Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Picked Up A Very Clean 1963 Colt Official Police

Minty pre-war OP heavy barrel. Great shooters.
Bob

Very nice. I see the prewars had checkering on the cylinder latch and nicer finishes overall. I have a Tyler T Grip Adapter like that on my beater Official Police. I will likely switch it to the new one.

Beautiful revolver Bob, the craftsmanship on the pre-war Colts is amazing.

Not too shabby on the post-war Colts, either.

I'm a Tom Threeperson fan, myself.

Nice catch, TRH

I saw those pretty regularly through the early 80s. Many were in quite good condition. Don't see too many today, and very few in the condition of yours.

This is kind of a parts gun...I got it as a gift when I was 12 (an uncle had it; barrel was sawed off, cylinder was reamed out and didn't rotate, and the frame was pitted ). It lived in my parents' house, a forgotten heirloom, until I joined the LAPD. A couple of years went by and I got an assignment to the firearms unit. The armorers there fitted another cylinder and a post-war 5" barrel, timed it and got it shooting to POA. Still ugly, though. At the time, the LAPD had a ton of revolver parts and fixing my gun was a matter of picking out a cylinder, crane, firing pin and barrel. Harry Davis, ace LAPD armorer, got my revolver running for a cheeseburger and an order of fries (well done).

I made friends with the gentlemen at the Colt custom shop on one of my many trips to Camp Perry when I was shooting with the USAR Service Pistol Team. It didn't hurt that I grew up in CT. I gave my Colt to the guys at the custom shop on a trip home to CT; I was told not to expect anything for "several" months. A year later at Perry I was given the gun. It had been completely tuned (Python-Tedford action job) and refinished in Royal Blue. All pitting had been removed and all the markings re-stamped. It was gorgeous. Colt put a really nice set of Python stocks on it. I probably had the best-looking OP out there, done by the custom shop (for free). The revolver now wears a set of old Pachmayr stocks I got in the LAPD Armory that had been on one of the last Colts still on patrol in the 1980's. The copper carrying that gun shot four people with it; I thought grips with that history would be a perfect addition to my "working" gun.

Target was shot from a two-handed rest at 25 yards with factory .38 wadcutters several years ago. I'm not really a big Colt DA revolver fan, but this one is special. I've literally had several thousand rounds of free 158 grain lead ball and 148 grain wadcutters through it. Except for the turn line, it's still looking pretty good.

If it were 1935 again, I wouldn't have an issue carrying this Colt on patrol in a nice Hoyt breakfront holster.
Bob

Wow! Nice.

Great revolver, RGK. It is the story on its history that really makes it special.

I went to a LGS and found this 1943 Colt along with guns from a big collection of a guy who just died.

I was driving home with the revolver on the passenger seat, saying to myself, "This is just too good a deal. The can't be true,"

Right then a car rear ended me on the freeway. The woman's car was not drivable. My trailer hitch had made her bleed coolant. I offered to give her a ride, but the bulky woman in men's work clothes with tattoos on her breasts scoffed at me.

You sure you didn't fall into a time warp and go back to 1990?

Match Target twin

Nice one!
Bob



This one also has a checkered past...I found it in a flea market outside of FT Bragg. Hammer spur was broken off and it was badly out of time. Screws were buggered; some were missing. Back to Colt's it went. The guys at the custom shop fitted a Python hammer, retimed and tuned the action and replaced all the screws. Grips are Herrett's Troopers with a left-handed thumbrest. Another Colt returned to the stable in fine form.
Bob

Nice gun!

Uncle CJ bought a 6" Official Police about 1963. He had it nickel plated and stag grips fitted, and carried it in his duty holster for the rest of his career. His department let him carry whatever he wanted so long as it was a .38 Special. I coveted that revolver for years.

I dug the beater out of the safe and took the Tyler T Grip Adapter off and put it on the new one. Here she is next to her little sister, the Police Positive, also sporting a Tyler T Grip Adapter.

TRH, beautiful pair of Colt revolvers, what caliber is the Police Positive? You need a New Service to complete the frame sizes.

Very nice! Colt revolvers are virtually nonexistent around here.

Thanks. Same caliber, .38 Special.

My hands are too big for the Police Positive as far as double action shooting goes. The Official Police is, however, just right. I can really shoot the heck out of an Official Police, particularly equipped with a Tyler T Grip Adapter. The problem with the Police Positive and the Detective Special (both use the same frame) is that that distance between the backstrap of the grip and the face of the trigger is too short. To shoot it well double action, I'd need a grip that fills in some space behind the backstrap, creating more distance between my palm and the trigger face.

If the caliber is 38 Special then the revolver is a Police Positive Special. The Police Positive revolvers had shorter cylinders and were chambered in 32 S&W Long and 38 S&W. The Police Positive Special had lengthened frames and cylinders to allow the 32-20 & 38 Special to be chambered. That's why I asked about the chamber, it looked longer but I wasn't sure.