Colt - Should I Buy It?

[Joe Kent]

I've got to go with Jimmy. In a world of gun shops with nothing but black plastic pistols in the case I am always attracted to well made revolvers.

 

[Lee's Landing Billy]

Amen! It's just stuff you use to get stuff you want. Remember, you're gonna be dead a lot longer than you've been alive.

 

[NCBeagle]

At grave side no one remarks, "Wow, he really got a great deal on that Colt D.S."

Damn...not sure what I'm going to do now. The ability to find a good revolver deal might be my only redeeming quality. Although, it rarely happens with a Detective Special.

 

[robertrwalsh]

For CA that would not be a terribly out of line price for a nice clean DS. Maybe a tad high but not godawful. I know that if I liked it and I wanted it I would pay that.

 

[iPac]

Good information so far. I did not know that blued hammers exist on the DS. It was a very bright high polish blue that looked just like the rest of the gun.

Full blue hammers are a sure sign of refinish, or at the very least a refinished hammer, but who refinishes just a hammer?

Colt's triggers were always finished to match the gun. So a nickel gun would have nickel trigger, blue with blue, and the entire trigger would be finished that way.

The same is true for the hammers. They matched the finish. However, with the hammers, they would polish the sides to 'in the white'. So only the edges and spur and some areas within the frame retained blue. With a nickel hammer, it was full plated. Colt really didn't do the cch of triggers and hammers until they started the sintered steel parts, such as the Trooper MKIII, but even then the triggers were still finished in blue or whatever and weren't cch. When stainless came out, the triggers and hammers were stainless.

So a full blued hammer tells me refinished by someone who doesn't know the details of Colts, unless I can verify the rest of the gun, but usually it is a no brainer from all the ones I have seen. Colt used better steels and didn't need to cch.

As for price, a refinished DS would have to be $300 or less for me to buy it. Everyone is different. I passed on a Cobra for $350 not long ago, didn't want a '50s alloy frame. I have seen nice original Detectives selling for $400 or less and were maybe 85% condition on GB. I would go with that before a refinish at $599. Of course, I can fix and repair my own revolvers, so I have an upper hand when it comes to buying and getting better prices. It pays to become proficient in your hobby.

 

[Absalom]

.... Now I have to think about the "7" on the butt some more. I didn't realize that was a good thing.

Just so you're aware, this is somewhat of a niche collector thing. Collecting police issue snubbies is a challenge, so people like me (and Charles may be afflicted too) go all starry-eyed when they see a non-factory number or acronym on a gun that was applied with anything other than a rusty nail. Within reason, asking price becomes a secondary thing, and resale value something my estate can worry about.

This may not translate into general market value.

 

[Absalom]

....
The same is true for the hammers. They matched the finish. However, with the hammers, they would polish the sides to 'in the white'. .........
.

At least for the older pre-war Colts, like the attached Police Positive, 1915, and the Commando, 1943, that is not correct.

It does seem to apply to post-war guns. It would be nice to establish when the practice started, and whether by the time of the OP's gun, which he gives as 1951, it was universal practice.

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
I just checked my original service revolver (Colt Trooper .38 4" Blued) and off duty revolver (Colt Agent .38 2" Blued) 1963 era.
Both have blued hammers with bright metal sides.

P.S. a nice refinished Colt D.S. would not deter me as my weapons I use/shoot.

Jimmy

 

[DocB]

I bought it today for $460 thanks to all the information provided from members on the Forum.

 

[Absalom]

I bought it today for $460 thanks to all the information provided from members on the Forum.

Excellent. Post some photos, especially sharply focused and well-lit close-ups of the Rampant Colt logo and other stampings, and we can discuss the refinish question without debating the hammer. And a picture of the "7"!

 

[jimmyj]

I bought it today for $460 thanks to all the information provided from members on the Forum.

I meant to advise (too late) to check for cylinder lockup. Most used Colt Revolvers will have cylinder out of time. If so most are a easy fix.

 

[rwt1405]

I bought it today for $460 thanks to all the information provided from members on the Forum.

Congrats!

If you are happy with the deal, it was a good one!

And I can't wait to see pictures of it!

 

[DWalt]

"Most used Colt Revolvers will have cylinder out time. If so most are a easy fix."

My experience is that most Colts have no timing problems. And if a Colt is out of time, it's not an especially easy fix. Especially if you don't know much about the functioning of the Colt mechanism.

 

[DocB]

I guess I had better put some pictures on this thread since it is where this whole thing started out. Mainly the "horse" and the "7". The hammer and trigger are a very deep Colt blue that match the finish on the gun.

 

[jimmyj]

Colt DS

"Most used Colt Revolvers will have cylinder out time. If so most are a easy fix."

My experience is that most Colts have no timing problems. And if a Colt is out of time, it's not an especially easy fix. Especially if you don't know much about the functioning of the Colt mechanism.

As a general rule when a Colt Revolver is dropped it will land on the back on the grip, which in cases will bend the hand enough to cause the hand not to turn the cylinder all the way into battery. When Colt O.P. and S&W M10s revolvers were the general issue, Colts needed repair much more than S&Ws. Colt cylinders out of time normally only need the hand straighten to cure this problem. Finally (much to the happiness of we in the armory) was phased out and replaced with S&Ws.

 

[policerevolvercollector]

Just so you're aware, this is somewhat of a niche collector thing. Collecting police issue snubbies is a challenge, so people like me (and Charles may be afflicted too) go all starry-eyed when they see a non-factory number or acronym on a gun that was applied with anything other than a rusty nail. Within reason, asking price becomes a secondary thing, and resale value something my estate can worry about.

This may not translate into general market value.

I echo EVERYTHING that Absalom said. Congrats on a nice acquisition. The next step is to get a history letter and find out what that mysterious "7" represents It may not matter that much to you. But ,it'll drive ME crazy until you find out!!

Best,
Charles