K-Frame Load/Sight Regulation

[Sherman A. House DDS]

Hi guys. Thanks for tagging me in Mike.

Brinks is probably the largest purchaser of sidearms in the armored truck industry. They vary little regionally, whereas other companies vary greatly in their equipment.

The place I worked for had Model 10’s, 15’s, 13’s, 64’s, 65’s and 686’s. Some other branches in our company only had 64’s, whilst another only had 15’s. The ammo we were issued varied too. I remember getting 110’s, 125’s and 158’s. Also Nyclad, but I can’t remember the bulletin weight. We were given 158 grain plated SWC’s for practice that were commercially reloaded.

With all that said, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Brinks specified in the contract that they would want guns regulated for 110 only. They have a diversified workforce, and even back then they had far more female guards than other companies. After all, it’s manual labor with a gun on. Money is not light, nor is coin. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they wanted something mid-range with less oomph and felt recoil for the lighter weight/recoil sensitive troops.

Don’t know how helpful that was.


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[rsa-otc]

As Sherman stated, Brinks at the time was the biggest purchaser of Firearms in the business. To my knowledge they strictly used S&W K Frames with fixed sights. At least that's all I ever saw in their holsters. They may have had some old Colts stashed somewhere from years gone by. When my family's company sold the local Armored Car operation to Brinks in October of 1990 Brinks made a bulk purchase directly with S&W and had approx 60 Mdl 64 DAO Heavy Barrel Square butts shipped in. These probably were fashioned after the NYPD/Miami versions. To my knowledge (it's been 30 years) they stayed with our ammo selection; which at the time was Federal 125 JSP +P. I don't recall any issues with the POA when we moved from the 158 SWC +p Nyclads we were previously carrying.

I hired on with Brinks at the time of the sale and was transferred to the Philadelphia Branch as a management trainee. When I arrived I was issued an old Mdl 10. The Asst Branch manager assured me it was a good gun. I was agast. Covered in surface rust and hadn't been cleaned in like forever. Needless to say it got a good tear down and cleaning. Since we were so close to NJ Phil issued solid rounds in either 158 Round nose or SWC.

Brinks at the time didn't get all their guns directly from S&W. When I expanded their operation into the state of Delaware and later into Lancaster County, PA I was instructed to purchase locally. What I got was standard mdl 64 HB Sq Butts.

I was only with Brinks to June of 1992 before I returned to the family operation. While I was with Brinks I made some suggestions with regards to their training and holster selections. They were still issuing cheap holsters and dump boxes. My suggestions were rejected. Right before I left Brinks hired someone from the FBI who then implemented the exact same changes I had suggested. Over time he may have also standardized their firearm and ammo selection.

I also echo Sherman's observations about weight. The family operation had two Mdl 28's. I was originally issued one of hem. Oh my god they were sweet shooting guns. Of course being a strong young man I was assigned the bank/coin runs. After a while of throwing coin all day, that gun was like a lead weight on my side and I quickly switched out to a K frame Mdl 10. To give you an idea of the volume of coin we handled. We serviced the banks in Wildwood NJ that supplied the Board walk with its coin. Twice a week during the summer we would take a 10 wheel armored car to Wildwood carrying the required coin. There were days I hand trucked into the bank from the curbside 500 25lb boxes of wrapped Quarters and 250 50lb bags of loose coin out for processing. We would then go around the corner and do it all over again. A grueling, hot, sweaty job in the NJ summertime heat. The difference between the N frame and K frame made a huge difference by the end of a 11 to 12 hour day.

[Totem Polar]

Those last two posts were great. Thanks, guys!