Surprise Colt Gift

My Mother in law pulled out a tissue box today, handing over a Colt Police Positive. Asking me to clean it and bring it down on my next trip. My wife is convinced this is her way of giving me the Colt. Until I know otherwise I will just clean it. Mother in law just wants it cleaned and protected for long term storage, it has probably not been fired in about 30 years. Some of the screws are buggered, so I will likely repair them if I have time to do so.

I know next to nothing about revolvers. I have a JB Wood guide on how to disassemble this one from a Gun Digest text. Is there anything in particular, tips and tricks I would need to take apart other than follow the instructions? I read on a Colt guide to use Flitz polish on plated firearms. Good advice or have anything better?

I know this is a .38 S&W model NOT 38 Special. The barrel was cut down to 2" and re-crowned quite well from what I can tell. Front sight looks welded back on over a stamp I cannot read. Based on the serial number, this was made in 1924. The grips are not original and were replaced with their current Walnut (?) grips.

Was not planning on taking it all the way apart. The hand and cylinder stop are very clean and I bet parts in those areas are in similar shape. At most I am considering taking off the cylinder, grips, and maybe the sideplate to clean those areas. The barrel has some significant lead fouling so that is likely where I will spend most of my time. The chambers, ejector rod, and hammer assemblies have some rust build up. The hammer is quite interesting to me. It has a darker shade than the rest of the Colt, almost as if it was blued and rubbed off over time where the rest of the pistol is nickel plated. Thanks for the feedback so far.

I do know some history surrounding this Colt from my Mother in law. The early stories were likely not very good ones. Otherwise, it has sat in the same tissue type box she passed it over to me for a long time. It was last cleaned between 5 and 10 years ago. It holds lots of sentimental value to my wife and I hope I can get her a chance to shoot it before if/when it goes back to her mother.

bannockburn said:

I have been using it on my Colt Combat Commander for many years and the plating still looks good for the most part,

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That Colt looks great. I may not want this one to be that shiny but it definitely needs some gloss back in the finish.