A friend of the family had been on the hunt for a .38 version for some time and his father ran across one...or so he thought.

Dad calls son and says "do you want this?"

"Sure."

It was kind of pricey in the $800-900 range without a box but the condition is quite nice. Son and dad finally get together and son had brought some .38s along with which to load it. "Hey, these don't fit."

It's marked, "Detective Spec" over ".32 Colt N. P."

Serial # is 8864XX so it appears to be '65-66 vintage.

Any additional info? Did he get hosed or do Colt nuts go crazy for these like Smith nuts go crazy for K-32s?

Thanks

I think you scored. I won't comment on the price but Colt DS's in .32 NP are really neat. .32 NP = .32 S&W Long and ammo is available but not in too many different loadings. They're accurate, fun to shoot and great confidence builders for new shooters. My wife has on as her CCW piece. But I have to admit, I think it's pretty cool too. She paid a lot less than you did earlier this year. Hers is late 1970's and in pristine shape. Colt continued to use unshrouded barrels on the .32's for a while after switching to shrouded ones on .38's. I assume by it's age yours is unshrouded, but that's just an assumption.
.32's are a bit anemic self-defense wise. But lots of people like them.

I ain't positive but I think when Colt turned the Police Positive 2" into the Detective Special in '27 they only chambered it in .38. So .32NP DS was introduced in '48 and in the past few years have become collectable. I had one years ago and since the cyl. is same spec. as .38 spec. I had the .32 reamed out to .32 HR MAG. Prices on all the DS's have really climbed in the last couple years.

__________________
SOS USA

I think you will like the 32 S&W long cartridge, it is a blast to shoot. I have a Colt Police Positve 4 inch barrel dating to the 1930s and a few S&W Mod 31s, in both 3 and 4 inch barrels, all in .32 that I love to shoot.

Easy to handle and easy to shoot, happy shooting.

For what it's worth, S&B makes a 32 S&W Long loading with the New Police style bullet. It's even marked on the box as "32 S&W Long N.P.". (standard Remington LRN 32 S&W long shown on right in my below photo).

I find 32 shorts and longs both really nice to shoot. In factory loadings lately I've been shooting a lot of Fiocchi wadcutters, which I can find locally for around $19/50. They are very accurate, and feel about like a .22 when shot out of an I frame.

I just recently picked up a Detective Special in 38 special, and it really is a nice shooting gun.

Attached Images

IMG_0474.jpg (111.5 KB, 74 views)

Thanks for the replies, any additional would be appreciated.

The poor fellow had to settle on a 50-round box of ammo for $40 (all he could find).

I owed him for some graciousness so I managed to find him 2 boxes of S&B S&W Long wadcutters for $30 a box. He should have some enjoyable outings soon.

Cheaper than dirt has $20 a box S&B wadcutters.. They are 100gr as opposed to 85 gr RN bullets in standard loads. I had a S&W 432 and when in the last ammo shortage in '08 you could not find .32 H&R magnum ammo, I was told the .32 S&W long wadcutter makes a dandy SD load as it punches a neat hole liable to do more damage. Mag Tech makes a .32 S&W long JHP SD round. If they're still in bidness.

__________________
SOS USA