I was fiddling with my buddies det special last night. I had a similar one 10 years ago that I loved but wound up trading it away.
Does anyone have a m10 to compare? How much smaller is the colt?
I was fiddling with my buddies det special last night. I had a similar one 10 years ago that I loved but wound up trading it away.
Does anyone have a m10 to compare? How much smaller is the colt?
The d frame colts are four tenths of an inch shorter in the trigger guard and grip length compared to the k frame. The d frame cylinder is slightly smaller in diameter.
A loaded detective special weighs 24 oz with factory grips. A 2 inch round butt m10 loaded weight is 30 oz.
A loaded old cobra weighs 18 oz. a loaded round butt 2 inch m12 weighs 22 oz.
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An SP101 and a D frame DS are very close in all over size. I have one of the new Cobras 2017 version and outside of the trigger guard they are the same size as the old DS. If I were buying a new 6shot snubbie today it would be a Colt Night Cobra, but I already have one.
There’s just something about a D frame… I had a 6” Diamondback in .38 for a few years, and very foolishly sold it.
Ken
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SP101 is a boat anchor which needs wheels and a pony to lug it around. My alloy frame Colt Agent weighs a pound empty. Not +P capable if you want it to last, but suitable with full charge wadcutters. EDC as New York Reload. Primary is a 3" Colt DS in spring and summer and a 3" OP in the barn coat fall and winter. Yes, Colt did not make a 3" OP so J had Sandy Garrett build me one so that I could carry +P+ 147 Federal in it.
In footprint the SP101/D-frame snub analogy is pretty good IME. I've owned two Detective Specials and the SP101 snub over the years . Both Detective Specials went out of time in short order of DA dry fire and shooting. One was bought new, the other in a trade. Cool as heck, not built for shooting. I didn't log rounds back then so I'm fuzzy about the exact volume but I'm sure they never got to a thousand live fire. DA dry fire OTOH was more, like 25-50 dry cycles a day for a few months.
New Cobra sure I could see that. I'd not do the original design again.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
In side by side comparisons with J and K frame Smiths, the D frame Colts are just about midway between the J and K guns in overall size. I stood them upside down on the sights on a table, the baseline being the frame where the web of the hand fits, the actual frames lined up at that point, without grips extending the size, they were a fairly even progression in size.
I avoided the Colts in the past, the timing thing being the main question, but over time and messing with Smiths and replacing basic parts etc, and studying the Colts, I decided to jump in. I absolutely love the size for a pocket carry gun, definitely like the 6th rd compared to the J frame. The alloy frame Agent is my goldilocks gun for daily pocket carry, no holster most of the time unless a milk jug holster made to not raise the gun up any as most pocket holsters seem to.
I confess I havent shot mine much, and actually dont care. Ive shot it enough I know where it hits, maybe 30 rds in the past 4 or so years, dry fired it enough I know the feel and like it, and just carry it all the time. i shoot other guns. If i wear it out Ill fix it if I can, either by swapping in the used hand I have, or welding up the tooth on the hand and fitting it, or stretching the hand. The Colt forum has detailed info on doing it. Theres also replacement hands available, one would be well advised to get one or more and just have them in hand in case it was ever needed. There are in fact some smiths that know how to work on them, and having the part in hand can make the difference in case they werent available in the future.
It aint perfect, and I dont expect it to be, but it does exactly what I want of it, as far as i can tell it does it better than anything else available in the same niche, and I can accept its limitations as i see them. Im not afraid to mess with it if need be. Ill likely get a steel frame DS at some point for more shooting, and may carry it some as well. The 3" DS would be a nice carry gun. Cirrilo seemed to like his. And theres always 38 short colt loads for practice besides wadcutters.
Last edited by Malamute; 10-12-2022 at 10:51 AM.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
I do have both a Pre-M10 snubby and a DS. I greatly prefer the DS. I am not high on the Agent or Cobra versions, as I just don't go for alloy frames. But I consider the DS to be the king of the smaller revolvers.
Colt D-Frames are superior carrying guns to all K-Frames, by virtue of their smaller dimensions in virtually every dimension without giving up too much size to cause an effect in shooting. However, old D-Frames were not built for high volume shooting and certainly not dry fire. Old Colts should not be dry fired without snap caps in place, you will break the firing pin. My most carried gun is a 1972-vintage Colt Cobra that was nickel plated at some point. It shoots very well with wadcutters and light loads overall. I carry and shoot from time-to-time 135-grain Short Barrel Gold Dot.
My favorite revolver is a 1968-vintage 3" Colt Detective Special. Which was 'borrowed' by my mother for her use. I need to replace it as it was the perfect carrying revolver making a 3" K-Frame look morbidly obese.
Closest gun(s) on the market currently are the new Cobras and the Taurus 856. I wish Colt would bring us an alloy-framed Cobra variant with a 3" barrel. But until then the Taurus 856 Ultralite in 3" seems to be the droid I'm looking for.
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