Monday, October 16, 2006

Taking care of your equipment

So I was going to post about how we still live in the neighborhood we were forced to live in when J got his first cop job. More of an educational story for my non-LEO readers, but I'll get there one day. J started cleaning his gun tonight while we were watching TV. Heroes was on, which is a pretty good show. Anyway, since J got reassigned to this new post, for some strange, departmental reason, he had to switch guns with someone. Why? I don't know. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But I am not a cop administrator so I guess I don't know anything.

J carries a Sig Sauer P226 currently. They all do at his county dept. So it wasn't like he had to switch to a new gun that he'd have to get used to all over again. But the guy he switched with had a newer version of the P226, and J knows because it's got the new 'rails' on the side. You boys in blue probably know more about that than I do. I just repeat what he told me. Anyway, J had the older version, but he takes care of his equipment. It's there to help save your life or save someone else's life, so take care of it. It's kind of like your car in the sense that when you don't take care of it, it doesn't take care of you. You need to clean the gun after every time it's shot. Gunpowder builds up in the slide, the barrel, the trigger, etc. All the moving parts of the gun get pretty gunked up. You also need to clean a gun periodically even when it hasn't been shot, for the same reason you clean your house. Things get dirty.

Apparently the guy who carried this newer Sig never cleaned it. As most people know, cops periodically have to qualify with their weapons, to prove they still know how to use them. So it wasn't like this gun was never shot. J takes this thing apart today, and I can tell from 10 feet away, in the fading evening light, with my untrained eye, that it's dirty. I wish I'd taken a picture of the pile of blackened paper towels and q-tips that he went through. He was actually pretty pissed at the state of the weapon. There is rust on it in some spots. If it were me, since I'm such a hothead, I'd probably have complained to a boss about being forced to take an inferior piece of equipment. But J's a little more level-headed than I am, and also a little more diplomatic with his superiors.

so that's the rant o'the day...J's currently listening to "The Pot" by Tool. For some nutty reason you can't legally download this song online. Me? I'm only listening to my Sirius, and loving the fact that I can program it to let me know when my favorite song(s), group(s) or both are playing on any station. Can terrestrial radio do that? NOT YET!!! Hahahahahaha....Most recent stored group? Art of Noise. Doubtful many people have heard of them. Cool stuff, though.

2 comments:

kateykakes said...

Amy,

I'm with you about the complaining to a supervisor part - either that or giving the guy he had to trade guns with a piece of my mind.

Suppose the gun jammed when that other officer needed it most. It could have cost him his life or that of his fellow officers. It makes you wonder the hell some people are thinking.

Brent said...

I carry the Sig Sauer P226, also. The "CADILLAC" of guns, I might also add. Very dependable, very easy to operate, very easy to maintain. Sig Sauer is the only gun that didn't malfunction during testing with our department. It costs a bundle, but if you want the best, you pay the best.