Colt Police Positive

[lowercase]

Hi All

Picked up this little Police Positive today. The finish looked splotchy, but a good cleaning and some light flitzing made it look great. The action was gummy, but a soak in Kroil helped a lot.

The gun supposedly dates to 1929 and has the original grips. Surprisingly, they have no cracks or chips and are in really good shape.

I don't have a lot of Colts, but I sure wasn't going to pass up this nice little .38 for 350 bucks.

 

[Delawarean]

It is a Police Positive Special?

Very nice revolver.

 

[lowercase]

It is a Police Positive Special?

Very nice revolver.

It just says "Police Positive" and "38 Special" immediately to the right of it.

I'm not too familiar with these rovolvers and don't know what would make one a Police Positive Special.

 

[bannockburn]

lowercase

Nice find and after a litle cleaning up, looks to be in great shape! I believe the slighty larger frame and cylinder needed to chamber it for the .38 Special set it apart as the Police Positive Special versus the earlier Police Positive revolvers in .32 Long Colt, .32 Colt New Police, and .38 Colt New Police.

 

[GBExpat]

... The gun supposedly dates to 1929 and has the original grips. Surprisingly, they have no cracks or chips and are in really good shape. ...

Sweet! I have 2 of the Police Positive Specials in .32-20 (MFD 1912 & 1924) and they a fun to shoot, once I got used to the odd tucked-too-far-forward grip shape.

I cannot be certain from the pic if your Police Positive has the same grip shape. I will have to post a pic of my 2 for comparison, I guess.

 

[Lone Star]

You have the PP Special. The longer frame and the .38 Special chambering make that the case.

You obviously need a basic handgun book or Colt book. I think the overall best one is, The Handgun, by the late Geoffrey Boothroyd.

 

[mnrivrat]

Mine is a Police Positive Cal .22 It sports a 6 inch barrel and has target sights. Checkered wood grips with medalions.

Nice little guns. Mine was made in 1925

 

[damienph]

Police Positive Special

OP, yours is in much better cosmetic condition than mine. Mine also dates from the '20s but right now I cannot remember what year (I think 1922 but?).

Mine was my grandfather's and was carried often in the marches in south Louisiana where he was a hunting and fishing guide from the 1920s through the 1960s. There is very little finish left and the grips are chipped at the bottom rear.

It is chambered in .38 Special but was loaded with .38 Longs when it was given to me by my aunt following his funeral service in February 1991.

I also still have the leather floral tooled holster that he kept it in.

 

[GBExpat]

A quick pic of my two:

 

[roaddog28]

Congrats and you did well on your Police Positive. Colt was competing for the service revolver market against S&W in those days. The Police Positive is similar to the Colt official Police. The Official Police actually was more popular than S&W as a police service revolver in the 1920s and 1930s. Too me this was the era where the Colt double action revolvers were at its best.
Good luck,
Howard

 

[dfariswheel]

Note that Colt made a Police Positive AND a Police Positive Special.

The Police Positive had a short frame and cylinder for use with the short .32S&W and .38S&W cartridges.
The Police Positive Special had a longer frame and cylinder for use with longer cartridges like the .38 Special and .32-20.

Since Colt didn't want S&W's name on their guns, they slightly changed the bullet shape and renamed the cartridges as the Colt .32 and .38 New Police.
These are interchangeable with the S&W .32 and .38.
Note also that Colt ran the Police Positive serial numbers in separate ranges for the .32NP, and .38NP versions.
There's one range for the .32NP version and another for the .38NP.

The Police Positive Special has it's own serial number range so when checking dates made you need to know the model you have and the caliber.

There's confusion with the Police Positive and the Police Positive Special because of the way Colt marked the barrels in the pre-war days.
The Police Positive Special was usually marked as a "Police Positive" with the ".38 Special" following that.
After the war they were marked as "Police Positive Special" with ".38 Special" below that.

So, since you have a Police Positive Special you need to look for the year made under the Police Positive Special serial number data, not under the Police Positive.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I really like Police Positive Specials. As you can see in this photo, they are slightly smaller than a K frame Smith and Wesson.





I have several of them. This one was made in 1922.

The Police Positive is similar to the Colt official Police.

That is incorrect. The Police Positive and the Police Positive Special were smaller than the Official Police. The largest gun in this photo is a Colt Army Special, made in 1921. The Army Special was basically the same gun as the Official Police, just an earlier name. Notice how much larger it is than the Police Positive Special just below it, and notice the different configuration of the trigger guard. At the bottom of the photo the revolver on the right is a 32 Police Positive, made in 1917, and on the left is a 32 Pocket Positive made in 1908.





Here is the barrel marking on my 1922 Police Positive Special.





At some point, Colt started marking them Police Positive Special. This one was made in 1952.

 

[bannockburn]

Driftwood Johnson

Love the look of that .32 Pocket Positive with the round butt. Can't say I have seen too many of those in that configuration.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

Interestingly enough, that little Colt is chambered for 32 Long Colt, not 32 Colt New Police or 32 S&W Long. The bullet is a heeled bullet, and the case is slightly smaller in diameter than either of those other two rounds. Neither of those two rounds will chamber. I do have a box of 32 Short Colt, and they will chamber.

 

[Jim K]

IIRC, the guns made for .32 S&W Long were marked ".32 S&W CTG." or (later) ".32 POLICE CTG." Those made for .32 Long Colt were marked simply "COLT D.A. .32".

Jim

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Yup

COLT D.A. 32 is what is stamped on the barrel.

 

[Sergei Mosin]

I never get tired of looking at these old revolvers. I really appreciate you folks who take the time to photograph and share your collections with the rest of us.

 

[kBob]

lower case,

Nice Colt and thanks for sharing.

Youse udder guys gots nice Colts 2 also.

-kBob

 

[Jim K]

I once was convinced that those old DA Colts would be the next big area of Colt collecting, and bought some nice ones. They have gone up in value some (I won't lose money in real terms) but not as much as I anticipated. Still, they are beautifully made old guns and a pleasure just to look at.

Jim

 

[ghitch75]

i like PPS's too.......blued one is a 1922 with Tyler T

nickel is a 1929......

 

[Gordon]

jIM ANYTHING WITH THE PRANCING PONY ARE SELLING STRONGLY RIGHT NOW.
The older stuff isn't crazy price wise but still strong. The only one of this crew I have left is the Police Positive Target .22WRF on bottom, The Pocket Positive pictured said .32 S&W Ctg and fetched $600 a year ago. The middle larger gun pictured is a 32-20 Army Special and I got $500 for it 2 years ago

[/URL]

still have a late Uncles early 50s 4" Police Positive Special .38 Special and not ready to sell it !

 

[mnrivrat]

Bad picture but here is my Target Marked Police Positive Cal .22

I have another that is taken down to replace the hammer safety bar. That one is in .32 Long Colt.

 

[rswartsell]

The New Army or/and the Official Police have a slightly longer trigger reach than I am comfortable with (small hands). Police Positive/Police Positive Special require a minor adjustment to small. As an elder statesman, this is high quality old school kit, the barrels are incomparable and desirable to handgunners that are interested in Bullseye accuracy (slightly faster twist).

The truth be known, they are are revolvers making "all time " status when Smith & Wesson caught and surpasses them. These are not master craftsman hand benched Pythons, they didn't need to be. They were competition for service issue to the S&W Military and Police.

Different direction of rotation and different trigger action. When good examples of these are "worn in" either by use or long lost gun-smithing. they are the equal of anything for same purpose in their day. Collector value is different than practical value, and neither are predictable, Colt having the "out of production" edge.

For use if I received either a Colt Police Positive Special or a vintage S&W M&P (all other things being equal), I would be equally happy. Preference for S&W follows shortly on the timeline.

 

[HexHead]

I currently have two of the Police Positives. I had one made around 1967 that I searched a long time for just the right PPS. I traded it a few months later (didn't like the grip on it when shooting) for a mint 1977 3rd edition PPS to go with my equally pristine 1977 Detective Special.

My wife bought me a 1910 Police Positive in .38 NP to go with my 1903 Pocket Hammerless 2nd edition, with the bushing, also made in 1910. It's original finish is intact, but the grips at some point of it's 106 year old life were replaced with wooden ones attached with a brass pin. I need to get some original style grips for it.

 

[Old Fuff]

Minor problem:

Colt made .38 Police Positives on a heaver frame that use the same stocks as the Police Positive Special. Then they made some .32's on the same frame, as well as the slightly narrower .32 frame. Determine exactly what you have before ordering stocks and you'll come out fine.