Expanding a little on Mr. Johnson's post & Mr. Wright's post here.
The competition between Colt and S&W for police holsters was, at times, very heated.
What the cops carried in a city often influenced what brand the citizens purchased for their own protection.
In the 1950s NYPD had a lot of Colt revolvers, either the Official Police model or the Police Positive Special
which was slightly smaller. A family member lived near NYC then and said S&W started making inroads to the
NY department in the early 1950s.
Colt Police Positive Special - 4th Issue (1974)
Colts were certainly popular in the Northeastern U.S. in cities like NYC, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, et al.
They were also popular in Chicago, Detroit and Cincinnati as I recall. In the south, Colts were popular although
starting around 1955 the S&W line could your need for less money than a Colt. Texas, where we lived, had a
mixture (as did a lot of the country) but the first police revolver I saw (around age six) was a Smith & Wesson.
The typical and iconic police revolvers were the Official Police and the Model 10. Not surprising as these
"basic model" guns were the most affordable for both agencies and individual officers alike.
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S&W Model 10-6, 5-inch barrel, circa 1970
Officers wanting something better could, and often did, upgrade their revolvers by purchasing a revolver with
adjustable sights, like this S&W Model 15. The addition of a barrel rib, adjustable sights and the larger grips
allowed officers to sight their guns for different types of ammo.
S&W Model 15 Combat Masterpiece .38 Special
In many cities and counties, and very often state police agencies, the .357 Magnum was the choice for it's range and
the ability of the .357 to penetrate auto-body sheet metal. Most officers preferred the lighter weight of the
S&W Model 19 for all day carry, such as this 4-inch specimen.
But for many officers, they wanted the top-of-the-line .357 Magnum and nothing less would do.
For them, the Colt Python was their choice.