LEO's question on pistol qualification

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - LEO's question on pistol qualification

Posted: 5/31/2002 4:29:48 PM EDT

I purchased a police trade-in SIG P225. This pistol with the exception of some holster rash, looked brand new. My question is, how often do you have to qualify with your pistol? And approximately how many rounds? I'd like to have an idea of about how many rounds the average pistol sees in its service time with a unit before being traded in. Thanks!

Posted: 5/31/2002 7:01:10 PM EDT

[#1]

Quib,
It's hard to tell. Many departments qualify 2 times a year. Some more and some 1 time a year. Most of the time, it is only a 100 or 200 rounds through it. Most police guns are maintained very well, since police have to depend on them to save their life or the life of someone else. Hopefully this helps.

Jon

Posted: 5/31/2002 7:12:58 PM EDT

[#2]

A sad truth of the matter is that many police guns are in great shape because they don't put many rounds through them outside of qualifications.

The USMS qualifies 2 times a year with the course being 60 rounds. You can count on 200-300 rounds fired during qual day with your primary handgun. SRTs try to qualify each quarter.

There are a few of us that try and get out to shoot at least once a month, though.

Posted: 5/31/2002 8:23:18 PM EDT

[#3]

We qualify once a year. The course is fifty rounds. We have one practice round. Total rounds fired during qualification = 100. During our shotgun qualification we fire our duty ammo and are issued new ammo. Since we use the S&W 4506 with an 8 round magazine capacity and three magazines. We are issued 25 rounds of Federal Hydra Shok 230 grn .45ACP (1 for the chamber). So the count is 125 per year and sadly most of the cops I work with never fire their weapon otherwise. A police trade in is a good bet for an excellent condition piece. Then again theres always the chance that you will get a SWAT team members trade in or the increasingly rare shooting enthusiasts weapon. With luck you can get a chance to inspect before you buy.

Posted: 6/1/2002 12:09:52 AM EDT

[#4]

Howdy QUIB.
My Department qualify twice a year, with 50 rounds being fired each time. We also get 50 rounds practice ammo a month. Some do not take advadage of this, some like myself do. Police trade-ins are often great buys. My first two Sigs (P-220, P-226)were trade-in's. I still have them both and they run just fine. Good Luck with the 225.

Posted: 6/1/2002 2:34:17 AM EDT

[#5]

Thanks for the response guys! I new I couldn't go wrong with this pistol, I had 5 to choose from, and all were pretty much in the same condition. At least now I have a rough idea of how many rounds such a pistol goes through.

Thanks again for the response and thanks for the job you guys do!

Posted: 6/1/2002 3:44:07 AM EDT

[#6]

We qualify twice a year at approximately 200-250 rounds per training session. But half of that is with our off duty weapon. Academy recruits put approximately 2400 rounds through their issued sidearm in a 2 week period.

Posted: 6/1/2002 9:55:08 AM EDT

[#7]

Three times a year, one box of practice ammo monthly. Of course, it could have belonged to someone like me, who shoots up everybody else's practice ammo.

Posted: 6/1/2002 10:27:59 AM EDT

[#8]

Once a year here. about 100 rounds for the various qual courses and more depending on which officer survival course we are teaching that year.

Can get ammo anytime for practice and a few of the deputies are enthusiasts. Sadly not many though.

Posted: 6/1/2002 11:56:47 AM EDT

[#9]

Patrol and CID qualify twice a year at 50 rounds a course, and are given 2 shots at it. So, 200 rounds a year. SWAT guys do that as well and usually shoot at least once or twice a month as well. SWAT gets pretty much whatever they want in ammo, within reason.

Posted: 6/1/2002 12:41:58 PM EDT

[#10]

See a pattern here? On the other hand, I work for a Fed agency that doesn't issue "personal" weapons and qualifies everyone with armory weapons. These have 2000-4000 thru them a year...easily. Big difference in the wear & tear. By the time our ARs are turned in, they are seriously worn. FWIW. Enjoy your SIG. Stay safe

Posted: 6/1/2002 2:21:31 PM EDT

[#11]

We qual 4 times a year 25 round course shoot it three time and then we train 2 times a year about 1000 rounds each time out.

Posted: 6/1/2002 4:47:07 PM EDT

[#12]

Three times per year, with approximately 200 rounds fired each time. No practice ammo issued.

Posted: 6/1/2002 6:32:47 PM EDT

[#13]

Four times a year, 50 rounds each.

Tactical "qualification" with Simunitions twice a year-maybe a few hundred low-power rounds. I get in more because I am a trainer on this and shoot the stuff as a "bad guy" every day for a week.

But...

They also issue as much ammo (all duty ammo) as a person can reasonably shoot. I manage about 1,500 a year, and I will do many, many more when our training facility opens in a few months and I don't have to drive a half hour to shoot.

Posted: 6/10/2002 10:09:35 PM EDT

[#14]

We qualify 4 times a year basically as follows:

50 rd. Practical Qualification. Contact distance to 25 yards. Must have 90% to pass.

10 rd. Accuracy Test. 15 yards. Must have 90% to pass.

100-200 rds. Tactical training of various sorts.

So, to answer your question, the MINIMUM a duty gun will see is approximately 640 rds. per year, but can see as many as several thousand depending on the officer,etc.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - LEO's question on pistol qualification

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