Educate me on Colt Detective Special

[YVK]

Title says it. I've always thought they looked cool, but don't know much about. Honestly, I don't know much about revolvers at all.

Is this one as practical as J-frame for a BUG carry? Any known issues or problems? Anybody knows if it can be converted to 9 mm?
Seems like Crimson Trace doesn't have a laser grip for Colt Detective, which is obviously a minus.

Thanks in advance.

[Al T.]

I have one and it's stupid accurate. Shoots like a K frame S&W with a 2 inch barrel, not like a J frame. Obviously, it's a six round capacity, so the frame is slightly bigger.

Tamara or Tom Givens are SMEs on that platform.

My understanding is that if it breaks (lock work especially), you are stuck with it. It's my understanding that there are very few gunsmiths able to work on Colts. Grant Cunningham is the only one I know and he stays booked up.

http://grantcunningham.com/blog.html

[Sherman A. House DDS]

I have one as well. Mine is a mid-80's vintage...I picked it up at a pawn shop for $250.

I HAVE carried it AIWB. I conceals as easily for me as a steel frame J in that same carry position. SOME (but not all, obviously) J-frame rigs will hold it. Many good holster makers are able to accomodate the gun to make specific holsters for it.

Mine wears Pachmayr Compac grips, which give your pinky finger somewhere to go, which is very helpful in controlling the gun without being prohibitive to concealment. Also, they are the older rubber Pachmayrs, which are considerably less tacky in their texture, and don't hinder concealment by hanging up on cover garments. If you don't have these grips on the gun, you can get them off of Ebay for CHEAP.

I had the hammer bobbed and the gun refinished by Taylor Mock at TEXAS BRIGADE ARMORY. Taylor does SUPERB work, and is the only gunsmith I use these days.

My wife used the Detective Special in Tom Givens' DEFENSIVE REVOLVER course to good effect. It has MANY plusses...accurate, six round capacity, superb action, positive ejection and enough weight to offset the recoil of even the most brisk SD loads.

[Tom Givens]

For many years Colt was the world’s preeminent manufacturer of handguns. In the early days of the 20th century,until after WWII, Colt was the main supplier of handguns to the US military, federal and local law enforcement agencies, and private citizens around the world. In response to demand for a more concealable handgun, in 1927 Colt introduced the Detective Special. This was essentially the very popular Colt Police Positive revolver with a 2” barrel replacing the standard 4”, 5”, or 6” barrel of the PP. The Police Positive was a very compact revolver, with a smaller frame than that of the Smith & Wesson Military and Police model or the Colt Official Police model. These two service revolvers comprised the vast bulk of the revolvers carried by American police officers of that day, and both were a bit large for pocket carry. The Detective Special was an instant success. Weighing just 23 ounces, holding 6 rounds of .38 Special ammo, in a sturdy but compact package, the gun was soon in great demand.

Although externally identical to the Detective Special, the Cobra dropped the weight from 23 ounces to just 15 ounces. Frankly, worn on a gun belt the difference is hardly noticeable, but in the pocket or on the ankle, the difference is immediately apparent. The first generation Cobra’s and the Dick Specials made in the early 1950’s had a full length grip frame, which extended all the way to the bottom of the wooden stocks. The front sight was narrow, and the rear sight notch was quite small. The ejector rod was short—too short to forcefully extract empty cases for a fast reload. All of these shortcomings were addressed in the mid-1950’s when the second generation guns appeared. The front sight was made significantly larger, just like the ones on the Official Police service revolver of that day. The ejector rod was lengthened, to improve extraction of fired cases. In 1966, the final improvement was made, when the grip frame was shortened substantially. This allows very compact grips of various designs to be fitted to suit the user’s particular needs.

In 1973 the D-frame line, which included the Colt Detective Special, the Cobra, and the Agent were redesigned to “modernize” them. These last third generation guns have a heavier barrel, with a shrouded ejector rod, and tiny, hard to see low ramped sights. To me, they are far less desirable than the second generation guns, with their high visibility sights.

[YVK]

Thanks for replies, gents. I take it it is too big for a pocket carry, a'la J-frame, then?

I don't own any revolvers and was wondering if this one would be a good sample, with intended use for BUG or pocket carry. There is one for sale here http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=88560, not sure what to make of pistol, asked price, etc.

[Tamara]

Thanks for replies, gents. I take it it is too big for a pocket carry, a'la J-frame, then?
I find them to be just a hair on the outside of comfortable for pocket carry (that, and a steel DS or J-frame is really a belt gun, if only for the weight...)

For those that carry K-frames as a primary, they're the shizznit for a BUG in a weak-side or ankle rig, since they can eat out of the same speedloaders.

[YVK]

Tamara, thank you. Looks like my lack of a first-hand experience with revolvers will continue for some time, until I come across a Cobra or an Agent.

[will_1400]

Quick question. I've heard that the D-frame Colts aren't designed to handle +p loads. Any truth to that?

And a quick aside... this thread makes me wish I had the coin to pick up a 4" Diamondback I saw when I was home on leave. Seller was asking 800 and the gun looked almost new with very little wear on the finish. They also had what looked like a 75% condition 5" Official Police for 750. Not sure if those prices are good or not, but I still wanted those guns.

[Tom Givens]

The steel D-frames (Det Spec, Diamondback) should tolerate a limited amount of +P to verify POA/POI and a few rounds per year for practice, if the rest of the diet is wadcutters or equivalent. Very knowledgeable people insist that Cobra's and Agents should not be fed +P at all. There are good non-+P loads available for them. In fact, the Winchester Super-Match 148 gr wadcutter usually shoots very well and to point of aim in these guns, and cuts a good, deep wound channel.

[ACP230]

I have a Cobra and find it too big for pocket carry. The grip tends to show above the top of my front pocket. Smith J-frames do not have the same problem.

I like the Colt sights better than Smith J-frame sights. The front is bigger and easier to pick up since the rear channel is also larger. I find the Cobra harder to shoot well than my Smith 649s, or my M38.

The Smith snubnoses are not going anywhere. The Cobra, on the other hand, might be leaving one of these days.

[Joe in PNG]

So how does the Colt compare to a S&W K-frame snub?

[Tamara]

So how does the Colt compare to a S&W K-frame snub?

It's a little easier to carry, but I think a 3" round-butt fixed-sight K might be the best CCW revolver there is. Small enough to conceal easily, but enough sight radius to be reasonably easy to shoot well and a full-length ejector rod stroke.

[JHC]

I've owned two and carried them a lot. I also shot them and dry fired them DA too much and both went badly out of time within a couple thousand rounds. Their lockwork is, to my understanding, not as robust as a Smith or Ruger design. I don't think they were ever designed for heavy serious training with them. Like a lot of fine old gun designs.

[TNWNGR]

I own a Colt Cobra and have owned a Detective Special as well, both being the shrouded barrel variants. The D frame is more sensitive to mishandling, rough usage or being dropped than a S&W J/K/L/ or N frame. They’re more prone to have their timing affected than the S&W, still I would prefer the Colt for a belt gun or over coat pocket carry to the J frame. Of course if I had my druthers S&W would still be making the M-12 in a 2” barrel round or square butt for the informed revolver shooter.

[Tom Givens]

I have a 2" round-butt Model 12 and a 4" round-butt Model 12. For those not familiar, these are aluminum frame K-frames. They give the light weight of an airweight gun, with 6 rounds and good sights. Of course, since they are highly desirable, S&W quit making them years ago. The only reason I use a Cobra instead is that I wear my BUG on the ankle, and the Cobra is just a bit smaller.

[cdunn]

I have my grandmothers never fired with the tag still on it.that I'm going to guess is about 20-30 yrs old.its real nice and I'm trying to decide if I want to shoot it or not.

[Al T.]

Cdunn, decide if you want it as a collectable or as a shooter. If you want to collect, do not shoot it. :)

[caLvinkyle]

I have my grandmothers never fired with the tag still on it.that I'm going to guess is about 20-30 yrs old.its real nice and I'm trying to decide if I want to shoot it or not.

Impressive.. but did you clean the gun? it might not work anymore because of the dirt...





____________________

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[Rappahannock]

Let's not forget the 3 in. Detective Special. This seems to be to be a great little revolver with a much better feel in the hand and balance then its short-barreled and far more numerous brother. This has been my "walking in the woods" gun for some seasons now and I really like it a lot.

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