our household often enough that I get told to shut up before I get the chance to say anything. :o
Jim Watson
03-27-2019, 02:33 PM
Reid... still struggles to pass the shooting qualifications. .
When I was watching the show, they made a great fuss over his poor shooting. But he still killed a couple of felons.
Stephanie B
03-27-2019, 09:35 PM
When I was watching the show, they made a great fuss over his poor shooting. But he still killed a couple of felons.
And he didn’t get put on desk duty until the agency shrink gave him an OK to return to duty.
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