Police trade-in beware?

[You'll shoot your eye out]

Way back in my misspent youth I had availability to a Colt Police Positive .38 special revolver with a 4 inch barrel. It was supposed to be a retired police gun and was the most worn and clapped-out rattle trap I ever saw. The barrel was the best part of it but even so, the lands and grooves were only smooth bumps. It was long past shot-out.

That revolver was the most accurate handgun I have ever shot! Every bullet went right where the sights pointed, no variation, no spread, no matter what ammunition you used. It was ugly and beautiful at the same time.

I was told by the old man who had that gun that every bullet fired only served to polish and wear the barrel ever closer to perfection, that an old worn barrel would out perform a new sharp one any day.

I don't know about that theory but the three most accurate firearms I have ever shot were that Colt, my brother's AR7 and a Marlin model 60. All three of them were shot-out, wore-out POS guns.

 

[church]

If you want a used police trade in thats sure to be in great shape. You should look for a Sig certified pre owned.

 

[AKMSU]

I have a few (Sig 226, P6, Beretta) most are in great mechanical shape with some finish wear, just look for the obvious, refinish is desired, replace springs as needed and enjoy!

 

[Txlur]

I think S&W has made some changes and improvements to their M&P line recently. I'm not sure if it affects .40, but it may be worth looking at prior to purchasing used.

 

[shooter521]

If you're that concerned, you could always find a local shop that has police trade-ins, so you could check them out first hand and take the pick of the litter.

 

[Disposable Heart]

Regardless, I would change out some of the planned obsolescence items, such as recoil and magazine springs if you are going to press it into your "service". While most have been shot little, carried alot, some have been shot or cycled alot and their springs will give you fits. Almost every police trade in I've purchased required some part to be replaced after shooting it for the first time due to jams or issues. The mantras that people like to parrot aren't always the case.

 

[Cowboy71]

Maybe it's just my bad luck but I've bought exactly two police trade ins -- a S&W 686 and a .40 S&W Glock -- and both were terribly inaccurate. That was back in the late 90's so maybe what you get now is better quality. And most here seem to have had good luck but that's my two cents to take or leave.

 

[ModernGunner]

When purchasing ANY used gun it's prudent to thoroughly check it out before

 

[sharpetop]

Usually police trade ins have been carried much and shot little.

This here ^^^^

I purchased my son-in-laws trade-in for $312. It was a Sig P229, .40 Cal. with night sights and three 13 rd. magazines. He did his qualifications with it and took it the range with me a time or two. I doubt that it had 500 rds. through it.

 

[output]

When purchasing ANY used gun it's prudent to thoroughly check it out before

That's great advice. I've had good experiences with police trade-ins. Some require more work and replacement parts than others. The

 

[Bravo-4-2]

Usually police trade ins have been carried much and shot little.

This. Most of the guys I know maybe put 100-150 rounds a year, at most, through their issued weapon. The best or the best police trade-ins are the ones that were in inventory but never issued by the department. I have a couple of these, including a beautiful SIG P229 that I'm sure had never been fired post-factory. I bought it for $469 on GunBroker.

 

[ag563]

A couple of years ago, I bought my 1st Glock, a Glock 21, Gen. 2.5, police trade in, at a gun show for $399. I took out the NY trigger spring & replaced it with a stock spring & added a ss guide rod & new recoil spring (just cuz I didn't know how used it was). Great gun. I should have bought two of them...

 

[Denny347]

This. Most of the guys I know maybe put 100-150 rounds a year, at most, through their issued weapon. The best or the best police trade-ins are the ones that were in inventory but never issued by the department. I have a couple of these, including a beautiful SIG P229 that I'm sure had never been fired post-factory. I bought it for $469 on GunBroker.

We average about 400-500 rds a year through ours. When we traded in the Gen 2 pistols a few years ago they averaged about 5-8k rounds in their 15 years of service. They still ran well when we traded in for the Gen 3. When we went from Gen 3 to to Gen 4, my MCSD engraved Gen 3 was 8 years old, I was issued it brand new. I bought it back and you could hardly tell it was shot a lot, it probably has 4k rounds through it. Not a lot of holster wear nor much on the internals. You do notice the trigger was well worn in however. That would be a more obvious sign of use.

 

[k1500]

Most LE trade-in's weren't fired much more than the qualification. I'd be surprised any of them would have more than maybe 5,000 rounds through them which is well below the threshold of most modern, quality semi-auto pistols. I bought a Beretta Storm LE trade-in on another gun forum. It only has minor holster wear, a few scratches, but pristine internals with a tight and smooth action. It is my home defense pistol. If I had any doubt about its reliability in a life or death situation, it would merely be a range gun.

 

[mrortega]

I was talking to an LEO at one of my local ranges and asked if it was true that the average cop put about 30 rounds through his sidearm every 6 months or so. He thought for a minute and finally said, "Hmmm. Sounds kinda high."

 

[SpaldingPM]

Just bought a USP .45 V3 w/ night sights, 3 mags, and factory box for an astronomically low price. It was a Cali LEO trade in.
Should have it in a week or two.

TriggerTime and I plan to Cerakote it.

 

[padawan]

Just bought a USP .45 V3 w/ night sights, 3 mags, and factory box for an astronomically low price. It was a Cali LEO trade in.
Should have it in a week or two.

TriggerTime and I plan to Cerakote it.

Picked up a USP-C a few years ago that was FULL of lint. I doubt it was shot very much. 3 mags, box for $400. Dealer had a bunch from a dept trade out program. Some looked almost new.

 

[SpaldingPM]

Picked up a USP-C a few years ago that was FULL of lint. I doubt it was shot very much. 3 mags, box for $400. Dealer had a bunch from a dept trade out program. Some looked almost new.

Thats about what I go this v3 for.
I actually plan on picking up a few more here within this month for some clean up projects.

 

[Midskier]

I bought a smith 5906 trade in a few years ago looked decent enough, shot perfectly - ran @ least 2000+ rounds through it and it still cleans up like new. this is one I'll never get rid of - she's a big girl for a 9mm and any beginner shooter I have with that is ready to step up form 22lr gets to shoot the 5906 - it was certainly carried more than it was shot and now it's 20 some plus years old.

 

[Beowulf]

I've owned a decent number of police trade-ins: Beretta 92, Glock 17, Glock 22, Glock 23, and two S&W Model 10s (well, that's just counting American police trade-ins, I'm pretty sure my Walther P-1 was probably police issue, but who knows).

My luck has been pretty good with all of them, except for one of the S&Ws (the grooves in the cylinder for the cylinder stop were rounded off, so I ended up having to replace the cylinder, ejector, and crane.. since neither I nor 2 different gunsmiths could get the old cylinder off the original crane). The sights were a little wonky on the G17, but I replaced them with new sights that were way better anyway, so I'm really happy with it.