Most of the FAMS I’ve dealt with and shot with have been their firearms instructors - they have the same complaints as other FI’s. “No FAM left behind “ lowering standards etc. Any organization that rapidly goes from less than 50 to thousands is going to have to adjust standards,
The stand up of the FAMS 20 years ago attracted a lot of real training talent, Mike Pannone, Jim Smith, Kelly Venden, Mike Seeklander, JJ Racaza, Matt Graham, Craig Douglas etc. How much of their influence remains 20 years later I can’t say.
They carry P229s, not P229Rs. There is nothing custom about them. Mission drives gear choices. WML are not necessary for their core mission. They do emphasize actual Concealment vs “cop Concealment” and the FAMS were the first LEOs I saw using AIWB in great numbers.
I heard a rumor that since SHP didn’t get the upgrade for the 320’s in their budget last year they’re looking at a different platform. They were supposed to do the 5-year maintenance on them instead... Not like they haven’t already been replacing trigger bars or anything...smdh. I wonder what the price difference would be between simply buying a new platform and the money in parts for 1,800 P226’s combined with the man-hours to do the maintenance. I’d bet the new platform would be cheaper.
If they switch calibers and switch to Glocks there will be millions of 357Sig rounds hitting the market. Lol.
On a somewhat related note, they had a chase here July 1 in my AO. Chasing a stolen vehicle and the suspect was firing back at them and other local LE. As the chase continued the Trooper began to engage the suspect with his AR thru the windshield mid-chase. Those Fed LE223T1’s did the trick. Went thru the windshield, thru the sheet metal of the truck (a Ford F-450 single cab wrecker) and killed the suspect. Unbeknownst to us he had just murdered his baby-mama. Bullets stayed in the suspect and didn’t go any further.
Now they may be switching to a heavier bullet...
"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." -Arthur Ashe
One of the issues that drove TX DPS /HP to switch to 9mm was availability of 357 sig ammo in the bulk quantities necessary for a large organization. Apparently .357 sig is made in batches or production runs and if you need hundreds of thousands of rounds and miss the production run you are kinda screwed.
I know they're not custom. "Sweet custom SiG" was said tongue in cheek.
WML could be articulated as necessary for their core mission. I understand what you're saying, but I do not believe their gear choices are (concerning WML) just "mission driven." Gear selection is also impacted by technology.
In the early 2000s, WML were not even close to what they are today and probably had some effect on their policy that persists today. I'd be willing to bet that when the FAMs go to another gun they'll include a railed dust cover and authorize the use of WMLs.
"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." -Arthur Ashe
Last edited by Clark Jackson; 08-03-2019 at 03:06 PM.
"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." -Arthur Ashe