History of the Metropolitan Police Service by the end of the 19th century. During the 1860s, the flintlock pistols that had been purchased in 1829 were decommissioned from service, being superseded by 622 Beaumont–Adams revolvers firing the .450 cartridge which were loaned from the army stores at the Tower of London following the Clerkenwell bombing. In 1883, a ballot was carried out to gather information on officers' views on whether they wished to be armed, and 4,430 out of 6,325 officers serving on outer divisions requested to be issued with revolvers. The now obsolete Adams revolver was returned to stores for emergencies, and the Bulldog 'Metropolitan
Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch 14 sergeants and 117 constables. The Branch has stables at locations including: The Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch is the oldest part of the Metropolitan Police, having been formed in 1760 (some 38 years prior to the Thames Marine Police Force and 69 years prior to the formation of the Metropolitan Police) as the Bow Street Horse Patrol. The primary purpose of the Bow Street Horse Patrol was to patrol the turnpikes approaching London. Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch The Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch is a Central Operations (CO) branch of London's Metropolitan Police. The main responsibilities of the branch are to