Colt Detective Special Series 2

N

NWCP

New member
The weather had started to warm up and it was time to change my carry piece. In the gun safe there was my Kahr PM9. It usually gets the job of my summer gun when putting the HK45C away for a bit. As I went to grab my PM9 I noticed an old friend that hasn't been on my belt for quite some time. It was my Colt Detective Special Series 2 with a 2" barrel made in 1969. I carried that pistol for quite a few years before getting into my semi autos.

I picked it up and held it in my hand. The next thing I knew I was at the gun range with it punching holes in paper. It is a pleasure to shoot and at short distances quite accurate. So now It resides in an IWB holster on my hip. I may not carry it all summer, but for the time being it's like getting to know an old friend all over again. It is in my humble opinion one of the best made and attractive snub nose revolvers out there. Does anyone else still use a Detective Special for carry? Colt really knew how to make a revolver back in the day. :D
 
Back in the day, I often carried the Dick Special in the summer.

The Colt Detective Special, Agent, and Cobra had the reputation of being the finest quality and most accurate "snubby" revolver ever made.
 
I find now that when I buy a new pair of pants I look at the pockets pretty hard to see if it will conceal a Detective Special. With some pockets a Chiefs Special is the best you can do. With others you may not do much better than an NAA. I have a belt holster for the Detective Special that I sometimes use around the house, but if I'm going out in public, and I can wear get away with something on my belt, I want something bigger than a .38.

I like the Detective Special. I can control it in rapid fire better than any other small .38 I have used.
 
Detective Specials were very well built back in the day. I have one in the back of the safe somewhere, which reminds me I need to take it out and manhandle
it a bit at the range. It was built sometime in the mid 70's, but unsure if it's a 2nd or 3rd series. It's a 2" with the ejector shroud.

Jake
 
Jake:It was built sometime in the mid 70's, but unsure if it's a 2nd or 3rd series. It's a 2" with the ejector shroud.


If it has a shroud is a series 3. My '69 Detective Special has no ejector shroud.
 
I have found the DS a little heavy for me to carry all day. My belt carry gun is a Colt Cobra(1965)in a Red Cent custom appendix IWB and pocket is a Colt Agent(1969)in a Mika holster. I love my D frame Colts.:)
 
At about 21 ounces I don't find the Detective Special all that heavy when carried with an IWB holster. The little wheel gun has always worked for me and feels good in the hand.
 
I'm in the process of getting a revolver for OWB concealed carry. Even though I'm pretty young, I love revolvers and the higher degree of artlike construction. I like the idea of carrying something iconic and built decades before I was born like the Detective Special. OWB though, I really want a 3" barrel. If I carry a snub I really feel it might as well be a J frame in the pocket, and although they're nice too, the advantages of my PM9 that I carry in pocket is too hard to ignore when compared to a pocket revolver.

If I could find one of those ultra rare shrouded ejector rod Det Specials in a 3 inch stainless variety, without paying $3k for one, I'd carry it on the hip.
 
My DS was bought oh, maybe 20 years ago. Back then $250 was a good price.

Still has factory nickel, no flaking or anything, and I just about never shoot it.

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Seems that nickel is so bright in sunlight I can't see much of the sights!

Sure wish they made the Magnum Carry. Now days the prices are just so stupid I'd never get one.

Deaf
 
Elerius said"I'm in the process of getting a revolver for OWB concealed carry. Even though I'm pretty young, I love revolvers and the higher degree of artlike construction. I like the idea of carrying something iconic and built decades before I was born like the Detective Special. OWB though, I really want a 3" barrel. If I carry a snub I really feel it might as well be a J frame in the pocket, and although they're nice too, the advantages of my PM9 that I carry in pocket is too hard to ignore when compared to a pocket revolver.

If I could find one of those ultra rare shrouded ejector rod Det Specials in a 3 inch stainless variety, without paying $3k for one, I'd carry it on the hip."

I have a Kahr PM9 that I carry in hot weather, normally IWB not in the pocket and really like it. I prefer to carry IWB rather than in the pocket with either a revolver or a semi auto. From 1 to 7 yards a 1" longer barrel isn't going to make a lot of difference IMHO. At that range you're pretty much point and shoot in a crisis situation. As for stainless I wipe my weapon down at the end of the day as a matter of routine, besides, the bluing on the older Colts is really sweet. I also have a sweat guard on the holster. The nostalgia along with the practicality just makes the 2" Detective Special a really great little six shot for hot weather concealed carry.
 
3-inch???

This shop has a 3-inch non-shrouded DS on the shelf, as a consignment sale item. It is in very nice shape.

Pinto's Gun Shop

Full disclosure here: That is my gun they are selling. And it was a tough choice to see which 3-incher would be sold. The shrouded one just seems to balance and aim better for me, so I am keeping it.

Bart Noir
 
Stainless DS

If I am wrong, dfariswheel will let us know. After all, most of what I know of D-Frames came from his posts.

I do not think that there ever was a real Detective Special made in stainless steel. There was an SF-VI (Small Frame -VI) made for a year in stainless, before Colt started calling it the Detective Special II, and then just stopped making any double-action except the Python.

Those newer guns were not the old DS design. The lockwork was newer and had less hand fitting, maybe none. The trigger pull didn't feel the same. I think we could consider that lockwork to be the Lawman and Trooper Mark III design, but reduced in size. I may be wrong on that however. I just know those "last of the DS line" guns were not the same as the older and beloved Dick Specials.

I had an SF-VI and do not regret selling it.

Bart Noir
 
If I am wrong, dfariswheel will let us know. After all, most of what I know of D-Frames came from his posts.
Click to expand...

You're not wrong about that. In looking into the 3" stainless, I ran into several posts by dfariswheel correcting people on that very point. Even though the clockwork is not the same, I feel like this is more of a technicality. I wonder what the DS is supposed to stand for in the eerily visually similar DS-ll? :rolleyes:

It reminds me of the discontinuation of the Toyota Celica and later on the introduction of the Scion TC. Which according to Toyota, ABSOLUTELY doesn't secretly stand for Toyota Celica.
 
So my Scion XB is, hmmm, Xtremely Boring?

Not boring for me, but I do wish I had the scratch to include the supercharger option when I bought it.

My first post-divorce handgun was a '60s DS from a pawn shop. The metal is in great shape but the bluing is quite worn. This one may get a dark Cerakote finish someday and it introduced me to the D-frames.

Bart Noir
 
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I bought this one earlier this year, and I love it. I've carried it off and on for the past couple months.

Really is my favorite little revolver.
 
RBurch, that's a clean looking pistol. Is it a series 3? What aftermarket grips do you have on your gun?
 
It is a series 3, but that's all I can really tell you. I found the grips used on ebay and the seller didn't know what brand they were.

The gun had rubber grips on it, but I can't stand rubber grips on a carry gun.

I was originally going to order a set of badgers, but these were less than half the price and do the job.

The gun has a bit of holster wear, but I like the, "This gun has been used," look for older guns.

When I first got it I had to tighten up the screw holding the bolt in place, it was just loose enough to cause the action to jam up a bit.

I've put about 300 rounds through since then without a failure, and the gun allowed an older lady to complete the range portion of an NRA Pistol class I was teaching. The Taurus 22 snubby had a trigger pull too heavy for her to use, even single action for more than a couple shots.
 
I'm not a revolver person, except for Colt Snubbies with shrouded ejectors. To me they are perfection. I have a DS made in 1976 and a Cobra made in 1975. I hope to one day fulfill my dream and add an Agent and a Diamondback.
 
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