Model 15-3 with “OR. CO. CAL.” stamped

[YeshuaIsa53]

Had this a long time.

Love the grips came on it.

Asked a question or two, but no box. Great K frame.

 

[Draw4u]

Sounds like things have changed.
I wrote to them 20+ years ago, about why no .44 K-frame, and we ended trading about 3 or 4 emails.
If you're curious about the gun, it will always eat at you.
Pay the fee, and have them do the research.
Then you can sleep.
...btw, if I haven't said so already, that's a beautiful gun you have.
The 15 (and the 67) are among my faves...thus my name.

Yeah, I might look into it more as time allows. For now, it will just sit in the safe with its new friends. Lol!

 

[Draw4u]

Had this a long time.

Love the grips came on it.

Asked a question or two, but no box. Great K frame.

Looks nice!! Interesting how the fonts look the same but again, yours says CA and mine says CAL.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Very cool find! The 15-3’s were a very prolific law enforcement revolver in that era. I became a deputy for a California Bay Area County (Contra Costa, or affectionately “COCO”) in 1990. My issued gun was a 1975 15-3 and I am proud to still have it. I rarely saw a marked hand gun in my county. If memory serves me correctly I only saw one.

The gun in question reminds me of the wind guns used on ADAM-12, also in LA. Just last weekend on a drive in your old stomping ground, or close to it, we took a pit stop on Lake Herman Rd., where in the 60s the Zodiac killer struck twice.

 

[beharney]

Revolvers still in use

In Illinois up until at least 2019 the Model 66 Revolvers werre still in use in State corrections facilities, and I have no doubt many are still in use across the country.
Initials could be Corrections, County, or the abbreviation of the County name in multiple areas, but I suspect that your guess is pretty spot on.

Enjoy your souvenir from a time gone by.

In Illinois with the passing of some really stupid new laws, that limit handguns to 15 rounds, the revolver has enjoyed a real resurgence in use. I cant carry several of my semiauto pistols, because I dont have less that 15 round mags, but all my revolvers still will put the rounds where I want them.

 

[MajorD]

Had this a long time.

Love the grips came on it.

Asked a question or two, but no box. Great K frame.

Wish I hadn’t sold my 2” 15. That gun was very accurate, and I traded it off ( with a pretty decent profit) to buy a 4” for the full length ejection and increased sight radius. Honestly I don’t shoot the 4” any better than I did the 2”, and there is a certain character to the 2” 15 that I miss, maybe someday I can find another

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

My 1966 Revolver

My first CA Duty Revolver, it was DA/SA. Issued ammunition was Federal 158 grain LRN and we were issued Dump Pouches.

 

[Professor Frink]

Here is mine,

Not sure if this clears or muddies the water but mine is marked OR. CO. CAL. it is a 15-5, has an AUH serial number prefix, and Is DA/SA. As you can see, the fellow doing the stamping looks to have had too much coffee that morning or too much booze the previous night.

Bought it at the On Target shooting range in Laguna Niguel, while living in Orange County California about ten years ago. I have an affinity for model 15s in general, but I think the heavy profile barrel balances best of them all.

 

[Florida_Cracker]

Model1567 - You are correct. My original post/subject line was incorrect (going from memory and the seller's notes). It is not marked as I described it. I have deleted my post to avoid confusion.

 

[Taj]

I recently did some trading on a model 15–3, 4” with target hammer, target trigger and adjustable target sites. On the left side of the frame, below the cylinder, it is stamped with “OR. CO. CAL.”. I was told this was for Orange County California. Does this seem correct? Would this have been some thing that a local sheriffs office would have had stamped? Just wondering about the potential history?

That is correct. Orange County SO carried model 15's as did a lot of other Orange County agencies.

 

[Taj]

During the mid-1980s I confiscated a Model 15 from a traveling criminal that was so marked. While I don't recall whether the state portion of the marking was CA or CAL, it was in NCIC as reported stolen by the Orange County Marshal's office and had been taken from the personal vehicle of one of their officers. The font and location was, as best I recall, the same as on yours.

Orange County disbanded their Marshal's office, If I remember right, in the late 70's maybe the early 80's. The Sheriff's Office took over all the court room security and warrant service from them.

 

[Taj]

My first CA Duty Revolver, it was DA/SA. Issued ammunition was Federal 158 grain LRN and we were issued Dump Pouches.

Yeah, we had that round for a little while when I first came on in Orange Co. It was the old Rem 158 grain lead round nose. Our favorite saying was "Halt, or I'll scratch your paint". That stuff ran out of gas pretty quick. I think we were hoping the bad guys would die of an infection if they got hit by that stuff.