do all cops treat their guns like crap?

T

troy_mclure

New member
and not clean them too?

i was at a gun shop today while they were getting the local police forces Sig's to sell.
they had a wide variety of dirty, beat up, overpriced Sig, and Sig sauer.

i was watching the gunsmith. he would do a quick look, quick functions check, then put it on the counter if it passed.
whereupon another guy would write a ridiculously high price on it.
about 1/4 of the guns went in a bucket, im assuming to be repaired.

but the for sale ones were filthy, beat all to hell, 1 226 even had 1/2 of the rear sight gone($799!!:barf:), and in just terrible shape.

i realize most cops aren't gun nuts, but their(and my) lives may have to depend on that firearm functioning accurately and correctly.

if i was a cop, armed guard, etc... i would consider my sidearm as a peice of life support equipment.
 
do all cops treat their guns like crap?
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No.

And if I see someone's in that kinda shape on our team, I will make sure they take care of it. Like you said..... lives may depend on that!!!
 
I can pretty much guarantee you that the officers who must purchase their own duty weapons don't treat them like that!
 
Years ago, I was talking with an officer who was carrying a 1911 style gun cocked and locked. I was peeking at his gun and there were lint and fibers all around the cocked hammer (maybe the lubricant attracted them). It looked like the gun hadn't even been unloaded/hammer uncocked in quite some time, let alone cleaned well.

To be fair, I doubt highly that the lint and fibers I saw would have affected the operation of the hammer or gun. I suppose it was mostly cosmetic.
 
it depends mostly on personality type, cop or not.

some people are meticulous and detail oriented, like myself. I can't stand the thought of any of my belongings not being the way they should. Religiously I change the oil in my pickup every 4k miles. as soon as I roll another 4, I'm either on my way to the parts store to buy oil and a filter or i'm bugged by it all day until i have.

same goes for my guns. I take them out to shoot, come home, and clean. Over spring break, a girl i know and haven't seen in 7 years was down (also for SB) and let me tell you, she sure is a looker. She called me while i was at the range, and wanted to know when I was going to come visit. I told her I would be there probably the next day, as I was shooting that day. On the way home, her friend called. She insisted that I come up that night and go out with them. So I agreed to drive up that night. 30 min later when I'm home, cleaning my guns, they call again and ask if I can make the drive RIGHT NOW (she was really "ready for it", so to speak, and let me know). Nope, told her I had to finish cleaning my guns and THEN I'd be on my way. "Are you serious?! OMG! can't it wait?"

nope. gotta clean. see you tonight, snookums.

got my guns cleaned, got my nut, got a great story to tell all my friends :p

my shooting buddy laughed and said he would take care of cleaning if i wanted to head on. I told him no, because it was a matter of principle. business first, then the womenfolk.

I would assume that there are gun nuts that really like to shoot, but aren't so excited to clean. then there are gun nuts who like to shoot but also find it very important to clean. So I don't think it's a fair assumption to say that cops don't take care of their guns.
 
Lonewolf, thanks for getting beer all over my keyboard...
hope the night ended up well enough for you
cheers ;)
 
...do all COPS ??

:rolleyes:

No, I guess I was the only exception:p

Here's how I cleaned my Baby:

First, I'd put on a little Barry Manilow music; draw down the shades (don't like crowds:o).
Spread out a nice clean cotton rag for my Baby to lay on. Break open her action and clear that "Pipe":eek:

Slowly and deliberately prepare my steel push-rod. Break open the #9 Hoppes and lube the tip!

Wipe the sweat from my forehead as I push my steel rod down the barrel, back and forth, back and forth.;)

Then finish her off with a cotton wet wipe of Break Free.

Gently put her back on the table and LITE UP A SMOKE !!!!!
As you can see, Not all COPS treat their gun like crap;)
 
I work in private security and I am a supervisor, I carry a ruger p95 for duty (if you can call it that) I clean mine about once a week regardless if i have been to a range or not. Some cops clean theres more then me and ive seen cops where I would be scared to death to have to fire there gun.
 
What you saw was the result of a large turn-in. Those guns were probably in an arms room for a year or more before they were sold as a group. What normally happens with larger departments is that an agency will buy replacement firearms, have classes on that new firearm and gradually phase in the new guns. The old guns get collected over time and then are sold to a gun dealer. In the turn-in process time, improper storage and carelessness works against the guns. After a number of months or even years the guns leave the arms room.
 
What Rifleman said. Also, they may have been used as "range guns" for the new recruits. Those are the least likely to receive good care.
 
You also have to remember that cops carry their guns exposed on a daily basis. People who CCW take their guns off every day and usually wipe it off, or inspect it, possibly even unload it and clean it.

Cops (a large majority of them) usually take off the duty belt, with the gun still in the holster, stick the belt in their locker or into a gear bag and leave it alone until the next time they put it on.

Being banged around in a holster can cause a lot of damage to a gun as well, when it's completely exposed and getting scraped up on the ground when you have to wrestle down the perp who's high on meth, or too drunk for his own good.

In addition, departments aren't big on spending money to have guns refinished or made to "look pretty" as long as the gun works when it goes to the range.

The advantage is that even though the guns "look" bad, their are usually really mechanically sound as most cops don't shoot their guns that much other than department qualifications.
 
...a 1911 style gun cocked and locked. I was peeking at his gun and there were lint and fibers all around the cocked hammer (maybe the lubricant attracted them). It looked like the gun hadn't even been unloaded/hammer uncocked in quite some time, let alone cleaned well.
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For what it's worth, if you're carrying a 1911 cock-and-locked IWB, this can happen in about 20 minutes of walking. Whenever I carry under a shirt, the area in between the hammer and the firing pin gets full of lint and crap. That's just a day's worth of carry, mind you.
 
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Whenever I carry under a shirt, the area in between the hammer and the firing pin gets full of lint and crap. That's just a day's worth of carry, mind you.
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Maybe you should stop wearing those fuzzy, pink sweaters?:p

troy, which is cleaner, your bathroom or a public restroom in a government building (if you are under 25 and not married, do not answer that).:D
 
you also have to remember that cops carry their guns exposed on a daily basis. People who CCW take their guns off every day and usually wipe it off, or inspect it, possibly even unload it and clean it.

Cops (a large majority of them) usually take off the duty belt, with the gun still in the holster, stick the belt in their locker or into a gear bag and leave it alone until the next time they put it on.

Being banged around in a holster can cause a lot of damage to a gun as well, when it's completely exposed and getting scraped up on the ground when you have to wrestle down the perp who's high on meth, or too drunk for his own good.

In addition, departments aren't big on spending money to have guns refinished or made to "look pretty" as long as the gun works when it goes to the range.

The advantage is that even though the guns "look" bad, their are usually really mechanically sound as most cops don't shoot their guns that much other than department qualifications.
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My oldest daughter is a LEO and this was a discussion we had long ago when I made a comment of how "rough" her service gun was. She was like "dad, what do you expect, we are in and out of cars all day, when making some arrest, we are rolling on the ground with an exposed gun," and on and on.
So service guns see a lot of abuse but function as designed.
She did state one thing that kinda worries me and that there are some LEO out there that don't care because it's a department issued gun and not theirs, so they don't maintain them very well - that IMO is just a cop waiting to get killed or some else killed because of poor moral values.
 
There are cops who take care of the equipment, and those who don't. Its up to range officers and shift suppervisors to police this problem.

We had regular weapons inspections and monthy quailfications where the servicer revolver/pistol was checked.

I was allowed to keep my service revoler (Smith Model 28) when I retired. I got the pistol in the middle 70s, and its still in excellant shape. Yeah a bit of holster wear but not as much as you'd think.

Wood grimps do get scuffed, scratched, and beat up over time, being exposed. I have those pachmyer (sp) hard rubber grips on mine so that was never a problem.

The biggest problem, as a firearms instructor, I saw, was most cops practiced with a heavy dose of 38s in their 357 without cleaning the cylender. A ring of crud built up just a head of the 38 cases. Then when they fired issued 357s, the cases would stick, the 357 being longer then the 38, making extraction some what difficult.

This is somethng that must be watched. Proper cleaning would prevent it.
I was chicken though, I loaded 38 loads in 357 cases to keep this from happening in my Model 28.

Clean guns was a pet peeve of mine when I was a LE instructor.
 
My oldest daughter is a LEO and this was a discussion we had long ago when I made a comment of how "rough" her service gun was. She was like "dad, what do you expect, we are in and out of cars all day, when making some arrest, we are rolling on the ground with an exposed gun," and on and on.
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Yeah, that was pretty much my experience. You just don't want to know what my Duty 92 looked like after a year. Internally it was pristine but in spite of my detail-oriented maintenance the outside, especially the edge of the mag-well didn't look so good from being banged against batons, car doors, and Maker only knows what else.

I did know a couple of complete slobs though <sigh> I guess there's always at least one.
 
When i was an mp they issued us Beretta's ( i still hate that model to this day) but they found a good way to stop them from getting abuse in the field and while on patrol
they have this crappy flap holster that makes it impossible to get out and 90% of the weapon was covered by the holster no clue if they still use it. I have been out of the army for 9 years now
 
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