Police trade ins

M

militant

New member
I am thinking about purchasing a police trade in Glock or M&P from buds gunshop. Have any of you had any experience with police trade ins?
 
Carried a lot shot little.... get one if you are into those guns. I have bought police guns from various sources carried by police forces all over the world.
 
I have an old police trade-in Gen 2 Glock 17 that I bought with a lot of wear. I took it to the Glock factory and had an armorer go through it. Bit got all new parts except barrel, slide, frame and locking block. Been a great gun for 10 years that I've owned it. Glock didn't charge me for the overhaul.
 
I have police trade-ins which consist of shotguns, pistols and revolvers. Some were former police firearms and others were various firearms traded in by police departments.

All of mine were wonderful acquisitions. They included Sigs, Berettas, S&W's, a Mossberg and various others to include a Norinco. None came from Buds and none are Glocks. Although, I have heard good things about Buds. ;)
 
I've had good luck with Glock, Beretta and Sig pistols. I've seen some good deals on revolvers and 3rd gen S&W semi's in the past. Generally they are in good shape internally although many are rough looking on the outside. Many still look like new all over.

I'd not touch one of the M&P's though. They haven't been out nearly long enough for a dept. to be trading them in. There have been several PD's that bought them and had troubles. If someone has M&P trade ins I'd be concerned why a police dept. ditched almost new guns.
 
I just bought a police gun, it's a Sig p239 DAK in .40 caliber. It was made in 2007, frame made in Germany, slide is stainless steel. I'd bet 100's of dollars, that it was never fired. Finish is much nicer than the one I got brand new made this year.
I'm wondering about the stainless slide, because the magnet holds it the same as the so called ("regular") steel.
As a matter of fact, it's finished so nice, that I do not like it, because the surface is too slippery.
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Editing.....My gun still have the factory white grease on it at places like trigger/hammer, but somebody did play with it, maybe a lot.
The bluing on the barrel outside at the front is worn. It's like taking the barrel out, and putting it back, (rubbing the surface).
If the gun is fired, it leaves marking inside the slide, when it locks up with the barrel.
 
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As responsible for the firearms program at a medium size department when we upgraded firearms I would first get authorization for the individual to purchase the weapon at trade price. The remainder went to a police supply outfit who received the bid. As a police department our pistols were fired a lot but maintained at peak operating level. I kept an extensive parts inventory and would repair any suspected difficulties. Having a high round count was never a problem due to my maintenance program. My personal Smith (later Glock) had untold thousands of rounds shot and never a malfunction that was not ammo induced (sent back 100,000 Remington 40's one time because of hard primers).
 
Understand that with "police trade-in" firearms - and with former cop handguns particularly - while some no doubt have seen a high-round count, most were really only fired at qualification time, that being the annual or semi-annual ritual most rank-n-file cops mistake for "training." :rolleyes:

Anyhoo, the mantra of "carried a lot, shot very little" applies to most cop trade-ins.
Many won't have been cleaned very well either, but once you get the old grease or oil and other gunk flushed out, you might be pleasantly surprised at what you have.

Mine was a much-carried, little-fired former L.E. S&W 4566 that I got for a steal some years ago.
Once cleaned, the barrel looked pristine, and the only wear signs were scratches on the grips and some holster rub on the slide near the muzzle. Novak tritiums were still GTG. Put about 400-rds thru it first (great accuracy and fed any ammo), then ordered new-in-the wrapper grips from Smith, which they still stocked back then.

After that, I decided to go whole-hog, so I shipped it off to Tripp Research for hard-chroming. Still looks like a new gun.



:cool:
 
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I have not and police trade-ins are likely something I would never buy. along with range rentals they are quite simply, guns that are issued to a lot of people that know nothing about guns, don't maintain them, are required to shoot them, and often times are covered in sweat from being carried around all day. I have no problem getting a used gun but something that's had the brakes beat off it for it's entire service life just does not interest me at all.
 
I got one of the M&P 40 trade-ins. Really nice gun. A little bit of superficial holster wear on the slide finish, but the frame is in good condition, the night sights are dim but still have some life left. Internals look really nice. 2 of the 3 mags weren't locking the slide back on empty but I replaced all 2 mag springs and they work perfectly now.

I've been quite happy with my purchase.
 
I purchased a HK USP40 for less than half the cost of a new gun and have been very happy with it. As others have stated it had some superficial cosmetic wear, but mechanically it runs like a champ. Over the last few years 9mm ammo was difficult to locate in my area, but .40S&W was plentiful. So, the USP40 saw a lot of time at the range with zero problems and the only thing I’ve done to it is basic maintenance.
 
I have not and police trade-ins are likely something I would never buy. * * * I have no problem getting a used gun, but something that's had the brakes beat off it for it's entire service life just does not interest me at all.
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Dude, you need to focus on the facts.

Overwhelmingly, an L.E. trade-in gun hasn't "had the brakes beat off it for it's entire service life."

So let's review: most of these cop guns were carried holstered for 99.5% of their in-service life and, thus, actual fired-round counts are relatively low, as compared to what a non-L.E., hard-training civilian might put through his gun, even the same model.

Sure, it's always possible to get a "shot-out" former cop gun, but the probabilities highly favor a low round-count weapon.

:cool:
 
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I found a G21SF at a gun store that was previously a contract gun with a North Carolina PD. It looked unfired, very little if any wear.

Keep in mind, the Glock finish isn't the black coating. It's actually the metal that gets chemically altered, so holster wear is not a problem.
 
I have not and police trade-ins are likely something I would never buy. along with range rentals they are quite simply, guns that are issued to a lot of people that know nothing about guns, don't maintain them, are required to shoot them, and often times are covered in sweat from being carried around all day. I have no problem getting a used gun but something that's had the brakes beat off it for it's entire service life just does not interest me at all.
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My own experience has been relatively positive. From handguns to shotguns, I find they are often abused on the outside but relatively excellent on the inside. Mag springs may need to be replaced, but they're often not overly abused. I know many private shooters that put far more rounds through their own pistols than your typical service pistol.
 
I have two that I know were police trade ins, an S&W 4506-1 that I THINK was a trade in from the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, PD. The frame is marked HPD, and I know they carried 4506s for quite a few years.

Bought it at a show a few years ago. The one grip panel is quite scarred up, apparently from chattering against stuff while riding in a holster.

Shoots like a dream.

The other PD trade in is an S&W Model 3000 12 gauge riot shotgun. It was almost as new when I bought it back around 1994. It had a wear ring near the muzzle that seems to correspond to the kind of racks used in some police cruisers.

It's my house shotgun.
 
Have 2 Gen 2 Glock police trade ins. A G17 and a G22.

Both same price, both set up the same as far as sights, trigger work and
grip. The 17 is used in GSSF and USPSA Production, the G22 is a
carry/truck gun. No problems. I've got Gen 2,3,4 Glocks,
actually prefer the Gen 2's.
 
Over the years I have bought, sold and shot a number of LEO trade in's and military trade in's.
Everyone was a great gun.
As noted, most never see any real use and what wear you do see is holster wear.
My oldest daughter is a cop and one of her biggest complaints is that most cops don't practice or shoot much if at all other than their yearly qualifying and proficiency test. She also states that the ones that do shoot often rarely shoot their service guns because they are gun enthusiast and have personal guns they like tot shoot.
MHO is military and LEO trade in's are a great value.
 
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