Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Duty and carry guns

What are you guys carrying and WHY? We are being issued Smith & Wesson M&P .45s but can carry pretty much anything we want within reason. I've never had any formal handgun courses until now. Our POST Academy is gonna run us through 68 hours of Firearms training, and with that I'll put about 1,800 rounds through my gun. So to a huge degree it makes sense to stick with what I will have practiced the most with, but I'm open to anything. If we go 1911 or revolver, our instructors will give us another 20 hours on each of those, and I'm tempted to threaten to carry both for the extra training.

For backup guns (we still have to qualify with it), do you bother with another gun, or do you see it as redundant?

What about off duty/concealed carry guns? Use your duty piece? Something smaller? Different? Our instructors are trying to encourage us to carry something similar to our duty guns, and in my case the M&P compact makes a lot of sense, but for whatever reason it doesn't move me. I'll have a small arsenal in the truck with me when on duty, but most of it will be in the truck. We get issued .308 Rem 700s, and 12 Gauge 870s, plus have the option of adding an AR (20 more hours to qualify with one of those, plus 50 something more hours with shotgun and .308 after POST and to break up the wildlife law classes), then most everyone has at least a .22 rifle, sometimes a .22 handgun also. So, any point to having a backup piece on my person? I kinda want an excuse for a little J frame, but am uncertain if I want to carry it in addition to the duty gun.

Any other philosophies you adhere to?

I would say stay with the same caliber & manual of arms in a duty and BUG/Off Duty.

For years I carried a 4" & 2" D frame Colt, then we went semi-auto and I went with a Colt Commander .38 super and a colt .380 for BUG/Off Duty. Same manual of arms for the Semi-auto but different calibers.

Now retired and have a Glock G19 for the RARE occasion I need to tote a full size in a uniform (still a volunteer) and most days a Kel-Tec P-11 for CCW since my hands don't like shooting my Commander .45. Never should have given my son the .38 Super!!!! Still have the Colt .380 and another in .32 ACP as well as a K-T P-32.

OK, sorry for rambling, comes with the turf being an old fart.

Did you ankle carry your backup piece when on duty?

NEVER! Too damn hard to get to, carry it on the off side IWB or in an offside pocket as concealed as possible without sacrificing the ability to quickly get it into use..

Daughter carries a Kahr PM9 in her ballistic vest on duty. The issue shirts have zippers but look buttoned up. The Kahr is her off duty carry as well.

Forgot to add that she has to carry a Sig 226 as duty as that is the issue service arm. That makes the Kahr a small version of 9mm with same manual of arms to get into action.

I'm in agreement with T Lee. During my stint with LASO I carried a model 13 S&W, along with a Model 60 Smith as well as a pre-war Colt .25 auto in my pocket. When I went to plain clothes I carried a Model 40 S&W, usually upside down in a Bianchi shoulder holster, along with the tiny Colt auto in my pants pocket.

Today I usually lug either a J-Frame or, if I am carrying "light", a Seecamp auto. I have a Star PD, but find that I carry it less often than I used to, despite its size and the fact that it delivers a .45acp punch.

The M&P is an excellent service pistol. I've packed all sorts of stuff on duty over the years (S&W revolvers, S&W semi-auto, Sig P226, Glock 22, Colt's 1911) and now an M&P 9mm is the one. I can shoot the darned thing nearly like a rimfire target pistol. It is accurate and fast, reliable, and easy to operate and maintain. And yes, an S&W J-frame .38 Special Airweight Bodyguard is my BUG and goes along for the ride daily. I would add an M4 type AR carbine to all else you have available and you should be very well equipped indeed.

I carry at least two handguns, and often three, off duty.

From what I've read it appears you're going in to a law enforcement function of some sort, POST gave you away. My recommendation is to find a platform that fits your needs for a primary and carry it off duty or at least it's smaller cousin.

As to the location of my BUG, one is in my support side pocket, revolver. The third is on the ankle. I like the support side pocket because I can have my hand on a gun and nobody the wiser while I'm talking to someone. The fastest draw is the one where the gun is already in your hand, hint, hint.

I personally like revolvers for BUGS but platforms like the Glock and M&P have their merits too. If you are working in a game management/LEO capacity you are also going to want a handgun that is capable of dealing with prevalent game animals as well as bipedal aggressors. Out in the boonies you will be alone and most folks will be armed in my expirience. That fact alone leads me to wanting an autoloader for a primary but I do not feel underarmed with a revolver because I started on them years ago.

One of my buds carries his Sig P229 with a Kahr K40 as a BUG on his ankle. His second gun is also on him, shoulder holster under his shirt, a Sig P229. I do think selecting a platform that has magazine interchangability is smart. The Glocks are good for this, along with the Sigs and M&P.

I myself have the luxury of carrying whatever I want off duty, but must carry only the issue weapon(s) on duty with no BUGS allowed. Off duty I am less likely to be able to summon back up and am on my own. That alone leads me to carrying more off duty than on. I work with a partner so in that respect I can depend/rely on them to a degree. It sounds like you may not have that.

As much as I love the 1911 platform I would probably select a Delta Elite as my primary with a revolver, J-Frame or equivelant, as my pocket BUG, and a 4" .41 or .44 caliber as a third gun but that's just me. On Duty I would carry at least four and maybe as many as six spare magazines and at least two reloads for the revolvers.

Take care, stay safe, and watch your back.

I always carry two guns on duty or off. I am issued a Glock 22 gen4 that I have to carry on duty. I switch back on forth between a Smith 642 and a Glock 27 for my second gun on duty.

Off duty I can carry what I want but I almost always carry a Glock 27 with either the Smith 642 or a Ruger LCP as my second gun. Off duty I always have at least one spare mag for the Glock and flashlight.

All my carry guns are the same. Grab them and pull the trigger.

Dink

carry a beretta 96 40 on duty, because they make me.

i do carry a back up gun either a ruger lcp 380 in a pocket holster or a sdmith 342 ti pd 38 spc. in an galco ankle rig or a pocket holster.

off duty one of the above back ups or a glock 27.

get something that your very familer with or the same manuel of arms.

i would train with the ar15 you can never have enough guns when you need one.

Sounds like you have some well informed, competent instructors. If I recall correctly, I got 15 hrs. of shooting instuction. Some of it from a guy that didn't understand the basics of handgun shooting.
Carry what feels and shoots best for you is what I always say. The old FBI standard for gun fighting is/was 21 ft. LAPD has found that their average was about 12 ft. So odviously short range skills are most important.
When I carried a backup, it was to allow me to stay in the fight. Mine was a 9mm Browning HP. The tradition at LAPD was to shoot No.1 dry, drop it and pull No.2. Since they had the rep for the highest survival rate of any big agancy anywhere in the world, I kinda thought I'd go that way.
I didn't then nor do I now carry a backup. These days, I carry a full size gun and plan on trying to stay out of a fight or ending it very quickly if I must fight. I do carry an extra magzine however. I'm not an LEO anymore. E

I think of the M&P as a knock off of a Glock. I don't think they are bad weapons but prefer the Glock to almost anything else especially for LE work or carry purposes.

Duty use I would look at the Glock 22 or Glock 23. One is the full size model the other is a compact. I prefer the Glock 23 over the Glock 22 since it is easier to manipulate but most departments in local law enforcement issue full size weapons. Detectives tend to carry the Glock 23 in lieu of the full size pistols. The benefits are they are easier to manipulate and accuracy is the same. If you want more mag capacity you can use the Glock 22 magazines in the Glock 23 if you feel the need to.


BUG for a Glock 22 or 23 would be a Glock 27.


Good Luck and Come Home Every Night!

Not to be contrary, but I'll take the M&P over the Glock all day, every day! I dislike Glock ergos (disclaimer: I haven't put a newer Gen Glock through its paces yet).

That said, my duty weapon is a Sig229 DAK (.357 Sig). BUG is a S&W 642 and, shortly, an M&P Compact (.357 Sig). Personal preference is all....

George

Only thing I can say about an M&P is the trigger is smoother on them but I'm so used to the Glock its a non issue. Pick whichever feels best and have confidence in the firearm and caliber.

Mr. NH K9
question,
are you guys using or WERE using the mossberg 590A1's 12 guage shotguns?
There were some that appeared in arizona as surplus from a S.E. area and I can't remember if that was N.H.

Agreed!

Shoot the schit out of them until the confidence is there and go with it.

George

You had me looking over my shoulder for my old man .

Most of the agencies that I "know" of run 870s for shotguns. A few did have Mossbergs, but I'm not sure which model. The pair that I can think of both went to ARs a couple years back.

Geoerge

Exbio,

During my stint at LCSO I carried a Glock 21 AND a Glock 27. The 27 was carried in a holster inside my shirt looped thru my duty vest cross draw. They look like they button but it is zippered. 90% of the off duty carry was the 27 next to my badge, a spare mag and 1 pair of cuffs on the off hip. The other 10% was the 21 (spare mag and cuffs always) carried either IWB or in a fanny pack. I didn't use the fanny pack much as I thought it was too obvious what was inside and made me a target.

Sorry for asking but are you currently in a POST academy?

Shoot straight,

Elk Country

Yep currently in POST, just started last week. Trying to figure out my handgun plan, and therefore budget alongside application and tax refund seasons.

Issued a 4006 TSW.

Right now Im carring a Sig Sauer 229 SAS , its a tack driver and excellent single action/double action trigger.