What Do I Have Here?

[DMH]

Hi there,

I need some input from you seasoned wheelgunners.

A few years ago an aging gunsmith buddy (now deceased) gave me a revolver he said he bought unfired at an estate sale for a local judge. The box is heavy burgundy cardboard with the words Colt Official Police revolver, wood, blue on the outside as well as the numbers 4 on one side, 33 on the other. There are 3 pieces of wood glued inside the box to keep the gun from moving, as well as all the Colt markings and legends in the covers.

The revolver is a heavy blue with a 4" light barrel. No blemishes whatsoever except under the trigger guard where it rubbed the wood box insert. The grips seem to be hard plastic, marked with the Colt logo and it has a coiled wire brush with it. Police Positive .38 special marks the barrel and the serial number is 208187. I appears unfired and I was told the gun was made in 1927.(Don't know how valid that is)

Could anyone out there give me a clue as to what I have, possible value and degree of

collectibility of this gun if any...

Thanks

DMH

[Bubber]

DMH, I did a quick Google on Colt Positive Police and came up with a write up for the 32. It says it was manufactured from 1907 to 1979. Here is a link to the 32 write up Positve Police. Also gunbroker.com has a 38 Colt Positive Special for $450.00. And I doubt if ther is a presentation box that goes with it. Hope this is helpful. Later rdd

[DMH]

Thanks a lot...

It's been sitting in the back of the safe for some time now and I had no idea what I have here or where to look to find it's value. It does have some sentimental value and I wanted to know what it was worth if I ever decided to sell it.

[Carmoney]

I know a little about these guns.....sounds like you have a mismatched gun and box.

The Official Police model is fairly desirable because they were built on essentially the same frame and design as the Python. They were all made by little old men with loupes sitting on three-legged stools in the old factory in Hartford (i.e. hand-fitted). Colt made the OP from 1928 to 1969 when they phased in the Mark III stuff. Plastic grips means post-WWII. Pre-war specimens had checkered walnut. This gun was made in various calibers--you mostly see .38 Spl and .22, but they also made it in weird calibers like .32-20 and .41 Long Colt.

Now, the Colt Police Positive is a completely different cat. Also very high-quality guns, hand-fitted and all that, but made on the much smaller D-frame (they spawned the Detective Special, if that gives you some idea of size). If your gun says Police Positive Special on the barrel, and it looks basically like a 4" Detective Special, it's not an Official Police, and that means the box is not original to the gun. They made these in various configs from 1907 to 1973.

I'm not in touch with prices on older Colts these days, you'd need to check with a serious Colt collector. I'll bet there's a Colt collector forum out there somewhere.....

[DMH]

Thanks for the updated info, sounds like I got good responses from knowledgeable folks. I knew this was the right place...

[wlktheduk]

DMH: If the revolver is a Colt's Police Positive in .38 special, the serial # 208187 would place it in the range of production for 1920. (from R.L.Wilson's "Colt, An American Legend" Appendix 9, Double Action Revolvers)

As for the plastic grips, early Colt catalogs (1908) list the grips for that model as "Rubber Stocks" By modern standards, we would refer to those grips as plastic, since the hard rubber was more like a hard plastic, then soft rubber grips (like Hogues or pachmayrs)

The 1926 catalog showed the grips as "Checked Walnut Stocks" (From Haven & Belden, "A History of The Colt Revolver")

Since grips are very easily changed, it is hard to say with any certainty that those are the original grips. Colt did not (normally) mark the grips with serial or other identifying marks, to link them to a specific gun. But IMHO, the grips could be correct for a 1920 revolver.

Hope this helps