before I start, allow me to apologize...I have no pics, but this is the lounge, right?? (I've added pics further on in the thread)

well, after 15 years of hoping to one day stumble upon a Colt Banker's Special that wouldn't bust my bank account, I found one...

I prefer snubbies in my collection of Colt's & Smith's and ever since about 1995 I have always wanted a Banker's Special due to their direct tie to the Detective Special and the fact that their run ended with WWII..

well, yesterday my long wait ended...a square butt Banker's Special in .38 S&W with the original grips and finish, no timing issues, blue has some wear and speckling but nothing I consider hideous, $460 plus tax (I can live with that)...

sorry about the no pics right now, but I wanted to share anyway...maybe some of you fellas can relate to a long search finally coming to a happy ending...

I can relate. Please post the pics when you get it! Congratulations!

Awww no pics.....


Well anyway congrats on a great find and welcome to the BS club!!

I am a member

now for a 22 and you are all set. nice price on that gun too.

Those Colt snubbies sure do have an allure to them. Post pics when you have time.

Congratulations and welcome to the club; very desirable guns! I only have one, but I like it a lot.






(The hang tag is from a different gun)

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"I also cook."

Youz guyz are making my new DS seem so ordinary.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

I see your Bankers Special was shipped to Eppinger in Detroit. Is this the same Eppinger that made fishing lures?

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Wow.. that's a pretty nice looking gun. I picked up my first Colt revolver last week, a parkerized 38 Agent, it's different. Kinda neet, nice shape, bobbed hammer, SA

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Jack C

That's a nice BS. I would think the nickel is very scarce, and for that price! Wow!

Very nice catch MP1983. Post some pictures. We would love to see it.
Here is my Colt Bankers Special. I'm pretty sure it's been refinished. On the bottom of the grip is engraved "W.C.S. No 154". W.C.S. stands for Wayne County Sheriff (Michigan). Detroit is in the County of Wayne. One day I'll send it back to Colt, and have it refinished.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

that's a nice piece Whitecoyote, I wouldn't mess up it's charm...when I clean the past couple decades of neglect off mine and can get a pic loaded, I'll be sure to add it to the thread...it's not real bad off, but I've got the CLP working on it and haven't even taken the grips off yet...

it needs a little TLC before it'll be picture worthy...

My Bankers Special is a 22. I'm unhappy aboput the way I got it; I inerited it from a friend. I'd rather still have the friend

Yes it is. He's probably most famous for the Dardevle spoon and had a sporting goods store in Detroit. The business is still family owned.

Notice that it shipped two days after “Black Tuesday”, the date of the stock market crash that started the Great Depression. It came from the family of a woman who owned a butcher shop in Detroit. Her husband had died and apparently she felt the need for some protection. He son unknowingly had the gun in his possession for quite a few years and was going to have it destroyed after he discovered it inside a chest that came from his mother’s estate. There were 48 Winchester cartridges along with the gun!

I've heard estimates that 5% of production was nickel. The hang tag is from a different gun, but keep in mind that gasoline was $0.20 a gallon in 1929.

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"I also cook."

from S&WChad above, regarding his gorgeous factory nickel BS:

that's a great story...mine is serial # 3100XX, and I read some where that "the numbers for all police positive varients of 1930 ran from 329000 to 341999" so I suspect that mine perhaps is from late 1929 also, likely purchased by some nervous banker no doubt! (I don't have my Colt book handy so I can't check on the date, I will a.s.a.p. but if someone has their book handy I'd appreciate any data they can share)...

also, S&WChad, I notice your's has nothing on the right side of the barrel and the trigger is not checkered (can you confirm), this is how mine is...

MP1983,
You are correct, mine has a smooth trigger and no markings on the right side of the barrel. I got one of my Wilson books out (Colt - An American Legend) and checked the serial number appendix. The serial number ranges that you listed match what's in the book; 177,000 thru 185,000 (1928-29) and then a jump to 329,000 in 1930. He doesn't show any Police Positive variants in the 310,000 range. My gun should date to 1928 according to his information, but it didn't ship until late in 1929.

A letter would shed some light, but that would cost you $75.

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"I also cook."

I thought it was odd that there was such a large jump to the 1930 numbers...we'll have to see if anyone else has any info...(the Wilson book is also the one I have too but can't reach right now)...

oh well, a letter may be desirable to have anyway...I'll see how it plays out...

thanks S&WChad for confirming the trigger isn't checkered on yours, I've seen some other late 20's Colt's that also were not...

For the life of me I am having a hard time seeing a gun shop on Cadillac Sq. I do a fair amount of work in Detroit, and that has alway been one of the less inviting areas downtown.... One more sign that it was once a great city.

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always trust your cape...

Google shows 131 Cadillac Square. Don't know if the building is still there.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

I wish I had not opened this thread! Now I am on my way to Gunbroker.com.

There is one listed, 10 day auction, started at 599.00, looks like it has been drug behind a truck. This is going to be a long hunt.

the photos are no works of art, but you can see it has honest wear and a very clean bore....I'm only half way into cleaning it up, but I know if there aint no pics, it didn't happen

enjoy

Attached Images

	BS1.jpg (30.0 KB, 272 views)
	BS5.jpg (24.1 KB, 235 views)
	BS6.jpg (44.1 KB, 224 views)

How much is a 70% Bankers Special with some surface rust worth with original grips?

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Sure you did

38 or 22?

Is the serial within the proper range? There are lots of Police Positives with BS barrels on them. Is it stamped for the post office.

I dont know the real market on them but 90+% 38s were bringing around $1K 22s are a few hundred more. Id buy it without a second thought at $500 and probably more if I had cash on me...

Humm, are you fishin in my pond again.....

I paid $150 for mine (see above) a few years ago...

Ok, what's the difference between a bankers special and detective special?

Looks just like my old Cobra, which is an alloy detective special

38 Tom, no idea about the PO, but I'll ask.What's the proper range? Anything else I need to know?

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Sure you did

The BS is a smaller gun, in 22LR and 38 S&W (no special was made). Its based on the Police Positive of the day. I forget the details but they were made in the 1930s into the 1940s.

They are not rare but you dont find them everyday. Many of these were bought by the Post Office and marked RMS for Railway Mail Service.

The did make some in nickle also. The 22 version is less common and the grail is the nickle 22.

I cant think of more right now Id need to look it up

i DID mean 38 s&w . You remember those 2 DS's at Davis? They're still there. Almost bought the beat up one with the crudely bobbed hammer the other day, 250. Waitin' for 150

s&w chad did post the serial number range.

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Sure you did

The SN range, theres no exact list but often early PPs show up as BS guns. I quick search shows that it has to be at least 177,000 serial. That would be a first year gun. They were made in groups its seems.

Grips are always wood never any kind of plastic.


The Post office,RMS marking goes down the back strap and has a number. You can check the internet for pictures of this. I dont think and Police Positives were marked like this. I think this is engraved not stamped.

The early guns have square grips, flat bottom and the later have rounded bottom grips.


I am far from an expert

Those poor DSs it was last Christmas time I was thinking about them...

Someone told me they had a bunch of rugers and not much else in hand guns.

They do look kinda homely. What's a Ruger?

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Sure you did

Ruger is a brand of Austrian wafer, quite good. I was given some at the SHOT show one year by some people in a gun company booth there, and later found them at my grocer.

Come to think of it, the gun company had the same name. I even have some of their wares, which I respect highly. In fact, I bought one of their GP-100's in preference to a current production S&W M-686.

I am serious about the wafers. Now, you've reminded me to look for some at the grocer this weekend. No direct connection between them and the gun Ruger, though. Ruger is just a fairly common Germanic name. But a Ruger gun chap did tell me that they have sold them (wafers) in the vending machines in Ruger break rooms.

Welcome to the club!!! Mine was used by the Railway Mail Service.



You got a great deal at that price!!!!

Charles

I think it was a full-service sporting goods store. The lure factory has been in Dearborn, just outside Detroit, for decades. I recall seeing a small historical display in the shop that features a photo of the Cadillac Square location. Next time you get to the New Center Area, check out the Burton Collection at the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. They have all sorts of historical records that you can browse yourself. As far as Cadillac Square being "less inviting", when was the last time you were down there? It's a safe and lively area, one of the nicest areas downtown now. They host concerts all summer long at Campus Martius, they have ice skating in the winter, the Cadillac Apartments have been re-done, Compuware has relocated there from the suburbs and built a brand new headquarters building, it's two block from Greektown and the casino....The area is filled with suburbanites all year long who don't seem to have any fear of being there.

Detroit is truly screwed up but there are a lot of BS misconceptions and hyperbole and horror stories circulating out there too. That doesn't do anyone any good.

Here's where Eppinger Sporting Goods was located. There is also a listing for a "Demos Soda", a gunsmith, next door. You can see the Eppinger sign on the front of the building. You can also see the Soldiers and Sailor's monument:

Nipster, just to add a bit to wheelgun28's info, when he mentions the BS is "smaller" than the DS, specifically this refers to the cylinder being shorter (and hence the overall length of the frame) because it would not accomodate the .38 Special ctg (only the .38 S&W and the .22 LR as wheelgun28 points out)...

the Police Positive was issued in both Police Positive & Police Positive Special (for the .38 Spc ctg)....if you look the two up you can also see the difference in the BS & DS...the frame is longer on the PP Speical & DS...tho the frame width & heigth are the same in all four (the Official Police & others were the true "larger" frames)

Thanks....

Saw a .22 BS at a recent gunshow that was like new in box.
Did'nt have the 1700 beans on me he wanted. But it was
beautiful. I want one in .22 LR someday. Very Nice guns you
guys.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Just purchased a bankers special and was hoping to get some info about it. It is a 1931 according to the serial numbers, has a square butt with original grips and has the PO markings. It is definitely used, there are scratches and some light rust or discoloring around the edges but appears to be in good working order. Just wanting some more history and possibly what it is worth.

thank you for any info

I just picked one up w/ SN - 318687 and original sq. grips.