police trade ins

[ifithitu]

I see police at the range all the time here in my home city.I'm sure they are shooting their services pistols and revolvers.Well I would think they were.

[gwpercle]

I have two , both S&W revolvers from the Baton Rouge Police Department , a model 64 in 38 special and a model 66 in 357 magnum .
Both were shot very little . The model 66 wasn't even carried much . The model 64 was carried longer and the right grip panel was banged up by the patrol car door frame.
Since officers stake their lives on these guns they keep them in working order, if anything gets out of order they were repaired or replaced.
I know the officer who carried both revolvers and he assured me they were kept in perfect working order even if the exterior was worn.
Both being stainless steel , when I got them a little Turtle Wax Chrome Polish removed any scuff marks and both look new .... well almost new !
I mounted a red dot sight on the model 64 38 special and with a target trigger job turned it into a dedicated NRA Bullseye Target gun...it's a tack driver !
Mine were worth the money.

[hemiram]

I've owned about a dozen trade ins over the years and none had been shot much. The cosmetic condition ranged from "fair" (I call it poor) to "took it out of the box, racked it a couple of times, and put it back in". My Sig P220 Dak looks almost new on one side, but the right side has an odd "faded" look to it that almost looks like it's finish was bad out of the box, there's no visible scratches or other wear on it, it's just not black, it's sort of medium gray on about half of the muzzle. As cheap as it was, I don't mind. Fantastic worked on DAK trigger, almost feels like it wouldn't have enough energy to punch a primer all that well, but it shoots flawlessly. My prettiest trade in was my sold off for tax money S&W 4506. Looked like it had barely been fired, not a mark on it outside, and only the hammer showed any evidence it had been shot at all. The ugliest of them all was a Bud's trade in 4566 with one side that had been slid across a sidewalk, I would guess. Shot fine, nightsites were dead, but the gun was a great shooter. My Sig P226, an ex NYPD DAO(Not DAK) gun has some minor holster wear, mostly on the frame, but like most of the others, was barely shot. I converted it to DA/SA with parts bought online for $55.

[2wheelwander]

Dad just scored a G22 with Detroit PD inscribed on the slide. original box and 2 drop free's for $300. Holster wear only.

[Ibmikey]

The Glocks that I kept for range pistols had untold numbers of rounds put through them, many, many thousands. When it was time to renew all Department pistols with new issues I cleaned the range pistols and placed them back in their original boxes looking “as new”. You guys that think you are getting a “fired very little” gem probably are not as long as the firearm is cleaned properly and has been maintained properly through the years there is little way the average buyer will know if “carried lots fired little” or “ fired very little”.
The Model 66’s that I traded to a local shop for then current duty weapon (5906) had extensive firing...I prepared them for the dealer looking once again as new, no end shake, timing ok, finish scratches removed...they sold in a week because of the price and new appearance. Some of the trade in weapons were never issued but that certainly was the exception and not the norm.

[AK103K]

Most autos are pretty easy to tell if they have a lot of rounds through them. Just look at the "smiley" on the barrel.

I had two German P6 SIG's that I picked up about 10 years ago when they first came in. One, had a lot of holster finish wear, and the smiley on the barrel was worn through the finish, bright, and could be felt with a fingernail run across it, showing it had been shot "a lot".

The other, looked brand new, and the finish on the barrel barely showed a hint of a smiley starting.

These are a couple of pics of the smiley heavily used P6's barrel.....




I dont have pics of the other guns barrel, but think of a new pistol you bought and shot a couple of times, and youll have a good idea as to what it looked like in comparison.

I have a Glock with over 140,000 round through it now, and the smiley on it, isnt near as heavy as the pic above. Its more easily "felt" than that one was though.


I think revolvers are a bit more difficult to tell, especially by "looks". Its more of a feel thing, and knowing what to look for.

Ive owned a few police trade in revolvers, and still have a couple. Most of them had a lot of holsterwear, and a couple some heavier dings, but most all of them were sound, and were good shooters.

The worst was a recent NYDC Model 10, that passed all the "tests" on inspection, really didnt look all that bad on the outside either, but after a couple of outings, the barrel came loose while I was cleaning it. Cant say if that was due to a high round count, or just one of those things, Im thinking the latter, but, you never know. Thats just part of the risk, and the fun, new or used.

[Ibmikey]

AK, Your example is an obvious high round pistol, to be truthful at 4am when I wrote my comments my brain was engaged on SS examples where wear marks can easily be removed or covered with the use of mildly abrasive pads. Also the stainless guns tend not to be so obvious with wear patterns, certainly not the stark difference shown in your photos.
A friend obtained a S&W Mod 65 from one of the California Dept of Corrections turn in’s, it was truly an example of what a person with dead time can do to a pistol. It was covered with scratches from end to end, cylinder was loose on the stop and had a ton of end shake and finally the hammer spur was bent from dropping the pistol. After some work on each of the listed areas and replacement of the hammer cylinder stop and grips the pistol looked and locked up according to Smith specifications. I have no idea of the rounds fired but it must have been drawn and dry fired untold thousands of times, crane opened and closed etc. The pistol now could pass for “as new” ....but Looks can be deceiving.

[AK103K]

Youre right, SS is a lot easier to clean up. You dont have to deal with a "finish", for the most part anyway.

When I had access to a bead blast cabinet, that was always my preferred method of doing the SS guns over. Carbon steel guns got the same treatment, but they went into the park tank after.

I picked up a DAO S&W 64 from J&G Sales a few years back. On the outside, the gun looked like it was thrown in a bucket of bolts and drug behind a truck. A million or so light to medium scratches. It was pretty rough. The gun itself was tight, and has a buttery smooth trigger. If it was used hard shooting wise, somebody fixed it up internally before they shipped it out.

One thing that always amazed me about that gun is, I dont know how they cleaned it before sending them out, but it was absolutely spotless when I got it. Cleaner than any gun Ive ever bought in 50 some odd years of buying my own. There wasnt a speck of anything, anywhere on the gun. my guess was ultrasonic, but who knows.

Lacking the blast cabinet, a couple of hours with some Mothers chrome polish, and the gun cleaned up really nice. Nicer than I expected to tell the truth.

Not the best pic, and I wish Id taken a "before", but youll get the idea.



This was a Colt Commander I got off a boy I worked with who was going though a divorce. It to was real rough on the outside, bright, polished SS on the sides, with lots of scratches. I stripped it down the bead blasted it.

When at all possible, this is my preferred SS finish....

[nanney1]

I have a Glock 22 trade in that looked new on the inside. One mark on the slide from holster wear. Barrel wasn't worn and there was a small amount of copper residue still on the inside of the slide. Seeing small amounts of the copper was a surprise.

Mags were stiff. This G22 was a Gen 4 that I purchased this summer. The test fire round still in the box was from 2013. I'm fairly certain that I've fired it more in the last 5 months than whoever had it previously.

[MagnumWill]

Ditto what nanney1 said.

I just received my Glock 22 gen 3 blue label, it came with a CT lasergrip and the Trijicon sights glow as if they were new.

When I took it apart, I'm convinced it's had less than 100 rounds through it - as well as spent all its time in a drawer or safe, there aren't even holster marks on it. I got it for $280, with 3 mags. I figured since the thing has $350 worth of sighting options, that's a fair price?

Needless to say, I'm trying to get another one. These things really are the best semblance if "milsurp" value these days.

[tallball]

A while back I noticed the police trade-in Glock Model 22's that were showing up on Gunbroker. I found one for $285 that came with the box and two magazines. It didn't seem to have much wear on it, so I bought it. It had a bit of holster wear, but didn't seem to have been shot much.


That was maybe six months ago. I've shot many hundreds of rounds through it since then. It's a very good pistol. It wouldn't be any better if I'd paid twice as much for it brand-new.

[n4aof]

Originally Posted by wild willy

How many rounds do you think most police trade ins have fired? I got into a discussion with a co-worker he was in a gun shop and another customer stated that you shouldn't buy police trade ins because they are wore out from shooting.I said the guy was FOS the guns aren't shot that much they show wear and tear from being carried.Who right?

That will depend on the department and the individual gun....

With smaller departments, generally all the trade-in guns will have been a regular duty carry gun for an individual officer. Most police officers have no interest in guns and will fire their duty gun only for mandatory qualification. The number of rounds fired for training and qualification varies by department, but is often under 100 rounds per year. There might be a few guns in any particular department that were carried by officers who liked to shoot and who shot the gun on their own time (usually having to pay for their own ammo). It's even possible (but unlikely) that one of the guns was issued to an officer who happened to be an avid competitive shooter who fired a few hundred rounds a week -- but it ain't likely.

With larger departments there will be more variation. Most of the guns will usually have been individual officer duty guns exactly like those described above. But if the guns came from a large metropolitan department or the state police, there is also a chance that some of the guns were Academy training guns used for range training of each class of new recruits. Those guns will likely have a much higher round count - but even so it is unlikely that the gun will be "worn out" because even academy training guns don't fire really high round counts, and of course, the academy guns are probably better maintained (cleaned by recruits and inspected by instructors) compared to individual officer guns. At the other end of the spectrum, a large department that is changing its standard gun will probably have a few trade-ins that are new, unissued, unfired. Depending on the department, some or all of those might be sold to officers rather than being included in the guns turned in as trade-ins.

Of course, on all police trade-ins you can expect that any night sights will be getting dim - the half-life of tritium is about 12.3 years, which is why most makers of night sights guarantee them for 10 years, by which point the sight will be about half as bright as it was when new. Night sights don't just quit working (unless broken), they just keep getting dimmer starting the day the tritium was sealed in the sight. Half brightness at 12 years, one-quarter brightness at 24 years, one-eighth brightness at 37 years, etc.

The worst round counts would come on military surplus or some overseas police trade-ins. In those instances the same sort of variation would exist, where most of the guns had few (or possible zero) rounds fired, but guns from a training center might have very high round counts.

With ANY "used" gun, it is always best to personally inspect it first -- but generally speaking US police trade-in guns will almost always show more holster wear than rounds fired.

Probably the best of the Police Trade-Ins would be the Sig CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) guns where Sig takes the trade-ins from departments that are replacing Sigs with newer Sigs (same of different model). Sig inspects each gun and replaces any worn parts. But alas SIG CPO guns are hard to find at gun shops and don't generally stay in inventory long when they do show up.

[USNRet93]

Most police officers have no interest in guns and will fire their duty gun only for mandatory qualification.

That surprises me..I am not a LEO, know 2 but have never asked about this. I guess it makes sense. I know a lot of airline pilots who don't really care to fly 'for fun', and most say when they retire, they won't want to fly ever again...

As an aside, if anybody comes across a Glock 25 'police trade in', let me know..I want one..even if it makes little sense..

[10-96]

The 25 doesn't rate enough points from the ATF to be available to us. Agencies can own them, but not regular folk. Now if Glock was to begin manufacturing them down there in Georgia, then they would be fair game for everyone.