Tag Archives: border patrol

CBP and the new Glock 47 (?)

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Customs and Border Patrol, which existed for decades before they were merged Post-9/11 as the Dept. of Homeland Security’s CBP, loved six-shooters. Legendary smoke wagon skinner Bill Jordan cut his chops as a Border Patrol officer/inspector in the 1930s and 40s before he helped invent the S&W M19 and M66 to give the .357 Magnum room to move.

Christine Davis (Gee) was the first female agent hired by US Border Patrol. She was a member of class 107 and graduated from the academy on July 31, 1975. Note her S&W M19 (err, Ruger Six series, thanks Shawn!), which remained standard for another 20 years after this picture was taken

Therefore, it was no surprise that the agency was among the last federal law enforcement groups to ditch the wheelgun when in 1995 they adopted the Beretta 96 in .40S&W to put their M66’s to pasture. Then, in 2004, they moved from the all-metal Beretta to the polymer-framed HK P2000.

Dig those M14s tho (HK P-2000s in holsters)

Now, 15 years after the move to HK, the guns are still in frontline use, but have been passed up by a new generation of combat handguns and are as much of a throwback as the .357 six-shooter was in 1995.

Which compelled CBP to seek a replacement last year in a tender that specified an optics-ready handgun. This week they announced Glock got the nod to the tune of $85 million smackers, which is a lot of polymer (CBP has 45,000 LE officers and agents across all of its agencies).

The interesting thing about the move is that it appears they are the first adopter of the as-yet-to-be-announced Glock G47, which looks to be a G45 with a G17 MOS Gen 5 slide fitted.

I will be sure to check in with Glock for more info on that in the coming days.

Until then, check out my article on the move at Guns.com.

An interesting smattering of AKs, from somewhere in the Arizona desert

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So this popped up on my newswire from CBP’s media people. While the story of the bust isn’t that interesting, the guns recovered are.

In the above image from Border Patrol, there appears to be a Bulgarian-made Arsenal SLR-106 pistol at the top with the side rail, a Hungarian AMD-65 style gun with a very un-Hungarian side-folding stock, what looks like an Arsenal SAM-7 rifle with the stock detached, some really beat AK that probably still runs like a champ, and a Century-imported Serbian-made Zastava M85 pistol with the mag well to accept AR mags.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Armed illegals stalked US Border Patrol Agents

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Five illegal immigrants armed with at least two AK-47 semi-automatic assault rifles were hunting for U.S. Border Patrol agents near a desert watering hole known as Mesquite Seep just north of the Arizona-Mexico border when a firefight erupted and one U.S. agent was killed, records show.

A now-sealed federal grand jury indictment in the death of Border Patrol agent Brian A. Terry says the Mexican nationals were “patrolling” the rugged desert area of Peck Canyon at about 11:15 p.m. on Dec. 14 with the intent to “intentionally and forcibly assault” Border Patrol agents.

At least two of the Mexicans carried their assault rifles “at the ready position,” one of several details about the attack showing that Mexican smugglers are becoming more aggressive on the U.S. side of the border.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/…border-patrol/