Quote:
Originally Posted by Aerojoe
This is a Colt official police MkIII from an offcier it looks weird to me as the hammer and trigger are plated aswell but not the bottom side of the frame all the other OPMKIII I have seem have blued triggers and hammers and full polished jobs it was issued in 1949 he is looking for the original grips for me.
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Colt did not announce the Mark III version of their J frame* revolvers until late 1968. What you have is just a standard Colt Official Police revolver which was in production from 1927 until around 1969.
There are many internal and external differences between the two models. The Official Police was the child of the Colt Army Special which was the original swing-out cylinder revolver in mass production and predated the S&W swing-out cylinder Military & Police by about 7 years. (1892 vs 1899) Originally built on what was first termed as their "41 frame" (they were first produced in .38 Long Colt and .41 Long Colt calibers) it later became the Colt J Frame.
Standard Colt finishes also changed around the same time. Gone was the old labor intensive (expensive) hand polishing. Less brilliant finishes becoming more tacticool for that era.