Adam-12

[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!!

[Honda]

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!!

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.

[Kevin]

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!!

[Truckman]

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......Ben

[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.

[Mike]

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.

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

[Mike]

In real life:

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.

A Brief History of America's Police Sidearms

[Truckman]

So Ben, any idea when semiautomatics started showing up?

Looks like 1988......Ben

[Honda]

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..

[Kevin]

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

[Truckman]

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)......Ben

[Honda]

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

[Phillbo]

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

What's the difference between the two?

[Truckman]

What's the difference between the two?

.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.........Ben

[Truckman]

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......Ben