police trade ins

Agency budget, officer shooting interest. Some shoot the minimal and it’s only when their agency requires them to go to the range. Then you had guys like myself who on open range days would shoot 300 rounds (double action revolver) until the firearm was getting hot to handle.

Key is to inspect individual firearms for wear and finish.
 
I have had good service out of the police trade in handguns I have bought. The S&W 342 I am carrying now was a Georgia State police trade in and while it does have some cosmetic damage (looks like it was dropped on concrete) it shoots great. The other two revolvers look and shoot great and the G26 only had a little holster wear but shoots great.
 
I bought a police trade Glock 21.....some wear on the outside, but pretty new on the inside other than dirty....after a good cleaning, it was like new, except a few small rub marks on the outside.

I think you will find that police don’t get much paid time or free ammo to shoot their work gun. So even shooters don’t shoot it much.
 
Mods, please lock this thread! The myth of police trades in being junk and avoided at all costs is being debunked. Less for me!! Can we delete this thread?!

;)
 
I’m not sure if they still do but many Sig trade ins used to be sent back to Sig, inspected, worn parts replaced and new springs installed. They would then be packed into a red color case and sold. The last one I got came in a red cardboard box. I guess they are trying to cut costs.
I’ve gotten a couple of these red box Sigs and found them to be excellent.
 
I prefer police trade-in handguns. They typically, but not always, look a little rough one the outside and typically, but not always, look on the inside like they've been shot very little. I prefer to find them on Gunbroker for dirt cheap and take my chances. So far I have done very well for myself, getting a lot of great shooting pistols for laughably low prices.
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This has been my experience as well.

I love surplus/trade-ins. 95% of the time all you would need to do is drop in some new springs and if you really want, a polishing or some cold blue. Buy em, use em, have fun........
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Ditto. I actually enjoy the process of detail stripping and cleaning these pistols, touching up the finish or replacing gnarly grips or small parts as necessary, and replacing the springs to brings these (non-collectible) pistols to like new condition.
 
Bottom Gun said:
I’m not sure if they still do but many Sig trade ins used to be sent back to Sig, inspected, worn parts replaced and new springs installed. They would then be packed into a red color case and sold. The last one I got came in a red cardboard box. I guess they are trying to cut costs.
I’ve gotten a couple of these red box Sigs and found them to be excellent.
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the Beretta 92s' I picked up have new barrels and springs at least, could be other new parts too. I did hear that a bunch (most?) of them were sent to Beretta for repair/inspection. I did go for the best condition offerings from the place I got them from. Now my Star BMs, one of those was a different story (dropped in, not fitted parts) but the other was in great shape.
 
It is hard to say. Some of the trade-in's go back to the manufacturer and are refurbed before being placed for sale to the public. I've bought Glock and Sig pistols that had been refurbed and it was hard to tell them from new. If someone has gone through the gun and replaced all the springs and any other worn parts they can be a bargain.

In fact SOME are as new. Most departments have spares that are kept NIB to be issued as needed. When a department trades in and switches to a different platform those NIB guns are traded in too.

Others can be worn out. Our local city PD bought Smith 5906's in 1994 for their officers. By about 2010 they were starting to show their age and many of them were becoming less reliable. They spent 2-3 years testing and evaluating different guns before going to Glocks. Some of those Smiths were in sad shape by the time they were traded in.

But to be fair, most departments don't keep the same guns for 20 years. That was exceptional service and they wanted to go back with the same gun. But it was no longer in production. That is why they took so long to decide on the replacement.
 
I have bought several LEO/guard company trade-ins: 3x shotguns, 1x revolver. They all had initial cosmetic/cleanliness issues that were cured by a tear-down and cleaning. YMMV.

Such a gun is great if you are looking for high-value & functional, with little emotional investment. For instance, a gun purchased new for a little less than MSRP is the sort of purchase you might get heartburn over if you take it in the woods or competition and it gets a scratch or nick on the metal. If you pay 1/2 or less of MSRP on a used LEO trade-in, what is one more nick/scratch? Will you even notice, let alone care?
 
My model 28 S&W was a police trade in.. The bluing was worn off the sides of the cylinder but the top and bottom where it was protected from the frame looked like new. It was probably slid in and out of a holster thousands of times without the cylinder being rotated. It was like new inside. I had the cylinder reblued and it looks like a different gun. The rest of the bluing is around 95% and I can live with that...

Tony
 
I've owned a few police trade ins, and they are excellent guns. Generally, large police departments trade large portions of their inventory in one shot and replace them with wholesale purchases. It works well for everyone involved and we get the advantage of buying quality guns at good prices. And, if it's a large police agency, they have a gunsmith on staff to assure the guns are well maintained.
 
I don’t think you can really say, it’s all over the place depending on the cop and the department. I’ve carried a Glock 23 since 2008, has about 15000 rounds through it. Yeah, I always volunteer to repeat drills and what not when it’s offered but even somebody who doesn’t like to shoot and is doing the bare minimum would have at least 8500-9000 through their weapon in the same period of time.
 
deadcoyote said:
I don’t think you can really say, it’s all over the place depending on the cop and the department. I’ve carried a Glock 23 since 2008, has about 15000 rounds through it. Yeah, I always volunteer to repeat drills and what not when it’s offered but even somebody who doesn’t like to shoot and is doing the bare minimum would have at least 8500-9000 through their weapon in the same period of time.
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I'm guessing you fire your Glock far more often than the average cop in a large department. I used to volunteer in a major ER that always had at least one off duty cop on hand. Their experience convinces me that most cops only fire their guns for qualification, and they never clean them. They leave the cleaning to their gunsmith. Again, some of the best guns I've owned, but the first thing I did was to do a thorough cleaning. After that, excellent.
 
I’m saying for me, at my agency, an officer doing the bare minimum training in a year would fire 850-900 rounds. Definitely some friends at other agencies only put 50-150 rounds through their guns a year. Some guys though with task force,swat, or other specialty assignments shoot a bunch! I guess I just feel like it’s a roll of the dice on anLE but back, at least via mail order vs looking at it first.
 
The only police trade-in gun I have is from the Austrian Police, Browning Hi Power bought in 1968 at a San Antonio gunshow. Mint condition with holster and mag serial numbered to the gun. I paid $75. The guy had a table full of them. Weren't those the days ? :)
 
claydoctor said:
The only police trade-in gun I have is from the Austrian Police, Browning Hi Power bought in 1968 at a San Antonio gunshow. Mint condition with holster and mag serial numbered to the gun. I paid $75. The guy had a table full of them. Weren't those the days ? :)
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Yea, sort of. What were we making an hour back then? $3.00/hr? :D

Ive always found, that if youre not right on it, when things first pop up, you usually dont do as well, especially once the word gets out. Damn internet! :D

The old "snooze ya loose" thing. :)
 
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