Well, here's an interesting blog from a Wells Fargo historian.
http://blogs.wellsfargo.com/guidedby...#comment-28967
I have read in several different places that there are never any records of direct shipments to Wells Fargo because the local agents in each office went out and purchased the guns themselves. This has often been interpreted to mean that a local "branch manager" would go out and buy 10 shotguns for use in that particular branch, but if you talk to Wells Fargo they now give a better answer - the agents bought their own guns. This is supported by the above Wells Fargo historian, who says, "Armed personnel supplied their own equipment." There are exceptions, such as a few Colts and Ithacas, so I guess anything is possible.
There are no doubt guns in existence which were used by a Wells Fargo guard, but according to Wells Fargo those guns were USUALLY the property of the agents, and therefore would not have been "gifted" by Wells Fargo with a special commemorative plaque for valor.
That would make sense, because it was understood even in those days that a person needed to have a gun they could shoot well. Even today, most police forces don't just hand out guns to their officers, but instead allow the officer to select his own weapon from a list of approved firearms. In Atlanta, the APD can carry any number of guns, and what is popular on the force changes as new weapons emerge. Currently, I see more S&W M&P's on their sides than anything else. Before that it was a Glock, but I still see a few cops walking around with revolvers. I do a lot of trading locally, and recently sold a handgun to a local cop who wanted it as his backup piece to carry while on duty.