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Thread: A History request- Colt vs Smith & Wesson

  1. #11
    Site Supporter Rex G's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    SE Texas
    When I started at the Houston Police Academy in 1983, the recommended revolvers were the four S&W L-Frame models. Several K-Frames were also allowed, but the memories of the early Model 66 cylinders expanding excessively, due the heat during firing, were still fresh, so blued-steel was recommended. The only Colt that was approved for a cadet was the Python, and one Ruger Six was also OK; I have forgotten which one. All had to be chambered for .357 Magnum, and all had to have 4" barrels, but longer barrels were OK to use after graduation from the academy. Then, as now, HPD officers have been expected to buy/provide their own firearms. I bought an S&W 686 for duty, a 581 for a spare, a 66 for personal-time carry, and had previously bought a 60 for back-up. (Sadly, I kept none of these, mainly due to a big sell-off during lean times, about 1986-1987.)

    After graduation from the academy, duty revolvers could have any barrel length, 3" and longer, and could be any cartridge from .38 Special to any of the several .45 cartridges. (A wide range of autos were OK after one year of wearing the badge.)

    The then-trendy "man's gun" among revolvers was an S&W Model 29 or 629. I think one reason my right* wrist is now a train wreck is because I just had to be a real man, and carry a 629 while a rookie. (In order for my medium-length index finger to reach the trigger, I had to use skimpy-sized grips, which did nothing to mitigate the effects of recoil.) In 1985, I backed-down to a .41 Magnum Model 58. About 1990, I started carrying a Colt Commander, then switched to a SIG P220 that I carried from 1991-1993, and returned to revolvers in 1993, carrying a GP100 and S&W Models 19 and 66. In 1997, I returned to autos for duty, permanently, but have never totally abandoned revolvers for back-up and personal-time carry.

    In 1987, in an move apparently calculated to improve the department's image, revolver barrel lengths over 6" were no longer allowed, and barrels longer than 4", but not over 6", were grandfathered. All newly-added revolvers, for carry on or off the clock, since 1987, have a 4" barrel length limit. (Yes, PD rules apply 24/7.)

    Some time in the mid-Nineties, the cadets were switched to starting with several specified .40 autos, and by late 1997, all newly-added duty pistols, had to be had to be three specified .40 autos. Our existing duty autos and revolvers were grandfathered.

    *Although left-handed, I am reasonably ambidextrous, and a long-stroke DA trigger is caveman-simple, anyway, so I started carrying "primary" on the right hip, and have continued to so do. An unintended long-term positive consequence is that my more-skilled left hand was largely spared the pounding of bore-bore Magnum recoil.

  2. #12
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Central Virginia
    Quote Originally Posted by deputyG23 View Post
    When I was a teenager in NW NC in the early '70s, the deputies bought their own revolvers and I recall seeing more Colts than Smiths.
    The town PD issued S&W 4" .38s that looked like they were recovered in an archeological dig.
    I think the NCHP had Colts in the early '70s and switched to the M19 Smith shortly thereafter.
    Many places had policies that allowed personal revolvers to be carried for duty.
    I had one school buddy that worked for the town PD mentioned earlier. He carried a 4" Colt Python that was either electroless nickel or stainless. This was about 1986. They bought S&W compact 3rd gen .45 autos about 1990 and got rid of the decrepit .38s
    When I joined the Office in VA in1981, the only deputies that were issued revolvers were court security, civil process and transportation staff.
    Jail deputies had to buy their own. We had no patrol function due to having a county PD. Issue was 4" M64 in either standard or heavy barrel.
    Allowed for personal purchase was Colt, Ruger, Dan Wesson, and S&W. Three or four inch for uniform duty use and two to four inch for plainclothes/off duty use. .38/.357 chambering but no magnum ammo allowed.
    I started with a personally owned heavy barrel M64 which was traded for a 4" Dan Wesson.
    When I was transferred to courts in '84, I was issued an M64 .38, a 581 .357, and my last issue sixgun was a M64 .357 (not a misprint or mismarked gun).
    Off duty guns were a Colt Commando Special and a blued Bodyguard Airweight. When work revoked all carriage of personally owned guns when a Glock 17 was issued starting in 1989, the snubs were sold.
    I finally got a state CWP in 2013 and began acquiring and carrying revolvers again on my own time. This will remain so for as long as possible.
    Last edited by deputyG23; 02-07-2017 at 09:39 PM.

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