User:US Secret Service

About Me

I am a guy in my mid-20s, hailing from the eastern United States. I'm currently pursuing a career in law-enforcement, and have received some law-enforcement training, including familiarity with, use of, and safe handling of firearms. As my user name indicates, I have a passion for the United States Secret Service, and have spent much time researching the training that agents go through, and their collective role as a federal agency. I have a knowledge of their current weaponry, and a more general knowledge of the agency's past weapons arsenal. This has allowed me to rapidly identify factual errors of USSS firearms portrayed in movies and TV shows, which I use to help improve IMFDB pages.

For The Record...

The actual United States Secret Service has the following weapons in their current arsenal:

• SIG-Sauer P229 pistol: (.357 hollowpoint) This is the standard sidearm for all Special Agents and Uniformed Division officers. Agents and officers are required to qualify for this pistol monthly.^{[1][2][4][5][7]}
• Remington Model 870 shotgun: (12 gauge, polymer stock and grips, 00 buckshot/steel slugs) Agents and officers are required to qualify on this weapon quarterly.^[2][4]
• Heckler & Koch MP5-A3 submarine gun: (9mm hollowpoint, Navy trigger group, double-magged) This is the standard submachine gun for Special Agents and Uniformed Division officers. Agents and officers are required to qualify for this submachine gun quarterly. ^[1][2][4]
• FN Herstal P90 submachine gun: (5.7x28mm fragmentation, triple-railed, scope attachment) Favored by the Uniformed Division's Emergency Response Team (ERT).^[2][5]
• KAC SR-16 assault carbine (5.56mm NATO FMJ, RIS foregrip, scope attachment) Favored by the Counter-Assault Team (CAT).^[5]
• Custom Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle "JAR" ("just another rifle"): (.300 Winchester Magnum FMJ, Remington action, Schneider barrel, McMillan stock, custom scope) Used by the a Uniformed Division's Countersiper Support Unit (CSU). (Special thanks to commando552)^[8]
• KAC SR-25 Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle: (7.62x51mm NATO FMJ, custom scope) Used by the Uniformed Division's Countersniper Support Unit (CSU).^[5]

Notes

Wikipedia mentions that the Service recently adopted the FN Five-SeveN pistol as a sidearm. I have been unable to confirm this via pictures or video sources.

The MP5K is often depicted in movies and TV shows as being a weapon used by the Secret Service, probably first seen in Air Force One, and seen in many films since (including The Sentinel, 24, Salt, and many others). I can categorically state that the Secret Service has never used the "-K" version of the MP5. Rather, they use the Navy version of the -A3 with double magazines. This has been confirmed by many pictures and documentaries. Though it was probably thought that the "-K" was used because of its concealability, the Service has never used it, likely because the range of the full version is greater.

Previous Weapons

These weapons were previously used by the Secret Service:

Mid-1990s - Early-2000s

• SIG-Sauer P228 pistol: (9mm hollowpoint): This replaced the Smith & Wesson Model 19/Smith & Wesson 66-2 revolver as the standard sidearm, besed on tests conduced by the Secret Service in the 1980s to determine which semi-automatic pistol would best be suited for endurance, reliability, and concealability.^[6]

• Remington Model 870 shotgun: (12 gauge, polymer stock and grips, 00 buckshot/steel slugs) Agents and officers were required to qualify on this weapon quarterly.

• Heckler & Koch MP5-A3 submachine gun: (9mm hollowpoint, Navy Trigger group, double magazine) This weapon was chosen as a replacement for the IMI Uzi submachine gun, due to concerns about the Uzi's accuracy.^[3]

• Colt M4A1 assault carbine: (5.56mm NATO FMJ, RIS foregrip, scope attachment) This weapon replaced the M-16A1 for the Counter-Assault Team (CAT) and Uniformed Division Emergency Response Team (ERT).^[4]

• Custom Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle "JAR" ("just another rifle"): (.300 Winchester Magnum FMJ, Remington action, Schneider barrel, McMillan stock, custom scope) Used by the a Uniformed Division's Countersiper Support Unit (CSU).

Mid-1960s - Late 1980s

• Smith & Wesson Model 19/Model 66-2 revolver: (.357 magnum hollowpoint, 2" or 4" barrels) This weapon was adopted after the Kennedy Assassination because of the stopping power of the .357 magnum rounds.^[5][6]

• SIG-Sauer P226 pistol (9mm) In the 1980s, this weapon was adopted specifically for members of the Counter-Assault Team (CAT).^[3]

• Remington Model 870 shotgun: (12 gauge, 00 buckshot/steel slugs) Agents and officers were required to qualify on this weapon quarterly.

• IMI Uzi submachine gun: (9mm, full-size, folding stock): This weapon was adopted by the Secret Service to replace the Thompson due to its lighter weight and concealability.^[3][6]

• M-16A1 assault rifle: (5.56mm NATO FMJ, foregrip, scope attachment): The Secret Service adopted the M-16A1 around the time it was being adopted by the military for use in the Vietnam conflict. It was the favored weapon by the Counter-Assault Team (CAT).^[3]

1940s-Mid-1960s

• Colt Detective Special revolver: (.38 Special) This revolver became standard-issue for the Secret Service as it was with many law-enforcement agencies around the U.S. It was replaced by the Smith & Wesson Model 19 sometime after the assassination of President Kennedy.

• Thompson submachine gun: (.45 ACP): This submachine gun was adopted by the Secret Service, likely for its firepower, although at the time, the on-the-job training occasionally neglected to properly train the agents with this weapon initially.^[5]

References

^[1] National Geographic: Inside the U.S. Secret Service. Video. 2003.

^[2] National Geographic: Secret Service Files. Video. 2010.

^[3] Emmett, Daniel. In Arm's Length. Text. 2012.

^[4] Holden, Henry M. To Be A U.S. Secret Service Agent. Text. 2005.

^[5] Kessler, Ronald. Inside The President's Secret Service. Text. 2009.

^[6] Petro, Joseph. Standing Next To History. Text. 2005.

^[7] United States Secret Service. secretservice.gov. Web.

^[8] Law Enforcement Snipers. Video. 2009.