I know that this is a S&W forum, but do any of you carry a Colt Detective Special? If so what vintage?
Thanks,
John

I'm currently getting a '61 Cobra (det. spl. lightweight) set up to carry. Got it through a trade while looking for a K frame, but I love the old-school look of the unshrouded ejector, and the extra shot it gives me over my J frame while beingmuch lighter than my 3" 64.

I also like the looks of the matte finished later model Agents.

__________________
Eric

I've got a Colt "Cobra" from 1974.

This is NOT mine, but a dead ringer for it...



This one ain't mine neither, but it is one of the coolest Detective Special pics I've ever seen!

I carry this Agent most of the time.

I have owned a blued DS 2" that I bought new in '94. I claim that this DS has been on more Colorado summits than any other DS. I carried the DS most of the time until about a year ago when I bought a new J Frame 638 Airweight S&W. Now the 638 Airweight does trail/hiking/climbing/summit duty due to its' stainless/alloy almost indestructable finish. The blue DS has had several thousand rounds of .38 special down the tube and it still shoots and works fine. I also have a DSII 3" in stainless that will go out with me every now and then that has not been fired that much that is mostly a house gun.

The DS is a great little gun that I would buy again if Colt should ever make them in the future.

The colts were good,but would wear faster and go out time faster than the SW system.

I have a Colt SF-VI, which was a transition model preceding the DS-II. It sees limited carry duty. The grips (Pachmayr?) are really comfortable.

__________________
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

It's a pet and doesn't have to work.

Yep, happen to be carrying mine today. I don't remember the exact age but it's one of the later unshrouded guns.

__________________
KSCowboy

I carry a Colt Magnum Carry frequently as a backup, and have also carried both Cobras and Detective Specials quite a bit. All my D-frames are post-1973, shrouded barrels, except for my wife's 4" Police Positive Special (post-73, but unshrouded) and my mint 3" Cobra.

When are you going to show us those new Spegels, John? Though I am happy with the Badgers that I got after your recommendation a couple of years ago.



They're really nice guns, and handy, too. Just a teensy bit bigger than a J-frame, and they have that extra round.








The boxes at the bottom of each piece of paper are the exact size of the guns - easier to compare that way.

I only wish they weren't so difficult to replace - I'm loath to check one on an airplane for fear of never being able to find another should it be stolen. I've got a kydex IWB on order from Grandfather Oak for the DS - I realized a couple of weeks ago that I'd carry it more often if I had a better rig for it. I like hard IWB holsters for revolvers (particularly Colts) to minimize the rotational wear on the lockwork from being in the waistband whilst I move around.

__________________
A lawyer, but not YOUR lawyer.

Since Erich asked, here is my 3" DS with Spegel Boot Grips:

Craig just started doing Boots for D-frames recently. This gun is actually now back to its Badgers, since I need to do just a tiny bit of fitting on the Spegels and have not had time. Craig warned me that fitting is more likely to be necessary on Colts than on Smiths, since the frame cutouts at the top of the grip window are cut individually, rather than being drilled straight through, as on Smiths. FWIW, the Badgers are a little more concealable than the Spegels, but the speedloader cutout on the Badgers needs more relief. Both feel equally good in my hand.

Now that is a carry gun! Very nice.

__________________
Formerly know as Lucky Derby

I have two Cobras, two Agents and a Dick Special along with a Horton Combat Cobra in 357. Just wish I could get my damm camera to get along with my laptop, it just seems to eat my pics everytime I take some! I hate technology!!

1974 Colt DS pictured with a 1978 Colt 1911 (both mine).

The 1911 is fine for carry, despite it's age - parts are easy to come by, etc.

The DS is frankly less so. Colt doesn't make D frames any more. Thus spares are getting to be more of a problem and values are increasing. (It's correspondingly less common to find someone that knows how to work on one.) It also takes a bit of getting used to for someone used to a Smith - different means of opening the cylinder, the cylinder turns the "wrong" way, and the trigger pull just feels "funny".

They're also a bit heavy if you're used to alloy frame Smiths.

To add to the fun, 1970s Colt QC seems to have been erratic. This gun has one chamber that seems to be a bit "tight" from the factory. I don't think QC improved until the late 1990s to present, by which time the DS was on its last legs, being discontinued for good in the 90s. The guns without the shroud and which have a different grip frame that pre date the UAW era are increasingly "collector's" items and have seen increased prices.

I have carried the DS pictured, right down to the fancy grips, but don't do so regularly. (I hurt my back some months ago and the upside down shoulder rig came in handy.)

Ah, the Spegels look great. And thanks for making me kick myself yet again for not buying that 3"er years ago.

__________________
A lawyer, but not YOUR lawyer.

I carry an older Agent in a DeSantis Gunhide pocket holster.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I wish I could bring myself to carry my Agent..but its too darn nice and its like a 1950-ish model

carry a Dick around the yard sometimes

I own three of them. I carry one, a newish .38 special, on a regular basis.

This also makes a cool background on a desktop!!!

Pocket carry this Cobra a lot. It's carried in a Galco pocket rig, loaded with the FBI load from Remington. Pictured here with an EPS holster that is worn in winter months.:

Yes! A Cobra that had been carried a lot, but was mechanically great. I sent it to Karl Sokol, who did a trigger job and refinished it in the Black T type finish (I forget what HE calls the finish). He also installed the shroud for me.

Bronco, are you borrowing my gun when I'm not around? Oh, I see that yours says "Cobra" on it.

__________________
A lawyer, but not YOUR lawyer.

Straightshooter, how uncomfortable to shoot is that Cobra with the Eagle grips and hammer shroud? My Colt Ds with hammer shrouds bite hell out of the web of my hand, except when I put modified Pachmayr Compacs on them.

It doesn't bother me to shoot it.

Funny you should ask, though, as SOME Colt snubbies, (DS, Cobras, Agents) do bother me a bit when I shoot them. I think it is the trigger bouncing off my finger.

What's wierd is that most Colts don't do that, just some.

I have heard others say this, too and IIRC someone was slightly reconfiguring the triggers.

I just checked my paperwork and Karl Sokol did do something to the trigger to stop that-called it RD Trigger, which I guess is round the trigger.

Not a great picture, but maybe you can see that my trigger is more rounded, more of a semi-circle than the others pictured.

But, the shroud never bites me. I should carry this one more that the rare times I do.

Bob

I used to carry a 70's vintage DS. It belonged to my grandfather and was my first CCW. Its been all but retired for several years now in favor of either a 1911, Glock 19 or 442.

When I'm feeling like Retro Man I sometimes carry this Detective Special from 1947.






I traded this Cobra so I don't get to carry it anymore.

__________________
C & L

Those are the EXACT grips I want on mine! Along with a bronze Tyler T-grip.

If I could just find some.

Nice read.

Erich: I had an Agent with a shroud I traded years ago but this ole Colt isn't going anywhere, unless it goes with me.

How I long for the remake of the Colt DS or Cobra.

Enjoy your Colt as you know they are wonderfully accurate with a great action.

Tom

A carry and old and well worn Colt Agent.

__________________
Vaya con Dios

My DS still gets some carry time - deservedly. It is accurate and very easy to shoot.

Regards,

Jerry

First gun I ever legally carried was a 1975 3rd Issue DS. With the Pachmyer grips its looks just like the one Barb C posted.
But then my wife discovered it.......
I do still get visitation rights now and then.

I've got three, all 3rd gen D frames. First is a near new 1974 blue that is a safe queen as she has her original box and papers and has exactly 24 rounds put through her plus the factory firing. Second is a 1977 that was blued and has been Teflon coated, she ain't purdy but boy can she shoot the x out of a target at 25 yards. The third is what is on my ankle in a Bianci #12 as I post this, a 1978 nickel that shoots to POA at 25 yards. I do my part and she will do hers. I had a fourth but made the mistake of putting on the table at a gun show in Knoxville, TN to fill in a hole on the table. It was a NIB w/papers blue that looks suspiciously likes Barbs, but this one had the factory wood grips. I put a price of $1150.00 on it just to keep people away from it. Just my luck, someone came up and wanted to trade a Ruger Mini 14 SS Ranch with ten thirty round mags and eight twenty round mags. I took his Mini plus the mags plus $600.00 and he took my DS. All the Mini 14 mags were factory mags and most were NIB. And this was during the clinton (intentionally not capitalized) ban era. I felt so bad about this deal that I gave him two speed loaders, a double speed loader holster and an IWB holster that I had the Teflon coated DS in. Don’t blame me for this deal; he is the one that pushed it to this level.

Edit

All of mine currently are 2" barrel models.
The one I sold in Knoxville was a 3" barrel. Just looked it up in my bound book. Sorry Barb yours was not exactly like mine.

Just picked up a 1958 vintage Agent that was worked over by Cylinder & Slide. Trying to decide on a couple of holsters next. What are you using for pocket carry and OWB carry?

Thanks!

Pocket - Mika.

Don't carry OWB . . .

__________________
A lawyer, but not YOUR lawyer.

OWB I use a Bell Charter Oaks "Gumshoe" that Lefty made me.

http://bellcharteroakholsters.com/index.htm

I don't see a picture of it on his site but email him and he can send a pic to you. It's kind of a neat retro holster.

__________________
KSCowboy

I used to have a circa-70's factory nickel Detective Special with Colt walnut grips, until my wife decided she wanted to carry it as her gun. Now if I want to remember the good old days, I have to look in my wife's purse.

My "old style" Detective Special is almost mint, so I can't bring myself to actually carry it. So, I carry a 2" M-64 instead.

Had a DS but sold it. Have an old, unshrouded Agent with a hammer shroud and T grip that I regularly carry in a pocket holster. Fabulous carry piece.

Would love to see a picture of your Agent, yes, if you are able to post one.

Scout, I will give it a try this evening.

When I first got back to the States, I bought a Colt Det, Special and loved it. I felt naked without a weapon for quite a while, brothers in arms know what I mean.

__________________
4th SQD 7th CAVALRY

I alternate between a late-'50s Cobra and an early '60s Agent regularly. My wife has a mid-'50s Detective Special I got her. I use either a J.W. O'Rourke IP holster or one of his front pocket holsters.

Carry a Detective? Nope, but I picked up this pair of Agents yesterday. Both are NIB, 1982 and 1983. Might carry one of them or might leave them as is, can't decide at the moment.

I like shooting the Detective Special a little better than I do the J-Frames so I carry one on occasion.

Yours is in lovely shape.

I'm still waiting for my kydex IWB rig from Grandfather Oak for my DS. I know I'll carry the gun a lot more when I have it.

__________________
A lawyer, but not YOUR lawyer.

Actually, no...I don't know whaty you mean.

I have at least my J frame model 38 Airweight Bodyguard in my front pocket...

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

It really doesnt have to be a certain weapon, I had a loaded weapon with me all through the tour.ITS NOT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND.

__________________
4th SQD 7th CAVALRY

Colt Detective Special, mfg. 1956. This is one of my favorite carry revolvers.

__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ