- #COLT AGENT 38 SPECIAL CTG SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBERS#
- #COLT AGENT 38 SPECIAL CTG SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBER#
- #COLT AGENT 38 SPECIAL CTG SERIAL NUMBER SERIES#
Other distinctive features included a shorter ejector rod with an ungrooved, knurled tip a checkered hammer spur and cylinder latch, a "half-moon"–shaped front sight, and an overlapping screw and locking pin set-up on the right side of the frame.
#COLT AGENT 38 SPECIAL CTG SERIAL NUMBER SERIES#
Compared to later production models, the First Series used a narrower frame, with reduced clearance between the frontstrap of the gripframe and the rear of the trigger guard. The First Series was produced from 1927 until 1946. Ĭolt's Detective Special went through several issues or series. The Detective Special proved to be an instant success and was made until 1995. Even after the introduction of the Detective Special in 1927, Fitz continued to make custom revolvers for special clientele.Ī Colt Detective Special, Second Series on displayĬolt was so impressed with the Fitz Special that they decided to produce a sightly less radical version, the Detective Special, which is simply a shortened and somewhat streamlined Colt Police Positive Special. The Fitz Special was the precursor to the modern snubnosed revolver and specifically the prototype for the Colt Detective Special, the first production two-inch snubnosed revolver. The halved trigger guard facilitates quick trigger acquisition, even for shooters with large fingers or gloves.Īlthough historians disagree, it's believed that somewhere between 40 and 200 Fitz Specials left the Colt factory, made from various Colt revolvers, by Fitzgerald himself. Reshaping the hammer and the butt allows the gun to be drawn quickly with little risk of the weapon snagging on clothing. 38 Special Colt Police Positive Special revolver, by shortening the barrel to two inches, shortening the ejector rod, bobbing the hammer spur, rounding the butt, and removing the front half of the trigger guard. John Henry Fitzgerald, an employee of Colt Firearms from 1918 to 1944, first came up the Fitz Special snubnosed revolver concept around the mid 1920s, when he modified a. Īlthough the Detective Special proved to be an instant success when first introduced, lackluster sales saw the elimination of the Detective Special from the product line in 1995. The Detective Special uses a slightly smaller frame than the Colt Official Police or Smith & Wesson Model 10 (K-Frame) revolvers, but is larger than the five-shot Smith & Wesson Model 36/ Model 38/ Model 42 (J-frame) revolvers. 38 Special, considered to be a powerful caliber for a concealable pocket revolver of the day. It was designed from the outset to be chambered for higher-powered cartridges such as the. Introduced in 1927, the Detective Special was the first short-barreled revolver produced with a modern swing-out frame. Made by Colt's Manufacturing Company, this model revolver, as the name "Detective Special" suggests, was intended to be a concealed weapon used by plainclothes police detectives. The Colt Detective Special is a six-shot, carbon steel framed, 2" or 3" barreled, double-action revolver, and the first example of a class of firearms known as "snubnose revolvers". The similar 22 Outdoorsman that came along in the 1930's goes for 2,000 in very good condition, or at least that was the asking price for the last one I saw for sale.īecause the Target model was numbered with the standard M&P's, there does not seem to be an accurate total on the number of them made, but I would guess that no more than 30,000 were made, just based on what I've seen at various gun shows over the years.That is fascinating! Thanks for your reply.A Colt Detective Special, Fourth Series, with rubber grips and a shrouded ejector rod I would guess the value to be in the 1200-1800 range, but I haven't seen one of these for sale in years, so take that with a grain of salt.
#COLT AGENT 38 SPECIAL CTG SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBER#
Heat-treated cylinders began to be used cerca serial number 316,648 in 1919, so best guess on this gun would be early 1920's.
#COLT AGENT 38 SPECIAL CTG SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBERS#
They don't list serial numbers by year, but serial number 500,000 was shipped in 1927. That there according to the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson, is a Target Military and Police model of 1905, 4th change, made from 1915 to 1941 and serial numbers running from 271,784 up to 1,000,000.