FerFAL
Member
After a long waiting period I finally have my 3” Colt Police Positive Special with me.
So, last Friday I took it along with the Pocket Hammerless 1908 (380 ACP ) to the range.
I was in a bit of a hurry, and I’m also saving money for ammo for my next shooting class, so I only put 50 rounds through each gun. Cheap reloads both, the 38 Special was some 158 gr SWC and the 380 AP was 90gr. FMJ truncated cone. I expected some light reloads but they were in fact pretty hot and accurate.
Both guns are in excellent working condition, in spite of the reblueing, barrels on both guns have nice rifling and I expected them to work well. The fitting on both guns is truly impressive, specially when you think about how old they are, and that they are in no way “ like new” guns.
The Police positive had the barrel cut down to 3”, meaning it’s not an original 3” barrel, but whoever did it did a fine job.
First I fired a few rounds through the revolver.
This little guy barks loud! Recoil is noticeable, but you can still fire fast and accurately. It’s important to keep a firm grip with this snubby, as firm as you can manage.
Soon enough it was clear that the ergonomics on this revolver are nothing to brag about. The grip feel kind of weird, and it’s impossible to grip it all the way up and still pull the trigger unless your finger is crooked like a hook. Gripping it correctly, my little finger had a hard time staying in the grip (curled below the grip), and I have medium sized hands, not some huge paw.
Point shooting was still relatively easy to manage, and if the grip was somewhat correct on the gun, the 3” revolver impacted where you pointed it at.
The indoor range was empty so I went trough some defensive drills with it, drawing from my jacket’s pocket single handedly and shooting twice in the chest and another one or two in the head. As I said before, it points well naturally, the hard part is getting a god grip while drawing in a hurry.
This old 3” Colt Police Positive is pretty accurate. This gun is mostly intended for close range defense, but I still tried a few rounds for accuracy. Nothing scientific, but lets say it was easy to keep all shots within the targets face at 10 yards, the first two rounds actually touched.
Manually cocking the hammer before firing is a temptation, but you should only practice DA shooting because that’s what you are going to use in defense.
Then I switched to the 1908 Pocket Hammerless.
Now , you CAN feel Browning’s geniality as soon as you pick this gun.
This pistol fits my hand like a glove, and it was a true pleasure after the Police Positive’s awkward grip.
Point shooting with this gun was even easier than with the revolver. You just point at whatever part of the target’s body you want to shoot and it hits it as if it where laser guided.
Sights on this gun are small, and it’s the only thing I would change if I wanted it for a serious defensive role. I liked the clearly defined sights of the Colt revolver much better. Sights on both weapons where dean on target, which was nice to see because I was a bit worried about the revolver since it had been cut from a longer barrel.
Recoil on the 380 ACP was very pleasant, better than in the 3” 38 special, and head shots were a piece of cake up to 20 meters. I’m sure this gun is capable of impressive accuracy but I was more interested in trying it for quick single handed shooting, either point shooting or firing just as soon as the front sight came to eye level.
Still, this gun is clearly capable of 2” or 3” groups at 20 yards, if you take the time to focus on the small sights and slowly work the trigger ( something you wont be doing in defensive shooting).
Both guns worked perfectly. The revolver didn’t lock up even when I fired it fast and the cylinder got a bit too hot to touch, and the Colt 1908 Hammerless pistol worked without a problem, even with the 90 gr. truncated cone ammo.
Old time craftsmanship is certainly impressive, I’m glad I bought these guns. I can hardly wait for the paperwork on the rest of the old timers I’ve been buying recently.
FerFAL
So, last Friday I took it along with the Pocket Hammerless 1908 (380 ACP ) to the range.
I was in a bit of a hurry, and I’m also saving money for ammo for my next shooting class, so I only put 50 rounds through each gun. Cheap reloads both, the 38 Special was some 158 gr SWC and the 380 AP was 90gr. FMJ truncated cone. I expected some light reloads but they were in fact pretty hot and accurate.
Both guns are in excellent working condition, in spite of the reblueing, barrels on both guns have nice rifling and I expected them to work well. The fitting on both guns is truly impressive, specially when you think about how old they are, and that they are in no way “ like new” guns.
The Police positive had the barrel cut down to 3”, meaning it’s not an original 3” barrel, but whoever did it did a fine job.
First I fired a few rounds through the revolver.
This little guy barks loud! Recoil is noticeable, but you can still fire fast and accurately. It’s important to keep a firm grip with this snubby, as firm as you can manage.
Soon enough it was clear that the ergonomics on this revolver are nothing to brag about. The grip feel kind of weird, and it’s impossible to grip it all the way up and still pull the trigger unless your finger is crooked like a hook. Gripping it correctly, my little finger had a hard time staying in the grip (curled below the grip), and I have medium sized hands, not some huge paw.
Point shooting was still relatively easy to manage, and if the grip was somewhat correct on the gun, the 3” revolver impacted where you pointed it at.
The indoor range was empty so I went trough some defensive drills with it, drawing from my jacket’s pocket single handedly and shooting twice in the chest and another one or two in the head. As I said before, it points well naturally, the hard part is getting a god grip while drawing in a hurry.
This old 3” Colt Police Positive is pretty accurate. This gun is mostly intended for close range defense, but I still tried a few rounds for accuracy. Nothing scientific, but lets say it was easy to keep all shots within the targets face at 10 yards, the first two rounds actually touched.
Manually cocking the hammer before firing is a temptation, but you should only practice DA shooting because that’s what you are going to use in defense.
Then I switched to the 1908 Pocket Hammerless.
Now , you CAN feel Browning’s geniality as soon as you pick this gun.
This pistol fits my hand like a glove, and it was a true pleasure after the Police Positive’s awkward grip.
Point shooting with this gun was even easier than with the revolver. You just point at whatever part of the target’s body you want to shoot and it hits it as if it where laser guided.
Sights on this gun are small, and it’s the only thing I would change if I wanted it for a serious defensive role. I liked the clearly defined sights of the Colt revolver much better. Sights on both weapons where dean on target, which was nice to see because I was a bit worried about the revolver since it had been cut from a longer barrel.
Recoil on the 380 ACP was very pleasant, better than in the 3” 38 special, and head shots were a piece of cake up to 20 meters. I’m sure this gun is capable of impressive accuracy but I was more interested in trying it for quick single handed shooting, either point shooting or firing just as soon as the front sight came to eye level.
Still, this gun is clearly capable of 2” or 3” groups at 20 yards, if you take the time to focus on the small sights and slowly work the trigger ( something you wont be doing in defensive shooting).
Both guns worked perfectly. The revolver didn’t lock up even when I fired it fast and the cylinder got a bit too hot to touch, and the Colt 1908 Hammerless pistol worked without a problem, even with the 90 gr. truncated cone ammo.
Old time craftsmanship is certainly impressive, I’m glad I bought these guns. I can hardly wait for the paperwork on the rest of the old timers I’ve been buying recently.
FerFAL
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