I'm starting to see a common theme with the DAO S&W 3rd Gen .40s...

One of our large neighboring agencies carried those for many years, only finally switching to Glocks in 2009 or so. (I don't recall if they were 4043s or 4046s.) They were definitely polarizing. Some guys loved them, but some absolutely hated them.

quote:

Originally posted by sw4566:
I hate to say it, but the worst duty gun I was ever issued was a SIG 220ST.

What made it the worst? Was it just the low capacity?

The S&W 5946. Heavy as a shop hammer, shot okay, trying to transition us from model 66's to hi-cap 9mms.

Gen 3 Glock 22. We had tons of problems out of them when you put lights on them.

I guess I am fortunate that was my "worst" duty pistol.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Gen 3 Glock 22. We had tons of problems out of them when you put lights on them.

Interestingly, we're still occasionally running into that issue. There was a cadet in the last academy class whose Gen 3 Glock 22 wasn't running reliably. Removing the light solved the issue.

I would say that my worse duty gun was the Glock 22 was when I was working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2016. I have decided to go back to work with them but now in North Dakota and according to the Chief they still carry the Glock 22 but I think it is a newer variant.

I was issued a Beretta 92 and a Sig P229 chambered for .40 at my other Departments (plus the military) and I never had one hiccup or a problem.

I only say that it was the worse issued because I am not a Glock person. I have always carried the traditional DA/SA since 2002 and that is what I am familiar with. Plus I am used to the magazine and slide release on the Beretta and Sig and on the Glock is feels spongy and I struggle to find it.

Maybe if I am allowed to switch to a larger magazine and slide release I will do better. Plus I just need to practice so I can get just as comfortable with the Glock as I have the Beretta and Sig.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mrapteam666,

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Gen 3 Glock 22. We had tons of problems out of them when you put lights on them.

Interestingly, we're still occasionally running into that issue. There was a cadet in the last academy class whose Gen 3 Glock 22 wasn't running reliably. Removing the light solved the issue.

I don't miss those days at all.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Gen 3 Glock 22. We had tons of problems out of them when you put lights on them.

I guess I am fortunate that was my "worst" duty pistol.

This right here....

Granted, the 22 worked, and it’s not like we couldn’t get guys shooting them “well enough”, but compared to a 17 in 9mm....

Right before I got made the “firearms guy” Admin decided to get gen 4 9mm 17s. Made life as instructor easier, and I actually liked the pistol.

I’m currently very much enjoying a gen 5 34 with RDS as a “T&E” sample.

Bill R

The worst duty weapon I was ever issued was in the mid to late 1990s: A Ruger P95 9mm decocker model with polymer frame. Sloppy fit, terrible awful triggers, weak reset, the grip was slick as a gut, and the magazines would rust if you looked at them wrong, plus, the polymer floorplates were fragile. One day, while working the firing line at a PD qual, an officer's P-95 had the slide stop back out abruptly and the entire top half of the gun fell into the dirt in front of the line.

We had a good personally-owned duty weapon policy at the time that was decent and I went home and TOLD the wife that I was getting a new duty gun. I bought a Gen 3 G19 and fixed the problem.

The worst LE duty handgun I ever saw carried by anyone voluntarily was either an Egyptian Helwan 9mm Beretta M1951 clone, or a former lieutenant's Auto Ordnance 1911 Compact Officer's Model. I never saw that poor Auto Ordnance make it through a single magazine without significant stoppages, even with ball, yet he refused to give it up.

The most ususual, but neat, duty weapon I ever saw voluntarily carried was an all-steel Jericho 941 .40 caliber, I think it was. That gun shot like gang-busters and was 100% reliable. The poor officer who carried it fought with the weight of that thing anytime he stood still, but to his credit, he never switched until the department made him.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Gen 3 Glock 22. We had tons of problems out of them when you put lights on them.

I guess I am fortunate that was my "worst" duty pistol.

Absolutely right, Jerry. I'm sorry for the short thread deviation, but I've mentioned this in previous posts. I carried a Gen 3 G22 for 10 years with zero issues. None. Thousands of rounds fired. Maybe the best duty weapon I was ever issued. The second I strapped a light on it, it became close to the worst. Completely unreliable, even with the "fixes." Remove the WML and 100% function returned. It wasn't the worst duty weapon I was ever issued without the light, but when a light was put on it, it became the most unreliable.

The combo is so bad that at our police academy advisory board dinners, I've told area chiefs and sheriffs that the combo was going to get officers killed, the fix wasn't 100%, and if Gen 3 G22s were going to remain in their agencies' holsters, the lights had to come off the guns. The looks I got
Good news is, the Gen 5 Glock 9mm/ Sig P320 transition is occurring and the problems are going away, along with the G22/WML combo. It can't happen soon enough.

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
i was able to carry my HK USP in 40. So, I was cool with that.

Ashland carried AMT hardballers. I watched one guy get so frustrated with failures when practicing for qualification, that he threw the gun at the target when it was locked open.

can't believe the Center Of The Universe would buy AMT's,

odd choice,


knew a guy that was a Chesterfield PD, when they used 1006's or 1076's,

he hated them, told me they had lots of problems with them,

My worst was a Glock 22 Gen 3. However a neighboring agency at the time was issuing Ruger P89’s...so I wasn’t too bad off.

Glock 22. Enough of us raised hell, that the Chief allowed a personally owned weapon list. You still had to be issued the Glock (mine sat in the closet for 8 years till we turned them back in) but you carried whatever you qualified with from the list.

I went with 3rd gen 45s. 4506-1, 4566, 4516 and 4513TSW. Accurate and bet your life reliable. I never looked back.

I retired just as they revoked the list and issued m&p 45s. What a POS that was. Glad I didn't have to carry one. Regards 18DAI

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
Glock 22. Enough of us raised hell, that the Chief allowed a personally owned weapon list. You still had to be issued the Glock (mine sat in the closet for 8 years till we turned them back in) but you carried whatever you qualified with from the list.

I went with 3rd gen 45s. 4506-1, 4566, 4516 and 4513TSW. Accurate and bet your life reliable. I never looked back.

I retired just as they revoked the list and issued m&p 45s. What a POS that was. Glad I didn't have to carry one. Regards 18DAI

18DAI, what was up with the M&P .45s?

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
i was able to carry my HK USP in 40. So, I was cool with that.

Ashland carried AMT hardballers. I watched one guy get so frustrated with failures when practicing for qualification, that he threw the gun at the target when it was locked open.

can't believe the Center Of The Universe would buy AMT's,

odd choice,


knew a guy that was a Chesterfield PD, when they used 1006's or 1076's,

he hated them, told me they had lots of problems with them,

Ashland Oregon

Most NJ depts do not issue but set standards for duty handguns. In the mid 80's we went to the S&W 659. Not well finished and a real boat anchor. The 3rd. gen were a vast improvement. @nd gen frames were prone to cracking.

Fortunately we never mandated their DAO variation. they were not the best by far. The traditional SA/DA weren't that bad in later years.

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by sw4566:
I hate to say it, but the worst duty gun I was ever issued was a SIG 220ST.


What made it the worst? Was it just the low capacity?

Curious about this as well. Granted, they weren't the ST version, but before we pretty much universally adopted the P320 county-wide, 90% of our county agencies were either carrying the P229 or the P220. Our agency had 229s, but I never heard one complaint from the guys with the 220s, and never observed any issues when shooting with them at the range. In fact, when they switched, I was hoping to snag one cheap, but pretty much all the guys who were issued one bought theirs, and there were no extras to be had.

jbourneidentity - Shitty triggers and resultant mediocre to poor accuracy. Also shitty build quality. Roll pins walking out, rusting issues, mag drop problems. Just lousy pistols.

But, not my problem. I was senior (and had a "Rabbi" in command staff) and was grandfathered in for my last 6 months on the job. On my last day - 12/31/14 - there was a 4506-1 in my holster. Regards 18DAI

"Worst" would be my P226DAK in .357 Sig. Mine was fine. I didn't shoot as well with it as any of my issued duty pistols (92F, P226 9mm, P320 9mm). We had issues with out of spec slides (replaced by Sig) and a lack of preventative maintenance started to mothball pool guns pretty regularly before we went to the P320.

When I was with the state, we could carry whatever we wanted at first, then they mandated DA/SA.

Smith 659. Ergonomics of a two by four. Plus mine had some defect that required an armorer's fix before it would run at all reliably.

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
jbourneidentity - Shitty triggers and resultant mediocre to poor accuracy. Also shitty build quality. Roll pins walking out, rusting issues, mag drop problems. Just lousy pistols.

But, not my problem. I was senior (and had a "Rabbi" in command staff) and was grandfathered in for my last 6 months on the job. On my last day - 12/31/14 - there was a 4506-1 in my holster. Regards 18DAI

Thank you, sir.