If you'd like to read an interesting story, stay tuned to the end.
My dad gave me a couple of old revolvers today. They belonged to my great grandfather, who picked them up in some horse trading that he did during the Great Depression. One of them is definitely a Police Positive Target model in .22 WRF. I'm just not sure about the other one. Maybe a sharp-eyed Colt expert can help me out. Here are some pictures:
The patent dates on the .38 revolver has patent dates of Aug. 5, 1884, November 6, 88, March 5, 94.
On the .22, it's August 5, 1884, June 5, 1900 and July 4, 1905.
There's tape around the .22 because the grips are cracked.
Now the story: My great great grandfather, besides being a plumber, also worked at a gas station in Jamestown, ND back in the early '30s. A couple of guys came through, heading west, to get some gas, but didn't have any money. My great great grandfather said that he'd pay for a tank of gas and they could send him the money when they got home to Cascade, MT. One of the guys gave him the .22 and told him to hold it as collateral - when he got the money, he could send it back. Well, they never sent the money, so he kept the gun.
It originally had white tape wrapped around the grips - wrapped very carefully and deliberately. I remember seeing the tape when I was a kid. Whoever put it on the gun was really careful about lining up the overlap just perfectly...it was a budget fix, but done with great care.
So, now there's no white tape, as you can see. That's the second part of the story. When my folks sold their house and moved into a condo a few years ago, they lost track of the guns. They searched high and low, but finally figured that they were lost. Then, about a week ago, my dad came across the lady who had purchased the house and asked if she'd seen a couple of pistols there. She said that she hadn't, but that she'd keep her eyes open.
On Tuesday, she called my dad and said that she'd just found them in the back of a linen closet. So, dad hot-footed it over and picked up the guns. Back home, he pulled the .22 out of the holster and noticed that the white tape was gone and this odd masking tape was there. Now, I don't want to cast aspersions, but somehow I think that the old "I just found your pistols" story might have a little more detail to it than the lady was letting on.
However, we've got them back, dad's given them to me and all is well, so it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. But it's an interesting story.
Anyway, I'd welcome any comments and info that you all might have for me.
My dad gave me a couple of old revolvers today. They belonged to my great grandfather, who picked them up in some horse trading that he did during the Great Depression. One of them is definitely a Police Positive Target model in .22 WRF. I'm just not sure about the other one. Maybe a sharp-eyed Colt expert can help me out. Here are some pictures:
The patent dates on the .38 revolver has patent dates of Aug. 5, 1884, November 6, 88, March 5, 94.
On the .22, it's August 5, 1884, June 5, 1900 and July 4, 1905.
There's tape around the .22 because the grips are cracked.
Now the story: My great great grandfather, besides being a plumber, also worked at a gas station in Jamestown, ND back in the early '30s. A couple of guys came through, heading west, to get some gas, but didn't have any money. My great great grandfather said that he'd pay for a tank of gas and they could send him the money when they got home to Cascade, MT. One of the guys gave him the .22 and told him to hold it as collateral - when he got the money, he could send it back. Well, they never sent the money, so he kept the gun.
It originally had white tape wrapped around the grips - wrapped very carefully and deliberately. I remember seeing the tape when I was a kid. Whoever put it on the gun was really careful about lining up the overlap just perfectly...it was a budget fix, but done with great care.
So, now there's no white tape, as you can see. That's the second part of the story. When my folks sold their house and moved into a condo a few years ago, they lost track of the guns. They searched high and low, but finally figured that they were lost. Then, about a week ago, my dad came across the lady who had purchased the house and asked if she'd seen a couple of pistols there. She said that she hadn't, but that she'd keep her eyes open.
On Tuesday, she called my dad and said that she'd just found them in the back of a linen closet. So, dad hot-footed it over and picked up the guns. Back home, he pulled the .22 out of the holster and noticed that the white tape was gone and this odd masking tape was there. Now, I don't want to cast aspersions, but somehow I think that the old "I just found your pistols" story might have a little more detail to it than the lady was letting on.
However, we've got them back, dad's given them to me and all is well, so it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. But it's an interesting story.
Anyway, I'd welcome any comments and info that you all might have for me.