Florida prisons

anthonycade · 12-04-2003, 11:29 AM

I'm researching for my Youth in Government club and have a question.

Does anyone know what types of guns are standard in government prisons? I'm focusing on Florida prisons, but if you know anything about other prisons, that info would be appreciated, too.

Dallas · 12-04-2003, 12:58 PM

Are you talking about what the Guards carry or the inmates?

BattleRifleG3 · 12-04-2003, 04:06 PM

Prisons, like police departments, will often each choose a certain pistol, or will allow the officers to choose their alone. They will also likely have a store of longarms for more serious work, such as shotguns and high capacity intermediate caliber semi or fully automatic rifles (you may find them referred to as assault rifles, though only the fully automatic ones are actually assault rifles by definition).
Probably the most common shotgun used by police is the Remington 870, with Mossberg 500/590 (two very similar designs, almost identical and partially interchangeable) as a close second and Winchester 1300 as a third.
For rifles, the Ruger Mini-14 and the AR-15, produced originally by Colt and now by many manufacturers including Bushmaster, Olympic, Armalite, Rock River, and DPMS, are the most common rifles used by police, including correctional facilities. They fire the light weight, high velocity 223 Remington cartridge (also called 5.56x45mm NATO on partially interchangeable and almost identical specs).

Common pistols carried by police in general are made by SIG, Glock, Beretta, and Springfield. The trend is towards polymer framed double stacked pistols, but there is still a bit of variety out there. All such pistols are made in 9x19mm NATO (also named Luger/Parabellum) and 40 S&W calibers, the latter of which is increasing in popularity. 45 is well respected by police, but not used as much as it used to be. Most pistols in 40 S&W are also chambered in 357 SIG, which is the same bullet width as 9mm NATO but has a higher velocity and thus more energy.

BattleRifleG3 · 12-04-2003, 04:30 PM

Here are two SIGs:

A Glock:

A Beretta:

A modern Springfield XD:

Springfield versions of the 1911:

BattleRifleG3 · 12-04-2003, 04:43 PM

A Ruger Mini-14:

Versions of the AR-15 by Bushmaster:

anthonycade · 12-08-2003, 11:09 AM

Thanks for the help. One more question: if the 223 Remington cartridges are the most common, how much would they cost, on average? Thanks!

oneastrix · 12-08-2003, 11:47 AM

.223 is cheap to buy and is low recoil. I can buy a box of twenty rounds (Winchester brand) for about two bucks a box. The higher quality rounds required for duty are considerably more expensive. I prefer the .223 55 grain soft point to the newer blaistic tips by Hornady etc.

anthonycade · 12-08-2003, 04:10 PM

Thanks to both of you. I am ultimately interested in the cost of the ammo to the prisons themselves, so whichever type is what they'd use is what I'm asking about.

The state prisons are what I'm focusing on, but I'm still happy to get the federal answers, too. How much would ammo for the currently used rifles cost?

I'd also like to know how much blanks cost compared with the regular bullets of these types.

savparts · 06-12-2004, 07:38 AM

First CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS NOT GUARDS, next no weapons inside the compound, all you have is a RADIO (hope it works) and cuffs. Outside in the towers, they have AR15 with 45 round, 12 ga shotgun with 10 round and a S&W M15 with 18 rounds to PREVENT excapes.
Wish we did have weapons

12-04-2003, 11:29 AM	#1
anthonycade Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 3	Florida prisons I'm researching for my Youth in Government club and have a question. Does anyone know what types of guns are standard in government prisons? I'm focusing on Florida prisons, but if you know anything about other prisons, that info would be appreciated, too.

12-04-2003, 04:06 PM	#3
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,598 Images: 13	Prisons, like police departments, will often each choose a certain pistol, or will allow the officers to choose their alone. They will also likely have a store of longarms for more serious work, such as shotguns and high capacity intermediate caliber semi or fully automatic rifles (you may find them referred to as assault rifles, though only the fully automatic ones are actually assault rifles by definition). Probably the most common shotgun used by police is the Remington 870, with Mossberg 500/590 (two very similar designs, almost identical and partially interchangeable) as a close second and Winchester 1300 as a third. For rifles, the Ruger Mini-14 and the AR-15, produced originally by Colt and now by many manufacturers including Bushmaster, Olympic, Armalite, Rock River, and DPMS, are the most common rifles used by police, including correctional facilities. They fire the light weight, high velocity 223 Remington cartridge (also called 5.56x45mm NATO on partially interchangeable and almost identical specs). Common pistols carried by police in general are made by SIG, Glock, Beretta, and Springfield. The trend is towards polymer framed double stacked pistols, but there is still a bit of variety out there. All such pistols are made in 9x19mm NATO (also named Luger/Parabellum) and 40 S&W calibers, the latter of which is increasing in popularity. 45 is well respected by police, but not used as much as it used to be. Most pistols in 40 S&W are also chambered in 357 SIG, which is the same bullet width as 9mm NATO but has a higher velocity and thus more energy. __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

12-04-2003, 04:30 PM	#4
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,598 Images: 13	Here are two SIGs: A Glock: A Beretta: A modern Springfield XD: Springfield versions of the 1911: __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

12-04-2003, 04:43 PM	#5
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,598 Images: 13	A Ruger Mini-14: Versions of the AR-15 by Bushmaster: __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

12-08-2003, 11:47 AM	#7
oneastrix Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: on the road Posts: 5,247	.223 is cheap to buy and is low recoil. I can buy a box of twenty rounds (Winchester brand) for about two bucks a box. The higher quality rounds required for duty are considerably more expensive. I prefer the .223 55 grain soft point to the newer blaistic tips by Hornady etc. __________________ There's no one more thankful to sit at the table, than the one who best remembers hunger's pain.

12-04-2003, 12:58 PM	#2
Dallas PUKHA DAWG Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. Posts: 3,610	Are you talking about what the Guards carry or the inmates?

12-08-2003, 11:09 AM	#6
anthonycade Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 3	Thanks for the help. One more question: if the 223 Remington cartridges are the most common, how much would they cost, on average? Thanks!

12-08-2003, 04:10 PM	#8
anthonycade Registered User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 3	Thanks to both of you. I am ultimately interested in the cost of the ammo to the prisons themselves, so whichever type is what they'd use is what I'm asking about. The state prisons are what I'm focusing on, but I'm still happy to get the federal answers, too. How much would ammo for the currently used rifles cost? I'd also like to know how much blanks cost compared with the regular bullets of these types.

06-12-2004, 07:38 AM	#9
savparts Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 91	First CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS NOT GUARDS, next no weapons inside the compound, all you have is a RADIO (hope it works) and cuffs. Outside in the towers, they have AR15 with 45 round, 12 ga shotgun with 10 round and a S&W M15 with 18 rounds to PREVENT excapes. Wish we did have weapons __________________ [For those who have fought for it, Freedom has a meaning the protected will never know]