Adam-12

MeTV runs Adam-12 weekdays at 5PM. That and Gunsmoke were my favorite shows back in the day.

Now, my wife and I watch the Adam-12 reruns to see if we can identify cars in the background. You'd be surprised how many Beetles are in LA at this time.

Gunsmoke is cool because Matt is cool. Some of the plotlines are pretty edgy. Wife beaters, child killers, unrepentant villains. And Matt, poor SOB that he is, always seems to get stuck burying the people he is forced to kill. I sort of like that, though. The show doesn't gloss over things. He's probably the only marshal that carries a gun AND a shovel as standard issue.

Anyway, just fun watching some old stuff. We get Grit TV here also. Zane Grey Theater, Wagon Train, all the Randolph Scott movies you could ask for. Great stuff!!

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Originally Posted by Kevin

MeTV runs Adam-12 weekdays at 5PM. That and Gunsmoke were my favorite shows back in the day.

Now, my wife and I watch the Adam-12 reruns to see if we can identify cars in the background. You'd be surprised how many Beetles are in LA at this time.

Gunsmoke is cool because Matt is cool. Some of the plotlines are pretty edgy. Wife beaters, child killers, unrepentant villains. And Matt, poor SOB that he is, always seems to get stuck burying the people he is forced to kill. I sort of like that, though. The show doesn't gloss over things. He's probably the only marshal that carries a gun AND a shovel as standard issue.

Anyway, just fun watching some old stuff. We get Grit TV here also. Zane Grey Theater, Wagon Train, all the Randolph Scott movies you could ask for. Great stuff!!

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I loved that police show. I wanted to be a cop from an early age. I also liked the paramedic spin off. I'm not much for westerns that do not have John Wayne or Clint Eastwood in them.

My Dad and I were Clint Eastwood fans. Josey Wales was our favorite. That poor Redbone hound! Always getting a load of tobacco juice on his punkin head. There was a lot in that movie. Vengeance, forgiveness, redemption, loss, hope, transformation. Plus some damned good tough guy quotes!!

Endeavor to persevere!!

My TV reruns are limited to DVD and YouTube...Right now I'm watching my DVD series of Amos 'n' Andy shows (they're also on YouTube)...Like you Kevin, I watch the occasional Adam 12 episode on YouTube to see which guns they carry...The uniforms usually carry 4" S&W Model 15's (with the occasional 6" making a showing), while plain clothes guys carry 2" Model 10's (all period correct)...My Dad was a huge Gunsmoke fan, although I could never reach his level of enthusiasm for it...:cowboy:...Ben

So Ben, any idea when semiautomatics started showing up?

I know the question of being outgunned came after that North Hollywood bank robbery back in the 90s. What a scene that was. Bad news.

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Originally Posted by Kevin

So Ben, any idea when semiautomatics started showing up?

I know the question of being outgunned came after that North Hollywood bank robbery back in the 90s. What a scene that was. Bad news.

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I don't think you'll see a semi-auto in Adam 12.

In real life:

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For decades the revolvers ruled the roost when it came to equipping the law enforcement officer, whether it was a Smith & Wesson, Colt, or even Ruger despite the fact that semi-auto pistols like the 1911 Government Model and Browning Hi-Power had been available for nearly just as long. This changed when the Smith & Wesson Model 39 9mm pistol was introduced and was adopted in 1967 by the Illinois State Police. For the first time a semi-auto pistol was used in large numbers for a single department, it would not be the last.

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A Brief History of America's Police Sidearms

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Originally Posted by Kevin

So Ben, any idea when semiautomatics started showing up?

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Looks like 1988...:arr:...Ben

When I first joined the PD it was all revolvers. That was 1978. A few years later S&W came out with a model 59 semi auto and it was all the rage with the police. I did not like it and finally settled for the first Sig ever imported which was under the Browning label. It was a Browning semi auto BDA .45. That would have been around 1980 or so..

My first handgun was a SW 39-2. Right after Morton Grove.

As mentioned in Mike's linked article, the first standard issue sidearm were the Colt and S&W revolvers usually chambered in .32 S&W Long...The commonly purchased S&W was the Regulation Police...It was a five shot based on the I-Frame, first used on the early LadySmiths of the late 19th Century, and later was modified into today's J-Frame...I own a Regulation Police chambered in .38 S&W (not .38 S&W Special)...:cop:...Ben

My first issue weapon was a S&W .38 Chief's Special Bull Barrel.

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Originally Posted by Truckman

chambered in .38 S&W (not .38 S&W Special)...

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What's the difference between the two?

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Originally Posted by Phillbo

What's the difference between the two?

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.38 S&W uses a cartridge case slightly larger in diameter but considerably shorter than the .38 Special...Bullet diameter is nominally the same...The British always preferred the .38 S&W over the more modern Special, and had billions of rounds of ammo stockpiled all over the world in their colonies...When S&W production was converted to strictly M&P K-Frames in 1940, the lend-lease guns destined for Britain known as BSR's (British Service Revolver) were all chambered for .38 S&W, while the Victory guns used my US forces were in .38 Special...After the war import companies bought the lend lease guns back to the US for resale on the civilian market...Many had their cylinders reamed to the more common .38 Special...

I have one like that which also had the barrel shortened to 2.25" and got nickel plated...It's pictured here under its larger cousin, a .38-44 Heavy Duty......:cigar:...Ben

Coincidentally the .38-44 Heavy Duty was developed by using the heavier .44 Special frame, but fitting barrels and cylinders drilled and reamed to chamber the .38 Special cartridge...This was because well-known shooters like Bill Jordan and Elmer Keith wanted to develop loads for the .38 Special which were deemed too hot for the K-Frame M&P's of the day...Their research led to the adaptation by S&W of the .357 Magnum in 1935...:boom:...Ben

Once I was on-duty, I was issued my predecessor's weapon, an aged and worn .38 5-shot revolver. Qualifying with it was a challenge due to those old-style speed loaders we had at the time. I switched over to an auto 9mm first chance I had. It sure made qualifications easy.

Now, of course, Utah has a law that allows citizens to carry without a permit. I think that means I'll need to look into our carry requirements again to make sure wifey and I are O.K.

Hunter

When I was first sworn in 1981 revolvers ruled. Semi-autos were a rarity. Never had an issued weapon, the department did not and still does not issue weapons. I was always glad about that, I didn't want to be told what weapon to carry, it might not be right for me.

I started out with a Nickel plated S&W model 19 in .357 Magnum. I carried it for several years before switching to a Colt 1911 Combat Commander in .45. After that, I went to a Glock 23 in .40 that I carried to the end of my career. The additional rounds it carried seemed like a good idea, and it wasn't as heavy as the .45.

talking to my buddy Pat. when he joined Alameda County Sheriffs in the late 60s he was issued a 44 revolver and a 12 gauge

You had a gun allowance so he chose a 1911 after a couple of years with the 44. He is in his 70s now. still a reserve and he just passed his combat course at the range last weekend.

I reminisce some days how many Colt pythons I saw in fellow officers holsters and also how many times I had a chance to buy them when some of them fell on Hard Times. If I recall right the going price was around $250 used. I wish I would have bought 10 of them. Live and learn

Kevin, sorry we hijacked your thread talking about old police stories and guns. Something tells me you wouldn't mind at all.

Not a bit. Conversations go where they go and this has been really interesting! My uncle Pat was a policeman (Irish side of the family were all cops and firemen) in Binghamton, NY. Call box key, night stick, the works. Never had to draw his gun in his entire career. Knew every drunk and would make sure they got home at night. Really sweet natured until he wasn't then he had the hardest fist you never wanted to meet.

My godfather was a cop. Old school all the way. Probably the reason I stayed out of trouble in my teens. I would sass my father, maybe, but no one sassed Jimmy Kane. There's a picture of him carrying two guys out of a bar. He had knocked both of them out and had one under each arm, taking them out for transport.

Sometimes threads morph in a really interesting way.

Back on topic, I enjoyed Adam 12 when it was aired and binge watched the entire series on Netflix with my wife.

Growing up it was Stories of the Highway Patrol, Dragnet, Adam-12 but the one that captivated me the most was Emergency. Squad 51 out of Rampart Station. It was a dream come true when I was given command of Rescue 2961 in Santa Cruz County Fire. Every time we got toned out. In my mind I could see Squad 51 and it was me..coolest 12 years of my life.
We carried cliff rescue gear, Auto extrication gear (jaws), two full sets of med gear (one for highway one for back country rescue, wheeled stokes litter for back county carryouts). 4x4 with a detroit diesel and a warn 16,000 pound winch.
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Off topic but there was some serious talent on Emergency.

Dr Early - Bobby Troup, jazz musician, wrote the song "Route 66". Nat King Cole made it famous.

Dr Bracket - Robert Fuller, Jess on the old Laramie series, a very underrated Western.

Kevin Tighe - if you ever get a chance to see a movie called Matewan, do so. Kevin Tighe plays a menacing union buster in West Virginia in the coal mines of the 1920s. He just drips evil. David Strathairn plays the local sheriff, Sid Hatfield (yes, those Hatfields), James Earl Jones and Chris Cooper. Bloody Mingo, man. Unreal.

Dixie McCall - Booby Troup's wife in real life, once married to Jack Webb of Dragnet, and an ohmygawd lovely torch singer back in the day. She had a performance with Gary Cooper in Man of the West that was outstanding.

Great show, great actors.

Love th old Jack Web shows.. Dragnet and then produced Emergency and Adam-12..

The Julie London-Bobby Troup casting always found interesting.. Jack Web hired his exwife and her new husband.... but Julie was super cool..

Andy Griffith is a regular..

Discovered Big Bang and The Nanny in reruns, Fran Dresher is a comic genius.. Big Bang has genius writing..

Gunsmoke was a regular.. met James Arnes in the x1972.. he was speaking at a US Marshals event and I was working sound and lights.. he was a very tall, very nice guy..