Gary,
You can call me whatever you want. The .38 Special RNL bullet was gone from Dallas PD when I got there in 1977 but was still in use in a lot of other cities and states.
Sorry if you took my post as being adversarial, it was not intended as such. I've been doing this a very long time and it was obvious you were talking about stuff that dated you in law enforcement 35 or 40 years ago. This caught my attention.
So the question I have for you is, if I am reading you correctly, the 9mm 147 Subsonic was not all that great on the street, and it was not, can you please explain the difference between a .355" bullet weighing 147 grains going 950-1000 fps and a .357" bullet weighing 158 grains and going 900-975 fps? There is none...they both SUCK.
The traditional LRN police load had a history of failure, it tended to cause minimal tissue damage with very narrow wound channels, hence the "widowmaker". Change to the LSWC-HP +P which tended to create larger wound channels with greater tissue damage making for a near 30% improvement. Not equal to the .357 which has consistently been a 40 to near 50% improvement over the "widowmaker", but the change in design took a near ineffective weapon and made it effective. The 147 sub-sonic which fit the Fackler lab model wonderfully, proved on the street to be a failure because it acted like the old "widowmaker". The bullet tended not to expand when striking center mass when going through clothing leaving a narrow wound channel causing minimal tissue damage. The newest version of the law enforcement 38 is specifically tailored for useage in short barrel secondary/concealed revolvers. This round is developing a track record that is also a marked improvement over the old "widowmaker".
Another question...your first gun with the broken grips and bad timing...just wondering how many gunfights the officers on your department got into a year? My guess is little to none...and that guess comes from the fact that when your chances of getting into a gunfight go up you aren't that sloppy about your equipment.
Not quite correct. There was a budget crunch during those years and it was the end of a fiscal cycle. Older firearms previously cycled off the street and/or relegated to training were recycled for duty pending the next budget. They could never get that revolver running correctly and I ended up with a new replacement.
Your old stomping grounds are in pretty bad shape now when looking at all major crimes: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. We've done a great job in the last 30 years and are now in better shape, but during the times you were referring, the rolls were changed as we never came out the top 10 and went a number of years staying in the top few of being the worst. Though I have earned and am proud of my combat medals, I feel I've had way more than my share of such experiences and I feel I've buried way more than my share of close friends. I carry wounds and injuries that cause me continued aches and pain in my daily life, and my loved ones live with continued worry over my safety as I refuse to retire. I'd rather live than die, but killing another person is never something to parade around like a trophy. It is something you must carry and live with no matter how justifiable.
Best of Luck and Thank You for Your Service
