quote:

Originally posted by jbourneidentity:

quote:

Originally posted by Leucoandro:

Were you an officer in Jonesboro?


Charlie

Yes, sir. I was an officer in Jonesboro for years. Great guess.

I lived in Jonesboro around the time they were switching from the P94 to the P95. A friend of mine was friends with an officer with the JBPD. The officer talked with us about the upcoming transition. We worked at Star Petroleum.


Charlie

In the Florida state prison system I was issued daily a Smith model 10, in a level zero leather holster that was 30 years old (no retention snap, it had broken off a decade earlier)

My shotgun was an 870 that no shit was used as an ash tray. The barrel was full of cigarette ashes and butts.

My worst LEO duty handgun was a gen 3 Glock 21 that had light primer strikes every 75 rounds.

The worst handgun I was issued was the last one at my former department, the FNS-9.

We evaluated .40 pistols from Glock, SigSauer, S&W, and FNH. The instructors leaned toward striker-fired handguns as a replacement for our .40 226's and 239's. While opinions were solicited, it was largely a matter of personal preferences. The M&P and FNS-40 were ranked pretty equally, in part because those who liked the FNS-40 really liked and rated it extremely highly. Snith was going to get the contract until FN found out and lowered their bid. I also suspect the department wanted the FNS because the county police carried Glock and we would be one of the few agencies in the U.S. to carry the system (the others being Hillsborough County, Baltimore County, and Arizona DPS).

Then we decided to go 9mm without any real evaluation. Additionally, the firearms training coordinator decided all officers would have pistol-mounted lights.

The weapons malfunctioned repeatedly, frequently double-feeding. This seemed related to the lights. Some of us who had pistol-mounted lights for years removed them from our weapons. The ambidextrous magazine release did as designed if the pistol rubbed against a wall or center console. Some officers had issues releasing magazines because of their hand position on the opposite side of the release. The magazine release could be replaced with a low-profile release which was workable, but not optimal. (On the FNS-9 Compact, I had to bench the gun to release the magazine.) Some night sights failed. Several weapons developed cracked frames and a slide stop seared off.

To FN's credit, they accepted that the weapons had problems and worked with us. They replaced the magazines and barrels which largely corrected the malfunction issues. The agency has since replaced the FNS-9 system with the Glock 17 and 19. (Of course, the chief carries a 26 because setting an example is for others.) I understand that Baltimore County PD has also transitioned from their FNS-40 to the Glock.

No issues with my early revolvers and certainly none with the 9mm 226, .40 226, and .40 226R I carried for most of my career with that agency. If my current organization becomes armed, I suspoect we'll go with Glock.

quote:

Originally posted by Rodfac:
Later, another FAC gave me his Browning Hi-Power which I carried for the bulk of my tour, again in that tanker, cross chest holster...a nice combination in the confines of an airplane cockpit. The only down side to the .45 or 9mm guns was that I no longer had the .38 special handgun flares for signaling. These were used to pin point our location for search and rescue if shot down.

Rod

What did you do with the Hi-Power after your tour ended?

quote:

Originally posted by Forlorn Hope:
I also suspect the department wanted the FNS because the county police carried Glock and we would be one of the few agencies in the U.S. to carry the system (the others being Hillsborough County, Baltimore County, and Arizona DPS).

AZ DPS for years issued a choice of SIG P220/45 or P226/9, then later standardized to P229/40.

A new (hired from outside DPS) deputy director wanted FNS40 authorized. It's my understanding the FNS40 pistols were never vetted as were the SIG pistols before being chosen. They soon realized the FNS40 had reliability 'issues'.

The last I heard, the department switched to GLOCK. Thankfully, I was retired by then.

I was no longer a favored firearms instructor during the FNS-9 debacle. In retrospect, I should have offered my suggestion that we ask FN to exchange the FNS-9 for Browning High Powers.

P229 DAK in .40 and it’s not even close.

I can’t say I’ve ever been issued a POS duty weapon. From a spur hammered W. German P220 to a Gen5 17 MOS, I can’t complain. The worst pistol for ME was a Gen3 Glock 22, I hated that thing. Quite unpleasant to shoot, and I had to work very hard to get good hits compared to other pistols.