Firearms can be an expensive hobby to get into. Between the price of guns, ammo, and optics, it’s easy to find yourself looking for ways to cut costs. I’m always looking for a good deal, and one of the best ways to do this is to look at police trade-ins. When police upgrade their firearms, they sell off their old-duty weapons. They let them go quite cheaply, and that’s a benefit to us! Plus, sometimes they get the department crest, or at least the name as a roll mark, which adds a certain cool factor and provenance to the gun.
Police Trade-In – Aren’t They Beat To Hell?
Admittedly, no one wants to baby an issued weapon. These guns are carried daily, rain or shine, and are often not cleaned frequently or treated well. Issued weapons can be abused, but the truth is that most police don’t shoot very often. A lot of times, these guns are only used once a year for qualification purposes.
While they might look rough externally, they tend to be in decent shape internally, and that’s where it matters most.
S&W 64
I’m pleasantly surprised that revolvers are still on the police trade-in menu. Even second-generation Glocks have dried up, yet finding police trade-in revolvers doesn’t seem that hard. Specifically, the S&W 64-3 series of .38 Special revolvers. The Model 64 descends from the classic Model 10. It’s simply a stainless steel variant of the classic Model 10, one of the quintessential cop guns.
The Model 64s are six-shot, K-frame revolvers that chamber .38 Special. They are as average as it gets. We get simple hard rubber grips that fill the hand, a ramping front sight, and a rear trench sight. The stainless finish is often unperturbed due to its strengths and benefits. These guns commonly come with 4-inch barrels, but 3-inch variants can be found regularly.
Guns like the Model 64 were some of the last police revolvers to serve en masse. They were replaced with modern semi-automatic pistols. Most served in the 1980s and 1990s, so they aren’t ancient and aren’t plagued with problems.
These are sturdy, capable revolvers. They make excellent self-defense weapons but might be a little large for concealed carry. A six-shot revolver in .38 Special isn’t an exciting weapon, but for right around 300 dollars, it’s tough to find something better for less. If you want to dip your toe into the revolver world, the police trade-in 64s are a great place to start.
S&W 3rd Gen Guns
Yep, another S&W. I can’t help that they’ve been a massively popular supplier to American police forces. The S&W third-generation automatics were popular before the polymer revolution. They were the guns that competed with the first few generations of Glocks. I’m not putting down a specific model because there are just so many on the market in various configurations.
S&W made these guns in various calibers. You can find 9mms, .40 S&Ws, .45 ACPs, 10mms, and more, which I’m probably forgetting. They come in full-sized, compact, and subcompact. They have three or four-digit model numbers, which can be annoying and confusing, but once you understand the naming convention, it begins to make sense.
These are sturdy, all-metal guns with DA/SA actions. There are some DAO models as well, but they are primarily part of the DA/SA family. They are all fairly reliable and accurate pistols, but ergonomically, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. While they are all fairly similar, some are worse than others. The cheaper three-digit model numbers tend to show the price difference, and .45 ACP version can feel giant compared to guns like the M1911.
Overall, they are all solid guns. Price-wise, they aren’t necessarily budget-priced police trade-ins. There is some demand for these guns, so expect to spend 400 to 600 dollars. Admittedly, a lot of these guns retailed for that price point 30 years ago, so factor in inflation and the price has dropped.
Glock Gen 4 and Below
Glock owns the law enforcement market. They’ve owned it for decades now. Plenty of police trade-ins have slunk into the market. Quite a few law enforcement agencies have upgraded their Glocks for more Glocks. There are some Gen 5 guns on the market, but it’s primarily Gen 4, Gen ,3 and even some Gen 2s every now and then.
The most popular and common series is the Gen 4 .40 S&W handguns. The Glock 22 Gen 4 seems to be the most common police trade-ins. The law enforcement market has moved to 9mm and left the .40 S&W largely in the past. Low demand results in low price points, so you can have a gun with Glock-level reliability for 300ish dollars.
Some 9mm and .45 ACP guns are on the market. The 9mm variants tend to have higher demand, so they are priced slightly higher than the .40 S&W guns. Still, they tend to remain an excellent value. The .45 ACP variants cost more than the .40 S&W guns, but they tend to be less than the 9mm variants and are most likely Gen 3 guns.
Glocks might be boring and Spartan in design, but you can’t deny their reliability. They are robust guns with an excellent reputation and a long history of service. Police trade-in Glocks are a great way to obtain an affordable firearm that will work forever.
The Remington 870
The long gun used by most police forces for decades was the shotgun. The Ithaca 37 and the Remington 870 are the most common. Ithaca 37 Police trade-ins are expensive and rare, but Remington 870s tend to be an affordable option. Remington 870s are everywhere, so police trade-ins don’t have the rarity of the Ithaca 37.
Police Magnum 870s tend to have metal trigger guards and higher quality control levels than standard 870 magnums. The police models also tend to have six-round capacities versus the four-round capacity of the standard 870. You even get the Police roll mark, which isn’t available to the standard 870 buyers at Big 5.
The 870 series are twelve-gauge shotguns with a slick action, excellent ergonomics, and a reputation for durability and reliability. They are the modern police pump action shotguns. As much as the police and firearms world has embraced the AR, the classic pump shotgun continues to be a very capable weapon.
As Clint Smith says, a shotgun takes chunks of pieces off of people. If you need a home defense long gun, police trade-in 870s are one helluva bargain. They tend to look round, especially if they were kept in cars, but after a thorough cleaning, they are sturdy, ready to shoot shotguns.
Various Carry Handle ARs
The modern AR has a flat top, optics-ready upper receiver. That’s the standard. Buying a carry handle AR typically means you’re buying a purposefully retro gun. However, there is a series of carry-handle guns from Bushmaster, DPMS, and Rock River Arms that haven’t reached collectible status but have left police armories.
These carry-handle ARs tend to represent the best of these companies. We all saw Bushmaster and DPMS descend into crap-tier companies under the Freedom Group, but there was a time when they were some of the top dogs in the AR-15 world. These old carry-handle police trade-ins represent those older, high-quality AR-15s.
A career handle AR feels a bit out of date, but mounting optics to the carry handle creates a nice high optic that’s super comfy to shoot with. It’s not all that bad. It’s easy to add a modern handguard, and for less than $500, you can get a high-quality, well-made AR. You just have to deal with the carry handle.
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On the split side, you can get a solid retro-ish gun for a great price. The new series of H&R guns is great but pricey. You can get most of that experience with a Bushmaster at half the cost. It might not be high-speed, but it’s a solid and proven platform.
Police Trade-Ins – Save That Dough
If you’re looking for a cheap addition to your collection or an affordable weapon for protection, a police trade-in is a great place to start. I tend to suggest police trade-ins over budget-worthy pistols simply due to the bargain they offer. Keep your eyes open and watch Guns America for the latest and greatest in used and new guns.
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