Pick Your Duty Weapon
Kim du Toit
May 17, 2008
7:08 AM CDT
An intriguing email from Reader Bob O., who writes:
“If you were to select a gun for an American police officer for uniformed patrol duty, what would be your first choice? No restrictions apply. Any caliber, any manufacturer. You get to pick a handgun for a patrol officer to carry on duty, what would it be?”
Well, actually, there are two answers to this question, if I may rephrase it slightly.
The first: “Which gun would you pick for yourself, for uniformed patrol duty?”
That’s an easy one: the gun I carry now, my Springfield Mil-Spec 1911 .45 ACP, loaded with an 8-round Chip McCormick Powermag, and two 10-round Powermags as backup.
That’s assuming I’d be allowed to have the department armorer put in a beavertail safety and bobbed hammer. If not, then I’d go with the Dan Wesson Razorback 1911, with the same mags.
Ammo: Federal Hydra-Shok +P 185gr, Remington Golden Saber 230gr, or Speer Gold Dot 230gr. (I like all three brands/variants, and I’d use whatever was on sale in 1,000-round case lots.)
“Trunk” gun: Auto-Ordnance M1 Carbine (.30 Carbine)
Now for the second question: “Which gun would you pick for your department?”
Certainly, I would not presume to decide which single gun would work best for every officer—no such gun exists. But my list would be fairly brief:
- Springfield Mil-Spec or Operator 1911 .45 ACP
- Browning High Power (9mm* or .40 S&W)
- Springfield XD Tactical 5”, (9mm*, .40 S&W or .45 ACP)
- CZ 75B (9mm* or .40 S&W)
- SIG P220 (.45 ACP)
- ...and if anyone was as old-fashioned as I am, and insisted on a revolver: S&W Mod 60 or Mod 27 in .357/.38 Spec
Note that all kinds of preferences are catered for: single-action, double-action, calibers, semi-auto and revolver.
Ammo would be whatever worked best in each gun and for each person, (from): Federal Hydra-Shok, Winchester Silvertips, Remington Golden Saber or Speer Gold Dot. (*Note that, contrary to popular belief, I don’t mind the 9mm pistol as a carry piece, especially for women,
provided that it’s loaded with decent ammo as listed above.)
“Trunk” guns (from):
- M1 Carbine, as above
- Mossberg 500 Mariner (12ga)
- Springfield M1A Socom (.308 Win)
- AR-15-type (.223 Rem, for the ex-military types who are comfortable with it)
- ...and of course, for the old-fashioned: Marlin Mod 1894C (.357 Mag) or Mod 336 (.30-30)
I don’t think my police department would have anything much to complain about, with all the above choices.
