UPDATE w/LETTER: U.S. marked Colt DS with two service careers BOX PICS ADDED

Absalom · #1 02-13-2017, 01:16 AM

(I just wrote this post for the Colt Forum, but since some of you are also interested in Colts and service weapons, I thought this might be of interest here too)

Not too long ago I acquired this 1970 vintage Detective Special. Not much to look at, with lots of wear and not photographed very advantageously, which is probably why it was still sitting on Gunbroker with 14 bids well below $300, with a buy-now of $400.

The backstrap photo was blurry and indistinct, but I thought I saw something, so I downloaded the picture and worked on it a bit .... and then couldn't punch that buy-now fast enough.

If you know anything about collecting police guns, you know that snubbies are a challenge; department markings are uncommon; even agencies that routinely stamped their full-size issue revolvers tended to not mark detectives' guns or frequently let them buy their own. So you have to go by wear patterns or sellers' stories, and still can end up with a gun that shipped to some distributor and no idea about its history.

This particular ugly duckling, however, almost qualifies as a unicorn. It has not just one, but two official stampings on the backstrap. I'll add the details once the letter arrives, but it belongs to a batch acquired by the Army for CID and Military Intelligence in the early 1970s. Afterwards, the guns were surplussed out, many to various police agencies. This one ended up with the Metropolitan Police, D.C., and from some paperwork in the box it came in (a repurposed S&W box) I even know it was issued to a detective, later sergeant, in the 7th District's detective division. I'm currently doing a bit of research on him; he passed away ten years ago, so I may feel free to share some more info later.

This is why I collect these kinds of guns. Real history. Jackpot.

Darkenfast · #2 02-13-2017, 02:56 AM

Nah, you've been had. I'll be happy to take it off your hands to help you deal with the shame and all...

Congrats!

Watchdog · #3 02-13-2017, 09:03 AM

Congratulations on a great find and purchase. I can never find stuff like that. As you say...jackpot! Great old gun that just oozes character and history.

rwt1405 · #4 02-13-2017, 09:45 AM

What a great find, Congrats!

I can't wait to hear more about it!

Absalom · #5 02-13-2017, 05:38 PM

For connoisseurs of S&W boxes, here are some pictures of the box this Colt came in.

D.C. Metro police seems to have played "musical boxes" with its issue guns a lot, involving many sticky labels; none of the three serials on the box has anything to do with the gun that came in it

. Since there was department paper stuff in the box, it was not the dealer who put the gun in that box.

Absalom · #6 02-27-2017, 10:46 PM

I received the letter on this gun the other day. No surprises, since I had corresponded with Kevin (kwill) and the gun shipped to Letterkenny as expected. It's still worthwhile to me to have it authenticated.

As for the DC Metro part of its career, two officers appear to have had possession of the gun. One has passed, the other may still be alive; the paper stuff in the box contains addresses, including private, and phone numbers which, even after such a long time, I'm hesitant putting on an open forum, so I won't post images.

I could find little about the first officer, represented by a property tag and a detached sticky label, other than that he worked patrol in DC in 1970, when his name appeared in some court documents I found.

The second officer, who appears to have been the last owner, was a detective named Blaine Campbell. The info about him comes from two public online obituaries, so I feel free to share it. He served in the Marine Corps 1958 - 1961 and then joined DC Metro police for a 26-year career, working as a detective in the 7th District in the 70s and 80s. He received a medal for valor in 1972 (no info for what specifically) and made sergeant. He apparently retired to Arizona, because he passed away in Phoenix in 2007.

I'm reasonably certain that he is the second and last owner because, besides a property tag with his name and info, the box also contains a private bill of sale from 1975, for another 1971 vintage Detective Special, B32388, which Campbell bought from a private seller. He must have had both guns at the same time, because somehow (maybe inadvertently while cleaning both?) the grips numbered to the 1971 gun ended up on the 1970 gun I have now.

The one thing I would like to know is when the Army disposed of these and they ended up with other agencies.