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Old May 3, 2009, 10:09 PM   #14
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
Michael t wrote, "have always wondred how did the police kill or wound all those bad guys for years with only a 6 shot wheel gun and 1 handed shooting."

The quick and dirty answer is that 1) most gunfights were at arms' length ranges, and 2) the cops mostly couldn't hit anything much beyond that. Most police never fired their weapons off the range, and then only as much as absolutely necessary to qualify, if the department even required qualification. Most small departments had no range and no qualification requirement. Officers had to furnish guns and ammo and some departments didn't even have a standard. In one small department around 1950, I remember seeing police with an S&W .38 M&P, an S&W .32 breaktop, a Walther PP war souvenir, a .44-40 Colt NS, and a Colt .32 M1903.

Even in larger departments, police often had cartridges turn green in their belts; they were never cleaned and probably could not have been removed. Today, with federal funds and more ex-military in police forces, things have changed a lot (not always for the better when police consider accidentally shooting a few civilians "collateral damage").

Today, I think police are better armed and more capable with their weapons than ever, but I still see too many police who consider the gun a burden and don't practice any more than necessary.

Jim
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