Colt Army

O

obmit

Inactive
And a good evening to everyone.
Found my way here from a friend of mine on another forum.

I have looked around and without spending money for a Colt book I was looking for some info on a Colt Army Special .38 with a 4 inch barrel.
I am considering buying it but would like to know especially its age.
It looks brand new. I've been told it dates back to at least WWII but it sure dont look it.
The serial #536xxx seems high for the info I have already looked up.
Can anybody help out?
Thanks and I like this place already with all the good threads I've read.
 
Is it a military piece? if so it should have "US Property" oe "US Army Model XXXX" on it somewhere. Id not, its probably a commercial gun. Where in Michigan is this gun?
 
It's high, but it's valid.

Welcome.

The serial number dates the revolver to either 1926 or 1927. Army Special serial numbers mixed with those of the Official Police model around that time.

'coach
 
In spite of the name, AFAIK, the Colt Army Special was never adopted or used by the armed forces of any country. It was strictly a civilian/police gun.

Jim
 
Fred S, I'm up by Flint. The gun is owned privately. And no, there are no military markings on the gun at all. The ones I've researched had stampings of the govt somewhere on it.

kindlyoldcoach, this at least gives me some idea of its age. From looking at it,it has less than a 1/16 inch of worn blue at the end of the barrel and 3-4 pencil dots of rust in various places. At arms length it looks like a brand new gun.

Jim Keenan, I thought the .38 was carried by pilots for awhile? I sure could be wrong about that. It is a nice looking gun,and to me it looks just like the police special.

Thank you all. You are most kind to take the time to welcome a newcomer to this very LARGE forum. You make me feel comfortable asking questions.

I hope to be able to contribute some time in the future and maybe even hand on the same welcome I got.

Thank you.
 
Hi, Obmit and guys,

The Colt Army Special name was discontinued in 1927, which answers the question about pilot use in WWII. The .38's carried at that time were mostly S&W M&P revolvers (Victory Model or pre-Victory Model), though I think some Colt Commando revolvers were issued to the U.S. military.

The Army Special was named as sort of a follow on to the old Colt New Army and Navy (which was used by the military*), and continued the serial number series started with the A&N. The Officers Model was produced in the same series, and the Official Police followed, also in the same series.

*Models 1892, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1901, and 1903

Jim
 
Thanks Jim Keenan

A lot of help on this gun. I appreciate it.
Patents shown on the barrel of this Colt are: 8/5/1884,6/5/1900 and 7/4/1905.
I should have posted these dates the first time I posted.
I remember reading about the Colt Commando.
 
The Army Special was just renamed as the Official Police. The Commando was a Parkerized finish Official Police made for the US in .38 Special, and for Commmonwealth countries in .38/200 (38 S&W). I read a book by one of Orde Wingate's Chindits who carried one of these Colts (and a Thompson SMG) during an incursion into Jap-held Burma.

In the USAF in the 1960's, we were short for some years of the newly adopted S&W M15 Combat Masterpiece. In addition to .45's, we had a hodge-podge of older .38's. Most were S&W Victory Models, transferred to us from the Navy. However, we had a Commando or two and one commercial Official Police at the base where I was stationed then, Lowry AFB, CO.

The Colts, as usual, didn't shoot to point of aim, so I preferred the Smiths.

There IS NO "Police Special". That's a public term for almost any .38 revolver that looks as if it might be a type used by cops. Colt did make a Police Positive Special on the same frame as the Detective Special but it would be a "police special" only through cooincidence.

Lone Star
 
Thanks Lone Star, I appreciate the info.
I dont know that term "point to aim". Is that in reference to the slot type sight on the rear of the pistol?
I know I have a hard time getting on target in dry fire. Havent had a chance to shoot it yet.
Thanks again.
 
Colt sights changed during that era from a narrow front blade and a narrow "U" notch rear, to a square top front blade and square notch rear. In either, the shooter keeps the front sight centered in the rear notch, with the top of the front sight even with the top of the rear sight. The point of aim is at the top of the front sight, and, all things being good, the bullet will hit wherever that was when the gun fired.

Those Colts were sighted to put a 158 grain .38 Special bullet on point of aim at 25 yards. Lighter, faster bullets will shoot low because of having less barrel time.

The Army Special is capable of handling any reasonable .38 Special load, but I would avoid +P and definitely would stay away from +P+ or Law Enforcement ammo.

Jim
 
Thanks Jim. I hope to get out next Friday and try this out. Having a hard time with the small grip and getting a comfortable feel for it. I definitely dont want to just start changing it around for the sake of change.
Tim
 
Here's a Colt Police Positive from the same era. this one is 38S&W. I'd like to find one in the same shape for the 38Special. This particular pistol is still UNFIRED.

standard.jpg
 
Technically, a Colt was not chambered for .38 S&W (shock! horror!). Colts were chambered for the .38 Colt New Police, which, to the uninitiated, appeared to be EXACTLY like the .38 S&W. And, of course, S&W revolvers were never chambered for the .38 Colt New Police (horror! shock!), only for the .38 S&W.

Just a game played by the ad men.

Jim
 
Well jar, I got one. It looks identical to the one you have.
The barrel has about 1/16" wear right out at the sides of the barrel and the small pencil dot rust spots,mainly on the cylinder.
There is also a little wear at the bottom of the wooden grip,as in just the finish.
But this is marked Army Special in .38.

Now Jim I am confused,course that aint hard for me. Can this .38 fire the new .38 ammo? I dont want to hurt this gun or me.
I can tell this has been fired before so its not a virgin. Just not many rounds thru it.

Thank you for passing on this great info to this rookie in older guns.
Tim
 
The 38S&W also called the 38 Colt New Police and the 380Webley is about a thousandth fatter than the 38special. It was also a much lower power cartridge than todays 38specials (by the way, what made the 38special, special was that it used smokeless powder).

I would be hesitant to shoot 38special in a 38S&W or 38 Colt New Police, but would have no problem going the other way. Does the barrel say 38 or 38spl, or 38Colt New Police?
 
jar, from left to right on the side of the barrel it reads:


COLT ARMY 38
SPECIAL

The army and special are in print about half the size of the word Colt.

I hope that explains it well. Looks like I should be able to shoot .38 special thru it. I am going to shoot less hot loads thats for sure.

Thanks again for your help on this. I wish I could just post a pic of it but I know about as much on that as I do about old guns!
Zilch!

Tim
 
Standard .38 Special ammo should be fine in an Army Special. You can't even put .38 Special ammo in a gun chambered for the shorter .38 S&W/.38 Short Colt/.380 Webley ammo. There should be a step in the chamber to prevent it, and some cylinders won't be long enough.

The gun pictured here is a Colt Police Positive. It is not the Police Positive Special, which has a frame a quarter-inch longer, and took .38 Special or .32/20 cartridges. The gun you have is on Colt's larger .41 frame, and I don't believe it was ever chambered for any .38 but the Special. The .38 Colt Special is the S&W Special with a slight flat on the point, for advertising purposes, so they wouldn't have to admit it was really developed by S&W. The .38 Special was not originally loaded with smokeless powder, as one chap stated here. It took 21 grains of black powder, as opposed to about 18 grains for the .38 Long Colt, which failed to stop Moros so badly in the Phillipines campaigns. Of course, smokeless followed very soon after this 1899 introduction.

Lone Star
 
What Lone Star says. You can fire modern 38 special but don't fire any +p or +p+ in that old gun. BTW, I've a 6" Army Special from many years ago.
 
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