A History request- Colt vs Smith & Wesson

[Eastex]

I'd really like to hear from some of the guys who were there back in the day when revolvers were the rule and not the exception or came up learning from guys who were. Historical context would be great too, I know what a few of the more famous lawmen carried but details on more would be great. What drove the different departments in deciding what they carried back n the day? I've already gathered that some of y'all are still strong in your opinions and it would be great to hear what drives them. Honestly it sounds like another feud that interests me between Indian and Harley back in the day.



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[41magfan]

I can only speak to the time period of the 70's up through the transition period to semi-autos (mid to late 80's) but price, selection and factory support (Armorers School) drove most LE agencies towards S&W. Colt just didn't offer that many choices and maintaining them was a logistical nightmare compared to S&W. Only a handful of the largest agencies had the means to work on their own Colts in-house so extra guns had to be readily inventoried as spares while guns made the trip back to Hartford.

[blues]

During my time in Treasury it was always S&W from the very early 80's until the transition in the late 80's.

Model 15, 19 and 36 were the handguns I was issued over that period.

Back in the early 80's in NYC our range officer would call up Gene DeSantis and then we'd stop by his place in New Hyde Park and pick up the leather gear we needed. (The quality and finish of the leather was much nicer back then compared to what I see currently, as with so many things.)

[BehindBlueI's]

It was Gen 2 Glocks when I came on, which had replaced the Beretta 9mm, which had replaced the S&W revolvers. The guys I know who started off with revolvers almost universally carried S&W Model 19, 28, 60, etc. A bare handful carried the Ruger whatever-six. As already stated, price and support were the usual factors. Colt was pricey, and cops didn't make a ton of cash. I don't know anyone around here that issued Colt, and have never ran across a department stamped one. You still find S&W revolvers with the whatever-county sheriff's star for sale. Whenever I see one, I can't help but wonder what retiree died and his family sold his heirloom off.

[deputyG23]

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

[41magfan]

A few more subjective ramblings and opinions as to why one brand (generally speaking) might possibly have been chosen over another.

I was born in the 50’s, so I obviously didn’t live through some of the time periods I’m referencing. What little I know came from reading the handful of printed gun periodicals that existed when I was growing up and I read them all religiously. I also recall the comments of “old timers” about the particulars of certain brands and all of that influenced some of my own notions about brand quality.

Colt enjoyed greater brand recognition in the years leading up to the turn of the century and the subsequent proliferation of the DA revolver. After all, when it came to revolvers, Colt was the paradigm in the mind of many folks.

Most gun owners thought Colt had a slight edge on S&W in the “fit and finish” department in earlier years, but that generally waned when the lower priced “budget” models were introduced.

Colt uses a different rate of twist in some of their guns which offers greater accuracy potential with some loads and I seem to recall Colt having a better reputation for the quality of their barrels in the early years, but I suspect the relative difference was lost to the majority of end users.

Early shooting disciplines and endeavors (Bullseye, for example) predominantly involved single-action fire so both designs were more than capable. Later on, shooting sports like PPC and the action sports (which generally involved DA fire exclusively) saw Smith & Wesson absolutely dominate those disciplines and that reality continues to this day. IMO, there is no better action than a properly tuned S&W – particularly the K-Frame.

Lastly, S&W offered greater customer support by using a fairly extensive regional network of “Authorized Service Centers” (local gunsmiths under contract). Only a handful of the most commonly encountered problems required a trip back to the factory. Maintenance and service concerns put both brands on a level playing field until you shoot them a lot. In that case, I think the advantage of owning a S&W becomes obvious.

[Hambo]

41magfan pretty much covered it. Cost was always a factor whether individual officers or the department bought the guns. Cost is also why so many departments had Camdex machines to load ammo. In the 1980s when my 686 was recalled, I drove twenty minutes to an authorized service center. When my Colt of the same vintage had a problem, it went back to CT. S&W also sent smiths to big matches. IIRC I even bummed some parts from them at one match.

[Malamute]

The unsubstantiated info Ive seen was that Colt was predominating in the first half of the 1900s, then Smith started pulling ahead and never looked back.

In looking at piles of older guns when I was first in Az in the 80s, I saw scads of Colt DAs that were out of time, many that were WAAAY out of time. Have no idea how they could get that far out of time. That colored my opinion from then on.

[xray 99]

When I was a young man, the S&W M66 was the hot set up. They commanded scalpers prices prior to the appearance of the L-frame. I don't think I ever saw a Colt revolver in a cop's holster circa 1980 and later. The Ruger Security/Service Six was the other brand one would encounter.

[Duelist]

Dads department issued model 10s and had some M&Ps (revolvers) still around until they transitioned to the 5906. He retired after that.

K frame S&W has always been my favorite revolver, probably colored by early perceptions. The neighbor when I was little was a highway patrolman. He was issued a S&W, too, but his was a .357.