Colt British Contract Official Police 38/200

J

Jeff #111

New member
My British Contract Colt Official Police (mfd. 1941) in 38/200 or 38 S&W with a 5" barrel. The finish is still in pretty good condition. I had the internals checked out by an old-time gunsmith and he advised that it's very clean and in excellent shape. Now all I have to do is get some ammo for it. I paid $400.00 for those who are interested.

It isn't really clear how many Official Police in 38/200 that Colt made for the Brits in 1940-1941. I have been advised that all of the OP's were purchased by England. They did not go under the Lend Lease Act - unlike the S&W Victory revolvers. According to Supica & Nahas S&W made over 500,000 Military & Police models in the same caliber for England from 1940-1945. I would imagine this is a big reason why the British Contract OP isn't as common. Note the Woolwich Crown stamp on the left hand side and the various British proof marks. It was just sheer dumb luck that i came across this revolver. I had to wait eight years before I was finally able to purchase it. According to Colt this specimen was shipped to the British Purchasing Commission in New York City in July 1941. It's still in 38/200 (38 S&W) by the way. It was never converted to 38 Special.





 
The first Smith & Wesson revolvers sent to Britain were not Lend-Lease guns, either.

Lend-Lease was enacted in March 1941. Prior to that Colt was well into its first (or even second) contract, and S&W was supplying M&Ps in compensation for the Light Rifle fiasco.

Apparently the biggest reason why Colt didn't supply as many firearms to Britain during the war is because they had their hands full supplying 1911s and 1917s to the US military once the rearmament programs really started to kick off in mid 1941.
 
Colt also made machine guns and anti-aircraft guns in WWII, in addition to the famed M1911A1 pistol, other pistols, and revolvers. In addition, the provided firearms expertise to other companies which were making guns for the first time. So, yes, they had their hands full.

Jim
 
Very Nice~

I have Colt Police Positive in .38 Special, but I also own a couple of S&W revolvers in the .38 S&W caliber as is yours. I reload for mine but originally ordered a few boxes of Remington new ammunition from Bass Pro. The nice thing is they will ship free to a Bass Pro Store if you have one near you.

The only military version I own is classified as a Pre-Victory Smith & Wesson. In fact I just received a Factory Letter from S&W a few days ago concerning this revolver.

It was shipped from the S&W Factory directly to the Union of South Africa on Dec. 1, 1940. It is one of 1800 shipped with the original S&W bright blued finishes with a 4 inch barrel. I am lucky like you since it also has not been modified to the .38 Special caliber.
 
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Question: Why did you have to wait 8 years?
Answer: It's a long way from England to Idaho.
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LoL. No I had to wait for the case involving it to be adjudicated. It was taken from a subject who was on Federal parole. It was in his car. One of our anti-gang officers found it on a traffic stop. I expected it to go to the Feds and from there to the crusher. But the Feds left it with my agency. I had the ATF do a search on it and I contacted Colt not to mention contacting folks here in Cyberland.

The ATF had no record of it. If it was stolen the previous owner never knew the serial number so it couldn't be entered into NCIC, or it was stolen before NCIC even existed. Of course I went through local records and contacted neighboring agencies. No Colt OP reported stolen.You already know what Colt told me and nobody got back with me reporting a stolen Colt Official Police in 38/200 from any of the various gun forums.

After the suspect went back to prison (for having a firearm and drugs in the car - can't have that stuff when on parole) it sat in the court evidence vault (county courthouse) for seven years. all I can say is red tape. I patiently waited. The bad guy actually got out of prison after four years so he was out before the Colt was!

Finally earlier this year the Colt was sent back to my agency. Our Lieutenant in charge of all things involving firearms and firearms training cleaned out our evidence vault of firearms (this spring )that had no identified owners and/or were no longer needed for court and sold them to a local gun shop. My agency does that every now and then. The extra money helps to maintain our range as well as buy targets and what not. My agency is not a wealthy agency. I made it very clear that I wanted that Colt. The dealer sold it to me. I had to go through the same process as everybody else. No short cuts.

I think it was worth it.
 
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Talk about an overbuilt .38 S&W! The Official Police can take a lot more than the old .38 cartridge puts out.

Speaking of overbuilt....

I have a S&W Australian RAAF contact .38 (5 inch bbl.) that came with Plexiglas grips. The grips had four shiny medallions in them I could not make out. Turns out they were New Guinea coins! Six Pences and Shillings. Dated 1938 to 1941. And one was an Australian Six Pence.

Also a Colt Police Positive in .38 S&W marked "Chase Manhattan Bank".
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Plus a Webely Pocket Model .38!

And yes, I reload for that round.

Deaf
 

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Talk about an overbuilt .38 S&W! The Official Police can take a lot more than the old .38 cartridge puts out.
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Those are some neat pieces you have there. You're right about being overbuilt. It's almost like Smith making an N frame revolver in 32 Special or even 22 LR.
 
I have one that was used by the royal Hong Kong police. Have been hand loading for it. I found 0.355" (9mm) bullets work the best, because of its tight throat and bore.

-TL
 
As mentioned above, reloading is the way to go.

I reload rather mild loads for my .38 S&W caliber handguns. They are not used for carry or home defense purposed. I recently saw where you can obtain lead 200 grain bullets which are based upon the original rounds. (.38 caliber/200 grain bullets thus .38/200). I may try this one of these days.
 
FWIW, the .38 S&W with a 200 grain bullet was widely known pre-WWII as the "manstopper" load. The British tested it against the .455 Mk II ammunition and concluded that the .38/200 was almost as effective while the revolver was lighter, had less recoil and was more economical. But the 200 grain weight was based on a lead, round nose bullet; in the event, such a bullet was banned by the Hague convention, so the British actually used a 178 grain jacketed bullet in WWII, while still calling it ".38/200" informally. It was not very effective, but most armies considered the handgun not so much a combat weapon as a replacement for the sword as a symbol of authority and sign of leadership.

Jim
 
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