Here is a pretty keen old Colt revolver that is close kin to an Official Police.

A couple of weeks back I picked up this predecessor to a Colt Official Police in the form of a late vintage Colt Army Special. Serial number indicates a 1925 production date and is actually a higher number than the earliest serial number shown for the Official Police. There was apparently some production overlap. The difference in the Army Special and the Official Police, other than the model roll mark, amounts to the sights. The Army Special has a smaller U-notch sighting groove and thin blade front sight and the Official Police has a more visible square sighting groove and correspondingly thicker front sight. Perhaps Colt was fishing for government orders when they named the revolver in 1908. The military jumped on the .45 automatic instead but the Army Special proved very popular with law enforcement agencies so it was renamed in the mid 1920s.

The greatest majority of both the Army Special and the Official Police models came in .38 Special but this one is different in that it is chambered for .41 Long Colt. Some few Army Specials also came in .32-20 but apparently the .41 Long Colt is most uncommon. The .41 Long Colt could be had in the Official Police only until 1930 but is downright scarce in that model. The Official Police could also be had in .32-20 until about World War II. Of course the Official Police revolver also could be had in .22 Long Rifle.

This Army Special is only the second Colt revolver I've owned that won't shoot to point of aim but it isn't too far off. If one "sort of thinks to the right" as the trigger is squeezed it will hit well at most reasonable handgun distances.


Here is the best 10-yard group fired single action out of several fired.



Here is the best (and worst as it is the only) double action group fired at 7 yards.



Colt double action triggers and my finger don't really mesh well. Too many years of double action Smith & Wesson K-Frame shooting has spoiled my trigger finger. I don't even care for the vaunted Python's double action trigger. This .41 Army Special actually has the very best double action trigger of any Colt I have ever shot, even beating out my good, unfooled with Python. Of course the single action trigger is very crisp. Colt craftsmanship, as it existed in the 1920s, is fully exhibited in the quality of this old gun's action. Frame dimensions and internal parts are the same as a Python.

The .41 Long Colt won't do anything that the .38 Special can't do with heavy bullets but it still would be a great self defense choice with its 200 grain bullet and make a slightly larger hole. Bore diameter checks out to be .402" on this particular revolver even though the cartridge designation says ".41."