Before the semi-auto Glock revolutionized police handgun use, you couldn't find many officers carrying anything but revolvers. Most departments banned the semi's use. The most common reason was that most cops qualified for handguns on the FBI's PPC course. This was a fifty-round exercise, requiring the officer to fire from different positions and distances from the target.
The favorite semi at the time was the Colt 1911 .45 caliber. The thinking was a .45 had so much kick a cop couldn't control it accurately for 60 rounds of firing. So, .38 and .357 were used almost exclusively.
Some always suspected that the real reason was that semi's were so unreliable. Their record of jamming and misfiring--due to user error--was horrendous. And, a .45 slug was a formidable load, big as a taxi cab. Remember, back then, the underpowered .38 was endorsed because it was safer if it got loose in public.
Anyway, during the midst of this Lowell Raines, a former FHP officer and then county maintenance supervisor, started a women's pistol team. His Deputy wife, Carol, was a deadly shot who went on the win the National Police Olympics. My wife, Sandy was a member, and I helped coach.
Most of the members became remarkable shooters. Sandy can still outgun me--and about anyone else. Aside from their practice schedule, they manufactured all their own practice ammo on Lowell's reloading equipment. Melted the lead, formed the bullets and seated them.
They competed in police matches across the state, even the NRA Nationals in Tampa. The string of fire was three of 90 rounds each with small, medium, and large caliber guns: usually .22, .38 and .45. Many only had two weapons so they fired the .22 and used the .45 for the medium and large bore strings.
So here we have women--Sandy is just over five-feet tall and weighs 100 pounds after a trip to Red Lobster--shooting 180 rounds from a .45. And mammoth cops, supposedly, couldn't shoot 50 accurately.
Sometimes we think up the dumbest excuses to get out of doing something we don't want to do.
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