Colt Police Positive .38 Special builder

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walz

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Colt Police Positive .38 Special builder information, I just built a Colt revolver.

HERE

Manufacturer: Colt
Serial number: 128438
year: 1916
Type: D frame revolver
Issue: 1st issue

Caliber: .38
Metal Condition: needs refinishing, repaired
Bore Condition: excellent
Barrel: 4"
Stock: Pachmayr
Sights: Fixed Notch Rear / Blade Front
Weight: 24 oz.

David Walz, gunsmith FFL dealer
5711 West Raspberry Loop
Wasilla Alaska 99623
907-315-0525
 

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I am sure you did a good job of assembling and fitting that Colt, but for most folks without a good parts supply and experience, it would not be economically feasible for a gun that can be bought, in working condition, for around $250 - 300. Colt made an awful lot of them.

Jim
 
I congratulate you on being able to work the V spring Colt. Most smiths today won't touch them and most others have no idea how hard it is to work on these because parts fitting is a bear. You can swap S&W parts about 97% of the time but on Colts hardly anything is easy to swap. I don't care for a parkerized finish or rubber grips but the completed revolver looks nice as far as assembly goes.

Often the problem is economics. Repairing something often costs more than replacing it. Depends on how valuable that particular piece is to the owner...and how much money means to him.
 
That is AWESOME! Thank you for sharing. I love old firearms, and I have rebuilt some old cars, so things like this are extremely interesting for me. Thank you for the photos and writeup. :)
 
Fascinating. If you depend on the Internet you will soon learn that Colt revolvers cannot be repaired, cannot be expected to last long, and are so intricate that it is a wonder they could have ever been made in the first place.

But have you SHOT it yet?
 
Click the link in the OPs first post. Very interesting write up.
Click to expand...
I could not read the write-up (I would have liked to), the backround (cartridge cases), overwhelmed the text. How did you manage to actually read it with all that background "noise"? Opps! Never mind...I loaded it again and the text had a plain background, I can read it now.
 
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Well, they are not easy to repair, especially with most parts made from unobtanium. But it takes a lot of use to really wear out one of those guns; I suspect many more have been damaged by people trying to "time" them than from any wear.

Lately, there has been a lot of nonsense published on the Internet about how all Colts are out of time and how if a gun does not conform perfectly to the instructions by some self-styled "expert", the owner must get out files, Dremel tools, and hammers and just grind and pound on the poor thing in a stupid attempt to "fix" something that is not broken.

Jim
 
For some reason all I saw was the link to the unfinished gun at the bottom of the original post. That was the reason for my comment.
Nice job.
 
I hope that this article would help someone in the future. With that said, I have no intention of selling it, and I don't want to use it except for bedside protection for my wife. She has her own bedroom and I have mine. I have a AR-15, and a CZ-52 in my bedroom.

The armory is way out of reach from our bedrooms so this is the best way to go.

I didn't see throwing away a lot of money on a new revolver that is aluminum, plastic, or inferior to a Colt revolver made in 1915-1916.

If I can build her a nice defensive firearm that is well made like Colt well she is happy.

I've been testing this revolver putting 30 rounds down range and it fires really well, handles excellent, balance is good, for up close and personal it's nats ass on, and she cannot have something that is heavy or to much firepower, she is not hunting bears with it.

God knows she could fire this revolver real easily since I slicked up everything, and she likes the smaller 38 frame, it's perfect for her hands.

AND YES I CUSTOM BUILT IT, I DIDN'T SLAP IT TOGETHER, I HAND FITTED EVERYTHING, SPENDING A LOT OF HOURS FITTING EACH PART, REPAIRING THE FRAME, AND FINISHING THE STEEL. :D
 
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I am working on a 1907 made Police Positive, I figure it's a good way to learn how the older Colt DA action works, how to disasemble, reassemble, etc. As Dfariswheel would point, many younger gunsmiths are unfamiliar with the older Colt action, and as far as obtaining parts, those Khyber pass gunsmiths do a pretty good job with charcoal fired forges and hand files.
 
The reason so many THINK early Colts wear out is because the design uses the hand to help hold the cylinder in place during firing. As a result when the hand is worn a tiny bit you get that failure to completely index when cocking the hammer slowly. This is usually of no concern as the cylinder will index as the trigger is pulled. You never notice this effect shooting DA or if you cock the hammer smartly.

I have numerous DA Colts going back to 1909. All function perfectly. It is not a weak design as some would claim.

But the old Colts were hand fitted much more than were comparable S&Ws. This means that changing parts sucks. Just about every small part has to be custom fitted. Most smiths rebel at the notion. It's not so much they can't work on Colts as it is they won't do it.

Here's one of my oldies. Holster wear suggests it was a cop gun for a long time back in the day when some officers packed a deluxe target 38 on duty. I bought it around 1991 from a guy who used it for a couple decades (1960s and 70s) in bullseye shooting competition. No idea how many tens of thousands of rounds have been pushed through it.


standard.jpg
 
I worked in a gun shop when Colt was making and selling those DA revolvers, and I saw quite a few guns come out of the factory boxes that were "out of time" as defined by the internet gurus. No one ever complained.

The only Colt we ever sent back was a .38 PP with one small defect - there was no hole in the barrel! Yet, there was a nice target with it, all six shots in a half-dollar size circle, just like Colt claimed. I wanted to buy the gun, but the boss insisted we send it back; in those days, long before cell phone cameras, I didn't even get a picture. But we spent some time trying to figure out how such a thing could happen and never reached any conclusion.

Jim
 
In the early 1980s I saw some horrendous QC problems with new Colts. One Gov't Model had the slide face milled at a 30 degree angle exposing much of the barrel bushing at the top. I have heard of cylinders with no chambers but never a barrel with no bore. Colt fell apart badly over a long time. Sad to see such a historic gun company fall so low.
 
This is why I hate firearms made after the 196's, it seems that all of the firearm manufacturer and their gunsmiths were abducted by aliens and replaced by less intelligent people.

:eek:
 
I hate to tell the theorists, but that was in the late 1950's, before the "abduction by aliens."

Jim
 
Great job OP. I was looking through my dad's things the other day and found his grandfathers Phila police colt police positive from early last century.
 
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