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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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...)Originally Posted by YVK
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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