Do cops carry their guns with the safety's on them?
Every department I'm familiar with carries the gun loaded with the safety off. Some guns, such as the Glock or Smith & Wesson M&P don't require you to deactivate a safety before you pull the trigger.
Do cops practice quick draw tactics with their revolver?
To correct this statement since there are so many simple minded people here...Whoever draws their gun and shoots accurately first wins. My point is I do practice drawing and firing accurately at the range every week. I have no intention of drawing on a cop but I have a good idea of how easy it would be. From what I understand, the average police officer has little practice in actual draw and fire scenarios.
Did police officers use to carry .357 magnum's?
Yes, especially the colt python. The .357 magnum is one of the best handgun rounds for self defence, right up there with a .45 ACP I'm pretty sure some departments still carry revolvers in .357, though it is rare, and many hunters hikers and general outdoorsman favor the .357, as it is not to expensive but still effective on a bear, moose or most game and short and medium range. probably the worst downside to a .357 magnum is that most revolvers only hold six shots, where as modern semi autos hold much more, and weigh less. PS: .357 magnum is not the same as .357 SIG, they are very different rounds.
Can police officers carry magnum's?
You will learn to. Here is some rational as to why i say this: Many departments have a rule about what to carry.(44 mag is going to go through someone and?) Also think about if you get pinned down in a fire fight, you have just run out of ammo, everyone is using 9mm or 40 cal and your? Revolvers carry 6 shots, Automatics carry 12-16 shots. Thus the Average revolver can shoot with speed loaders about 30 rounds. Automatics shoot clips of 15 lets say, 2 clips equal your fire power 2 to 1.plus 2 more clips to fire plus one you have so 75 rounds capable. compared to your 30 or now a 2.6 to 1 ratio.
Do American police officers still get issued a revolver as their primary weapon?
As far as I’m concerned, no.A Police officer carries a revolverMost police officers are issued semi-automatic pistols as their primary firearm of choice.A Police officer wields a semi-auto pistolThis is due to several reasons.The first reason is that a semi-auto pistol is much easier to reload than a revolver due to the fact that most semi-auto pistols are fed from a removable box-magazine that can be released completely with a push of a button.Pistol reloadOn the other hand, revolvers require you to swing the cylinder out in some fashion, retract the spent rounds and reload one by one.Revolver reloadSure, there are ways to decrease your reload time by using gadgets such as using a speedloader.Revolver speedloaderBut you will never be faster than a dude with a semi-auto pistol.Next up is the fact that semi-auto pistols tend to have more capacity than revolvers.Revolvers are limited in capacity due to their cylinder size being unadjustable.LimitedWherelse, semi-auto pistols can accept different sizes of magazines as long as It fits the gun.A semi-auto pistol magazineThis means that the capacity size of a semi-auto pistol can be upgraded, which gives the semi-auto pistol more flexibility in Its usage.Semi-auto pistol magazine upgradeAnd finally, a semi-auto pistol is more lightweight than a revolver.You see, most American semi-auto pistols in service have a body that isn’t made out of steel such as the Glock 17, which uses a polymer instead.Glock 17This makes the gun lighter to carry, which is very important considering the fact that police officers are on the field for long hours with a pistol strapped to their hip.OuchRevolvers typically are built mainly out of steel, which means that they will be far more heavier than any semi-auto pistol.RevolverEven if the semi-auto pistol was made completely out of steel like a revolver, the revolver would weigh more due to the fact It has a lot of heavy steel parts such as the cylinder for instance.CylinderHence, this makes the semi-auto pistol lighter than the revolver, which results in officers preferring the semi-auto pistol over the revolver.That’s all folks!
How many mags/bullets does a cop carry?
I haven't kept up, honestly. The usual load-out, in my day, was three mags. One on the weapon and two on the belt. Thus, a 9mm would have 15x3, or 45 rounds. A 1911A1 would have 3 mags of 7 rounds, plus one in the chamber, for a total of 22 rounds. Clinton screwed this up royally, as he did other things relating to weapons. He limited the mags to 10 rounds, except for police. This became a national thing, when it was once only a local thing in some areas. I say this because it hasn't been changed in some areas, and people are still limited to 10 rounds. Police are usually exempt from this, but not always. "New NYPD officers are allowed to select one of three 9mm service pistols configured in double-action only (DAO): the SIG P226 DAO, Smith & Wesson model 5946, and Glock 19.[25] All are modified to a 12-pound (53 N) trigger pull.[26] Prior to 1994 the standard weapon of the NYPD was the Smith and Wesson Model 64 DAO (Double Action Only) .38 Special Revolver with three or four inch barrels. This type of revolver was called the Model NY-1 by the department. From 1926 until 1986 the standard weapons of the department were the Smith and Wesson Model 10 and the Colt Official Police .38 Special Revolvers with four inch barrels. Prior to the issuing of the 9mm semiautomatic pistol NYPD Detectives and plain clothes officers often carried the Colt Detective Special and/or the Smith & Wesson Model 36 "Chief's Special" .38 Special caliber snub-nosed (2-inch) barrel revolvers for their easiness to conceal while dressed in civilian clothes. Officers who were issued revolvers prior to the transition to semi-automatic pistols on January 1, 1994 are "grandfathered" and if so can choose to continue to carry a revolver as a duty weapon." Wikipedia listing. This article does not state they can carry a .40SW or a .45. Thus, my guess would be between 45 and 51 rounds of 9mm. Hopefully, they are HP loads now. The revolvers would carry between 5 and 6 rounds, based on model, and 18 would be the most common number of rounds. I carry 18 .357 magnum rounds as well as 18 .41 Magnum rounds, except in my back up snub, which was only five rounds.
Can police officers carry personal firearms?
At the agency I worked for, you had no choice. The department didn’t issue firearms, and you were expected to bring your own. I had never owned a gun. The requirement was that it had to be a .38 Special or .357 Magnum six-shot revolver, with a four- or six-inch barrel. Any manufacturer was allowed, so long as that specification was met.The second week of my academy, I went to a gun store with a vague notion of what I wanted, and bought a .38 Special S&W Model 67 revolver. I carried that for about three years, until one of our reserves left the department and sold me his S&W Model 19 (.357 Magnum revolver). I carried that one until we had the option to transition to a semi-auto, the only semi-auto authorized being a S&W Model 645 (.45 ACP).I had a high-temperature conversation with one of our captains once, when he got caught up in some TV talk. “I’ll have your badge and gun!” I told him he might be able to get my badge, but the gun was my personal property. He looked kind of silly, but that wasn’t unusual for him.When I transferred to the court staff, I could carry anything I wanted, once again, providing I bought it. By then, my wife was working for the University Police, which issued the Glock 23 (.40 caliber semi-auto). Once I shot the Glock, I was hooked, and that’s what I’ve had ever since.Sidearms are considered to be critical safety equipment for law enforcement officers, and the federal government requires employers to furnish critical safety equipment to employees. So, I think every law enforcement agency now issues sidearms to new officers, although they may still have an option to carry their own firearm. Some agencies require officers to carry the issued firearm and no other. On retirement, the officer is often allowed to purchase the firearm at a token cost, or his police association or fellow officers may purchase it for him as a retirement gift.