Colt Detective

P

Pj0759@aol.com

New member
Was wondering if anyone has an answer to my question: I recently bought a used Colt Detective special manufactured mid to late seventies,gun is great been fired about 10 times or so very sound. I was wondering if it can handle today's +P type ammo? It is in 38 special. Thanks in advance...PJ
 
Your question was one often asked and answered to some degree or another in the gun magazines when Plus P ammo became available. Colt made a point of NOT restricting their D-frames to std pressure rds and much was made of this in the perennial fool fodder about S&W J vs COLT D.

Personally, I've never worried about using it for duty use and occasional practise in my Cobra's or Agents though clearly a heavy diet of Plus P is going to accelerate wear on the piece. If you shoot your steel frame DS even rather more than most folks shoot the little snub guns you shouldn't have to worry about it.

Enjoy it, but practice mostly with the standard pressure loads to learn to handle the piece and save the Plus P's for enough familiarization to handle the recoil and muzzle blast and for carry use after you know you can handle the piece effectively with standard pressure loads.
 
Absolutely safe to use Plus P ammo in your Colt. Shoot it enough to become familiar with the recoil, muzzle blast, etc. But for regular practice use nonplus p ammo...7th

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I`ve had my D/S for 25 years and it`s a bear to shoot with +Ps especially with smaller grips. I`ve never had a problem with it and don`t expect to. The D/S was always authorized on the NYPD with +Ps. That even included the earlier models with the unshrouded ejector rods.
 
I agree that the Detective is strong enough for a limited diet of +P's; however, you may want to give Federal's personal defense 38 special hydra shoks a try. These are 110 grain non +P and were designed for these snub nose revolvers. I use them in my S&W model 36 and while certainly not a powerhouse, they do allow decent control of this little revolver.

Alex Johnson
NRA, Life Member
 
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