Major US LE purchase of hammer fired pistols in last decade?

[TheNewbie]

Covington KY (my hood) currently issues Legion Sig P226s. Every Covington officer I’ve seen carrying a gun in the past few years has one. They made the switch from .40 P226s in the last 4 or 5 years. I don’t know how many sworn, but it’s not… tiny. Covington runs from the Ohio river down into some quasi rural areas.

I still see M&Ps in Cincinnati PD holsters.

Looks like Covington has 100 officers, which is anything but tiny.


I wonder if they allow other options, or if they have P229s for guys who don’t want to carry the full size gun. They might have missed the P239 boat.

[HCM]

The .40 Sig P229 DAKs that ICE and the US Coast Guard carried are the biggest ones I can think of other than the P2000s for CBP that were already mentioned.

The DHS/ICE SIG contract was 2005 - so 19 years ago.

[HCM]

Pennsylvania State Police issued the Sig P227 from 2014 to 2024.

And replaced them with Walther PDPs.

PSP has a history of issuing eccentric guns.

[HCM]

In the last 5 years has any medium to large agency adopted hammer fired guns besides what has been mentioned?


I believe I remember reading guys talking about an Ohio agency still issuing revolvers into the mid 2000s, but I am not sure about that. It's been since the mid 2000s that I read it, and I can't be for certain my memory is correct.



If I had to arm an agency with current hammer fired options, it would be Beretta, HK or a P-07.

None in the last 5 years.

The mid 2000s was 20 years ago.

[jnc36rcpd]

Looks like Covington has 100 officers, which is anything but tiny.


I wonder if they allow other options, or if they have P229s for guys who don’t want to carry the full size gun. They might have missed the P239 boat.

The 229 really wouldn't have helped. The 229 is a big, chunky gun. When we had the 9mm 226's, we purchased 228's for a couple of officers with small hands. When the cool kids of that era decided we needed .40 and told me to write the proposal, I considered the 229 both department -wide and for the small-handed officers. Staying with the 226 for general issue allowed us to keep the same holsters and the bulk of the 229 was a definite no-go for the small hands.

When I later ran firearms training, I got the 239 authorized for officers who found the 226 too large. It was a shame SigSauer discontinued the 225.

[SamueL]

PSP has a history of issuing eccentric guns.

The first and finest...

[Screwball]

The mid 2000s was 20 years ago.

To be fair, OP did add “or two” in his first post.

NJSP started to replace their P228s with P229s in 2014… but ultimately canceled the contract due to issues with the guns and went with Glock 19s. Prior to the P228s, they attempted the SW99… but were issued P7M8s for YEARS before. I’d guess that would be an example of an agency going from striker fired to hammer fired.

[HCM]

To be fair, OP did add “or two” in his first post.

NJSP started to replace their P228s with P229s in 2014… but ultimately canceled the contract due to issues with the guns and went with Glock 19s. Prior to the P228s, they attempted the SW99… but were issued P7M8s for YEARS before. I’d guess that would be an example of an agency going from striker fired to hammer fired.

The above mentioned Pennsylvania State police went from .45 cal Glocks to P227s.
If I recall correctly the Indiana State police also went from Glocks (40 ?) to the P227.

But they are exceptions to the general trend.

[SwampDweller]

The above mentioned Pennsylvania State police went from .45 cal Glocks to P227s.
If I recall correctly the Indiana State police also went from Glocks (40 ?) to the P227.

But they are exceptions to the general trend.

I thought I remembered at least one dept/agency that dropped the 227 due to issues, but I can't think of which one or what the issues were. I always thought the 227 was a flop as an issue duty pistol, but I could be misremembering.

I am far from in the know about what dept/agency is issuing/switching to what outside of my local area, but if I were to pick a hammer fired pistol for institutional issue today, it would be an HK P30 (or HK45 for those institutions inclined to larger calibers), or a Beretta 92 series. Really I have a preference for the USP over the P30 or full size HK45, but it would probably make more sense for an institutional user to go for the P30/HK45 due to the accessory rail.

I don't know how current production metal frame P226/229 pistols are doing quality-wise and QC-wise, but my last update on them was that Sig has still been shitting the bed on those and they're not as duty-suitable as they were in decades past. I would love to be corrected on this as the MK25 has been a want of mine for a long time.

[Bucky]

And replaced them with Walther PDPs.

PSP has a history of issuing eccentric guns.

IIRC
Revolvers to 96Ds to Glock 37s (remember the GAP?) to Glock 21s to P227 and now PDPs?