"it's very hard for anyone to pass an accurate comment on or about the job"
Some people simply should not.
According to ie Mise
"Regarding them having military weapons; the issue rifle was for many, many years the SMLE, various marks, in, 303 British, the normal service round.
Supplementary long arms were German MP/40 Submachine guns and some Owen Guns as well."
In many years in the job mate the only long arm I ever saw was the FN FAL 7.62 and the Browning 10 gauge we had in the boot.
Never saw a MP/40 (Schmeisser)in my police force. No doubt they had them in Germany though.

Chris,

The SMLE was on issue to country stations and the Police Armoury in Sydney had at least two racks of MP 40s, as I recall seeing them, and the snipers rifles were "Pattern 1914 Enfield No 3 Mk I* (T) Sniper"
The Owen Guns that were there were the early Mk I.

There were also a lot of "goodies" in the Armoury but mostly of a civilian nature; one of which was a Walther 'Olympia' .22 Target semi-auto pistol (this was used by the only policeman who shot with the Sydney Pistol Club in the 1950s), others were the Colt Thuer Revolver, that were purchased for issue to Officers, an unopened packet of the cartridges for these is worth more than the pistol nowadays.
http://theautry.org/the-colt-revolver-in-the-american-west/conversion?artifact=87.118.33

Having SLRs rather bears out my point.

Hi there PAUL1405...

Yes I do recall you speaking of your long term, close friend who served in the police for many years. As it often happens, two diametrically opposite people can foster a very close relationship ! Where your deceased friend, wanted nothing less than to share his social life with you, a Greenie. You similarly, valued your own 'down time' with a bloke from the 'establishment'. Both of whom more or less 'fed' from each other, and I reckon that arrangement of yours, proved to be very beneficial for both of you. More power to you PAUL1405 !

I can add a little from my own personal perspective, I'd just returned from 12 months overseas active service with the Army. And like many of my genre, I had an aggressive attitude, a mouth like a veritable sewer, and I drank and stunk like a brewery. As it happened I'd only been home a couple of weeks and still basically on leave. One Sunday while washing my car, on the front drive of my parents house, these two extremely attractive 'Seventh Day Adventists' girls, were going from door to door, speaking to anyone of our neighbours who'd prepared to listen, about their religion, and the Bible etc.

A brief conservation with these two 'beauties' ensured, and over a couple of months I'd managed to initiate a somewhat tenuous friendship with one of these stunning looking girls. Amazingly, this friendship, despite our many differences slowly grew, (albeit strictly platonic), despite me being a real 'rough diamond' into the bargain, and she in turn, exuded and lived a life of devout piety. As it happened shortly thereafter she went on and married a like minded religious gentleman, and I joined the coppers. To this very day, we're still very close, notwithstanding we're both married ! Both of our respective partners are well aware of this long, sustained friendship !

Two utterly disparate, contrasting individuals of different genders ? Go figure eh Paul1405 ? There's no accounting for people's choices or behaviour when it comes to developing friendships, choosing potential partners !

Good afternoon to you CHRISGAFF1000 and IS MISE...

Speaking of armaments for coppers. A little bit of gossip for you both - The SAPOL's 'STAR Force' members were originally equipped with S&W Mod 19's 4", K frame, in .357mag, pushing out a 158gr. When in reality it was Sturm Ruger's famous 'Security Six' with a 4" in .357 was the weapon chosen for STAR ! Whisper was, the public servant responsible for the purchase order was confused and purchased the veritable S & W Mod19's ?

This particular gem was provided to me, by a 'STAR Force member' seconded to VICPOL, during the 1983 CHOGOM conference, in Melbourne. It so happened there were a few of us from NSW assisting also. All this because of the Hilton tragedy.

chrisgaff,

Just a minor point, but maybe it was a Remington Model 10 in 12G. They were P/A, but antiques and not so good.

My choice of combat shotgun was the 12 ga. Ithica M37 'Deerslayer' with 18" barrel and a full magazine.
I disposed of mine pre 1996, had I held on to it the Government would have paid me nearly double what I'd sold it for.

Another similarity between the military and the various police forces is virtually the same protocols for the wearing of medals on formal occasions and the wearing of the ribbons on everyday uniform.