Life and Death > Weaponry

What is FBI standard issue handgun?

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stevent:
Okay, the subject line pretty much says it all. I'm thinking of your regular field agent, not SWAT. I've looked online and several brands (including Glock and Sig Sauer) are touted as being FBI standard issue.

Also, would an agent in the field have an option of wearing a second gun say at the ankle? If so, what might be a reasonable model? (I would assume that those backup guns are usually the LEOs choice).

While I'm at it, anyone have an idea how much ammo an agent who is not expecting a firefight might carry - a spare clip? Two spares? Up to the agent? Or regulated?

Thanks in advance.

Chase:
Steven,

My FBI source says nothing is ever final, and what’s current today may not be tomorrow, but after the infamous 1986 Miami firefight, the FBI tested many handguns and cartridges to settle on the Smith & Wesson Model 1076 in 10mm.  The gun maker and the agency squabbled until the agency discontinued the Smith to issue the Glock Model 22 in .40 S&W.  That standard issue was replaced by the “current” issue (as of this afternoon) of SIG-Arms’ P-229, also in .40 S&W – although some Glocks and Smith & Wesson 1076s are still carried by agents.

In normal day-to-day carry, agents keep one magazine in their duty pistol and two spare magazines in various leather or nylon magazine holders.

Backup handguns are not issued, but my source says some agents feel incomplete without one.  As you surmised, a backup pistol or revolver and its cartridge would be the agent’s discretion – or indiscretion, as the case may be.

I hope this general information is of some value to your story.

Chase

stevent:
Chase,
many thanks for the info. Very Helpful. In fact, the story has a Newbie agent paired with a fifteen year vet, so the histroy, and the fact that the vet might have decided to keep his old gun is very useful indeed.

Thanks again,
Steven

JIM DOHERTY:
Steven,

See the chapter "Playing Through the Pain," in Just the Facts, for a short description on how the Miami shoot-out caused the Bureau to transition from medium-caliber revolvers and semi-automatics to bigger bore handguns (though Chase has already described that pretty well).

Just for info, though the .40 is now the standard issue in the Bureau (and indeed, in most of federal law enforcement; I carried and S&W 1076 myself back in my fed days), some old-timers not only stick with the 9mm, but some actually stick to the wheelgun in preference to semi-auto pistols.  In Walking Money by Jim Born (a former fed who's now in the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement), one of the characters is a veteran FBI agent who still carries a .38 snubbie in preference to the semi-autos carried by his younger colleagues.  In Dead Easy by former FBI Agent Arthur Nehrbass, the Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office, who's the main character, still carries a 4-inch .357 Magnum revolver.  I mention this since you indicated that you might want to have a veteran carrying something different than his younger partner.

Finally, though you specifically excluded SWAT team members from your question, you should know that, in regional SWAT teams working out of local Field Offices (as opposed to the DC-based Hostage Rescue Team, the elite of the elite) are made up of regular field agents.  Working SWAT is a sideline in a time of need (whereas, in HRT it's a full-time assignment).  Regional SWAT members may carry their SWAT weapon as their regular sidearm when operating as field agents.  The SWAT/HRT pistol is a customized 1911-style .45 semi-automatic manufactured by Springfield Armory.

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