Colt Officers Model Special/Match 38

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m3bullet

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I just purchased a Colt Officers Model 38, serial number 6260xx, produced either late '52 or early '53 during the changeover from fourth to fifth issue. Beautiful walnut grips, bluing 95%+, sharp horse impression, heavy tapered barrel, near perfect mechanical condition including tight cylinder lockup. I will keep it as a prime example of Colt's best workmanship.

A few of my many questions:

Anyone know where I can procure a manual for this gun?

What .38 special ammo is recommended for target use of this firearm? Is occasional .38 special +P use OK, as I have a sizable stash of Federal 125 grain Nyclad +P I'd like to use up?

What's this gun's history? Was it used primarily for target competition? I've seen references to police target teams using this gun in competition.

Thanks for any info.

The picture below, which I picked off a current auction, is not my gun, but appears identical to mine.

View



[This message has been edited by m3bullet (edited October 07, 2000).]
 
The photo is of a pre-war Colt, the post-war Colts had windage and elevation on the rear sight.

The gun will tolerate +P ammo as it was built on a larger frame than a S&W K frame, but respect the gun's age and don't feed it a steady dose of +P. It was meant to shoot .38 special wadcutters in bullseye target matches and in the days before the reworked 1911 became the standard gun for the national match course the Colt Officers Model and the S&W K-38 were the preferred guns of the top shooters.
 
Researching .38 special ammo on the net answered one of my questions. I've seen several references stating it is not prudent to use 38 Special +P loads in firearms manufactured prior to 1960. Makes sense as that round is newer than the gun. I'd like some recommendations for good target ammo.
 
Any of the commercially available, reputable name 148gr Hollow Base Wadcutter loads, double-ended wadcutters, and 158gr semi-wadutters should work quite well in your Officers Model. A quick look over at www.cheaperthandirt.com lists many of the wadcutter and semi-wadcutter loads that your Colt would send into tight little groups. Otherwise, an option is to load your own, they're relatively cheap, it's all I can shoot in my S&W Model 52...
 
I've never owned one of those beautiful Officer's Models, but I have done a lot of shooting with two Official Police guns, one of early 50's vintage and one dating back to the early 40's.
The .41 frame on which all these guns, and the Trooper and Python, were built can take any amount of plus-P shooting. You will probably find, however, that a 148-grain lead wadcutter bullet at 750-800 fps is the most accurate by far. The barrel i.d. and twist is optimized for the target load.
You have a great piece. Treasure it.

------------------
If they take our guns, I intend to let my hair grow long and acquire the jawbone of an ass.
 
slabsides:
Good info on the frame history and target ammo. I hope to check out some of the target loads in the future.

As I mentioned, I have a good supply of P38N, 125gr Federal Nyclad .38 special +P (muzzle: 950fps, 250 ft-lbs) ammo that I would like to shoot first before stocking up on other .38 special variations. With three handgun calibers (.357, .38sp, and .40), plus rifles and shotguns to feed, I find my ammo "dump" just grows and grows. The Fed Nyclad P38N appears to be some of the mildest (lowest pressure?) commercial .38sp +P, so maybe I'll try some in the Officers Model.
 
More info - I contacted Federal Cartridge about using their Nyclad .38sp +P (P38N) in my Colt Officers Model and their only answer was to contact Colt. I talked to an extremely busy Colt customer service rep this afternoon, and Colt's official line is don't do it. Couldn' tell if that's their legally correct or practically correct answer. My gut tells me a substantial portion of that answer is based on legality. However, I may take the conservative approach, as suggested by Ron, and use only standard .38sp target loads. Why take a chance with a collectable I'll only shoot sparingly?

Thanks for all the good input.
 
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