This old Colt

[bigpower491]

A friend of mine shared a recent find going thru his late father's things. He asked me if I had any idea on this revolver. I know very little about Colts, but I kinda know who to ask.
Detective Special, 357 and 38 special on the barrel, and he says he does remember his dad with it in the 60s. The only thing I could fairly confidently tell him was I didn't think the grips were original. He basically is trying to get a guesstimate on its age.

Gents?

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

Try a serial number search on the www.

 

[ilgac]

^^^^^. Look up Colt model and serial number on proofhouse.com to determine year of manufacture.

http://proofhouse.com/colt/index.html

 

[Mark_Mark]

A friend of mine shared a recent find going thru his late father's things. He asked me if I had any idea on this revolver. I know very little about Colts, but I kinda know who to ask.
Detective Special, 357 and 38 special on the barrel, and he says he does remember his dad with it in the 60s. The only thing I could fairly confidently tell him was I didn't think the grips were original. He basically is trying to get a guesstimate on its age.

Gents?View attachment 1137425

looks like ColtWood? grips

 

[bigpower491]

10-4 on the serial look up. He only sent me that pic, and I'm waiting on the number from him. The odd thing, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the detective special was a short barrel, like a 2 or 3 inch, and 38 only. As far as the grips, I just didn't see Colt putting grips on that covered the pony stamp on the side. Like I say, don't know alot about these particular. It looks to be in fair knick tho, we'll run some 38s thru it Sunday and I'll get a closer look

 

[reddog81]

What does it say on the barrel? I can guarantee it doesn’t say detective special as those were 3” or shorter.

It looks like a Colt Official Police but I’m pretty sure those were only .38 Special and not .357. They were available with a few other caliber options over the years.

could also be a police positive special and those were definitely not available in .357 Mag.

 

[Pat Riot]

Definitely not a Detective Special. I don’t know much about Colt revolvers, but I do know that.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Looks like an Official Police

 

[Monac]

Looks like an Official Police

It does to me too, but it's hard to tell the size just right. It could be a Police Positive Special. The Detective Special used exactly the same frame as the Police Positive Special, but there shouldn't be any Detective Special barrels anywhere near that long. The Detective Special was the short barreled version of the PP Special.

Oh, and it could be an Army Special if it's old enough; the switch to Official Police was just a name change, I think. The cops were buying a lot more of them than the Army.

PS - for anyone curious, the Positive in "Police Positive" meant it had Colt's "Positive Safety Lock", which was their internal safety mechanism to prevent discharge if dropped or struck. Smith & Wesson failed to come up with a catchy name for their equivalent.

Oh, and what was special about the Police Positive Special was that it could chamber 38 Special. It succeeded the Police Positive 38, which could only chamber 38 S&W, which had supplemented the Police Positive, which could only handle 32 Long (originally Colt's, then S&W's). And the short barreled versions of both those had their own names too! Colt collecting is not easy.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Its a Police Positive Special.

 

[bigpower491]

Thanks for the input. No idea where he came up with detective special for it, so I could only go with what he told me. But from the way he sounded on the phone, I'm sure he was quite a few Bud Lights in. Hopefully he makes it out Sunday and I'll get a good look at it and detailed pictures

 

[Pat Riot]

Thanks for the input. No idea where he came up with detective special for it, so I could only go with what he told me. But from the way he sounded on the phone, I'm sure he was quite a few Bud Lights in. Hopefully he makes it out Sunday and I'll get a good look at it and detailed pictures

It’s simple. The revolver looked so nice it needed a promotion.

 

[bigpower491]

It’s simple. The revolver looked so nice it needed a promotion.

Agreed. In our conversation last night it seems he was left with a few gems.

 

[BobWright]

Looks like an Official Police

Looks too small to me to be an Official Police, more likely a Police Positive or Police Positive Special. And grips definitely not from Colt. And I can't think of a vintage Colt .357 Magnum with fixed sights.

Bob Wright

 

[Speedo66]

Not too many detectives would try and conceal a barrel that long.

Nice gun, nevertheless. The Colt grips from that era seemed to have complete checkering.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I got 2 coming soon! just 1-2 more layaway payments!!!!

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

It is a Colt Police Positive Special.

The little one on the left in this photo is a 22 Rimfire Police Positive target, the rest are Police Positive Specials.

The one in the center is chambered for 32-20, the other three are 38 Specials. These were never chambered for 357 Magnum, only 38 Special or 32-20.

The term 'Special' denotes a longer cylinder capable of chambering the 38 Special cartridge, the Colt Police Positives (without the name Special) had a shorter cylinder that accepted the 38 S&W cartridge, but not the longer 38 Special cartridge.






Absolutely not a Colt Official Police. The largest revolver at the top of this photo is a Colt Army Special. Later this model was renamed Official Police because more were sold to law enforcement departments than to the Army. Notice the different shape of the frame and trigger guard on the Police Positive Special just below the Army Special.






The Colt Detective Special in the center of this photo, was built on the same frame as the Police Positive Special above it. At the bottom is a J frame Smith and Wesson Model 36, the Chiefs Special. The Colts were all six shooters, the Smith is a five shooter because the frame and cylinder are slightly smaller than the Colts. All three of these are chambered for 38 Special.

 

[Mark_Mark]

It is a Colt Police Positive Special.

The little one on the left in this photo is a 22 Rimfire Police Positive target, the rest are Police Positive Specials.

The one in the center is chambered for 32-20, the other three are 38 Specials. These were never chambered for 357 Magnum, only 38 Special or 32-20.

The term 'Special' denotes a longer cylinder capable of chambering the 38 Special cartridge, the Colt Police Positives (without the name Special) had a shorter cylinder that accepted the 38 S&W cartridge, but not the longer 38 Special cartridge.

View attachment 1137537




Absolutely not a Colt Official Police. The largest revolver at the top of this photo is a Colt Army Special. Later this model was renamed Official Police because more were sold to law enforcement departments than to the Army. Notice the different shape of the frame and trigger guard on the Police Positive Special just below the Army Special.

View attachment 1137538




The Colt Detective Special in the center of this photo, was built on the same frame as the Police Positive Special above it. At the bottom is a J frame Smith and Wesson Model 36, the Chiefs Special. The Colts were all six shooters, the Smith is a five shooter because the frame and cylinder are slightly smaller than the Colts. All three of these are chambered for 38 Special.

View attachment 1137539

those snubnose looks killer!

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Looks too small to me to be an Official Police, more likely a Police Positive or Police Positive Special. And grips definitely not from Colt. And I can't think of a vintage Colt .357 Magnum with fixed sights.

Bob Wright

I dont know if you count the Lawman as "vintage" but they were 357s with fixed sights.
Somewhat later there was the short-lived Magnum Carry .357 too.

 

[bigpower491]

Of course you guys were correct. Talked to him last night, and he did read the barrel correctly this time. Police Positive Special, 38 special. The knucklehead musta had some serious beer goggles on the night before when he first brought it to my atattention Told him he'd find the serial number on the frame with the cylinder open, and he should be able to date it from there.
Don't think I'll be checking it out tomorrow tho, it has become winter here again to the tune of 11 inches of snow

Thanks again gents

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

As previously mentioned, the term Positive referred to the Positive Lock that Colt patented in 1905. This was a hammer block that prevented the hammer from moving forward enough for the firing pin to strike a primer unless the hammer was cocked and the trigger pulled back. Here are two photos of the hammer block in a Police Positive Special. In the first photo the block is raised and is blocking the hammer. In the lower photo the hammer is cocked, ready to fall, and the hammer block has slid down, allowing the hammer to fall all the way.

 

[Mark_Mark]

As previously mentioned, the term Positive referred to the Positive Lock that Colt patented in 1905. This was a hammer block that prevented the hammer from moving forward enough for the firing pin to strike a primer unless the hammer was cocked and the trigger pulled back. Here are two photos of the hammer block in a Police Positive Special. In the first photo the block is raised and is blocking the hammer. In the lower photo the hammer is cocked, ready to fall, and the hammer block has slid down, allowing the hammer to fall all the way.

View attachment 1137796



View attachment 1137797

that’s why they can have the exposed hammer!

 

[bigpower491]

So I'm here holding it......serial number starts with 237, so that, according to the link in the post above, dates it to 1921!! Holy crap look at the condition this thing is in. A little patina on the top strap, but man, this thing is right nice.
Here's the revolver, my pics today.
The holster is in decent shape too. Unreal the condition at 102 yrs old

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

The Serial Number of this one is 2693XX. Very close to the Serial Number of yours.

It left the factory in 1922.

The hard rubber grips on this one are probably the type of grips yours shipped with.

Here is a closeup of the barrel markings on this one.




Moderators: Here is another post with a photo that does not show up.

 

[bigpower491]

@Driftwood Johnson

He would like to find the original grips for it. I'm sure they would look like those there, correct?
That'll be my next project ......looking for grips