Originally Posted by
Tom Givens
SecondsCount- That's a neat old gun. A little trivia, in case you don't know:
That is a first generation Detective Special. Note the long grip frame, the narrow front sight, and slightly shorter ejector rod. The 2nd generation guns (Dick Specials and Cobras) have wider, more visible front sights, a longer ejector rod, and the short grip frame. That dates this gun's build time to prior to about 1955.
Back when this gun was built, the gold plated trigger and hammer were not done to pimp the gun. The gold plating was smoother than the underlying steel, and was a quick fix action job for better double-action shooting.