Colt revolver

W

Wayne F

Inactive
I have this Colt Official Police .38 Special CTG. w/ 5" barrel and exposed ejector. I inherited it from my great uncle who was the first deputy in the county many years ago, and this was his sidearm.

I'm pretty much an S&W guy when it comes to revolvers, but I do enjoy this Colt. I had a few questions about this gun.

1. I presume this was a pretty common gun in its time?

2. I've had some light primer strikes with a box of ammo... forget the name, yellow box. I suppose I should try some other ammo, but if it continues to have failures to fire what can I do?

3. This gun balances well for me, but the grip size/angle seems to cramp my hand up and does not feel as natural as my Smiths do. Are there alternative grips available for this Colt? I've also seen pictures of old revolvers that have some sort of filler piece on the front of the grip. Essentially making the grip larger I guess. Maybe this would help with the feel?

Thank you
Wayne
 
Clean it

As for the light primer strikes, how long has it been since it was cleaned out real good in the action? Old dried oil, grit and grease can be a problem with old guns that were carried alot. As it is a Colt, you might want someone else to do that for you, or maybe just take off the sideplate and blast it with cleaner and reoil it. Take off the grips for that. I myself am intimidated by the old Colt mechanisms is why I say that. Not easy like a Smith K frame! Yes, I think you can get good aftermarket grips from Pachmayr or someone like that to make it easier to handle. Otherwise with the light strikes you may have a weak spring, which is something that I would be hesitant to tackle myself also. You may be braver than me but if it has a V spring, replacement can be a challenge to get everything working smoothly, I have observed. More of a tuning job than changing the spring on a Smith.
 
I too think a good cleaning is in order. My suggestion is to remove the grips, put the assembled revolver in a plastic container and fill it over the revolver with Kroil. The Kroil will lubricate and soften deposits. When the revolver comes out after a couple of days soaking, use some Birchwood Casey, Tetra or brake parts aerosol cleaner outside with eye protection to blow any gunk out. Relube and put the grips back on. It should be fine with 158 gr standard or CAS cartridges. NO +P or high velocity loads. The Tyler T-grip is what you are seeking. My own suggestion would be to look for a set of Python wood target grips. Congratulations!
 
I have an old Offical Police 6" in 22 Long Rifle calibre. It gives me light strikes and misfires sometimes shooting double action. Shooting single action it always fires. As Tom2 stated before, a through cleaning is the first thing to try. A gunsmith told me that the "v" shaped combination mainspring and hammer return spring may have gotten a little weak over the years. The hammer actually falls a lot further when fired single action than when fired double action. He said the spring could be reshaped or re-heat treated, or some people will glue an eraser between the two leaves so they have extra power when they are squeezed together during double action firing.

Misfires are usually a lot more of a problem with rimfire cartridges. Some people don't know that dry firing a rimfire will usually cause damage so some old 22s have damaged firing pins and/or chambers. Your centerfire revolver should be less of a problem to remedy. Any compotent gunsmith should be able to diagnose and correct whatever the problem is. These old guns deserve to be cherished and fired. I am sure your great uncles life depended on this old weapon and it deserves more than to just be hung on the mantle. Good luck and good shooting.
 
Haunt gunshows and local shops. You could advertise on this forums online gunshow. You could come across a pair for $10.00 up to $100.00. Be patient and keep looking. I ran across a pair of Colt smooth target grips for $10.00 recently myself. Pachmayr grips are possible too. I found a set for $25.00 this weekend.
 
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