How it all started and love the colt .38 special, what a beauty!

R

relaxing

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Introduction, well you could call me a newbie its been so very long since I had done any shooting. Back in my teens older friends would let me tag along to the outdoor range and do some shooting, but now I'm nearly 57 and have not shot in over thirty years till recently. My mother passed and I was left her pistol, a 3rd generation Colt Detective Special .38. This re-energized my interest in firearms so I re-joined the NRA and took their basic pistol course because I knew I did not have a working knowledge of proper gun safety.

Wow, I had a great trainer, we shot several hundred rounds during and after the class and practiced with a .22 and 9mm semi-automatics. I did well :), I was very pleased since it had been so long.

Well to make a long story a little shorter, I took the inherited Colt and had it checked by a gunsmith, got 50 rounds of 158 grain ball ammo and took it to the range today. Wow WoW wow! I am so excited I just had to share it with other firearm enthusiast and owners.

I am so hooked. I know you guys will understand. Man that Colt feels so good in the hand when it fires.

Well I just had to have a good happy rant. I've been browsing the forum for a couple weeks or so, and just had to share my excitement today.

Thanks, Scott

Patiently awaiting my cleaning kit to arrive ;)
 
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Im new to this board as well, but cant pass up the oppertunity to thank you for supporting the NRA. And I for one am glad you got back into this crazy obsession of ours.
 
Oh its great. Just cleaned up the colt as best I could. I think my kit will be in on Thursday and will take it down and give it a good cleaning.

Question, using a plain jane semi-auto 9mm, I think it was a ruger, I can hit a pretty tight group at 21ft and near center of mass on the target. Starting out with the Colt today the pattern was pretty wide spread as I expected not shooting it before and just with a front sight and the grooved barrel top. Once I got familiar with the sighting I could shoot a pretty good group but it was high left. I think my trigger finger was comfortably was resting on the crease of the first knuckle, I have fairly small hands for a guy so figure I might focus when target practicing to get it more on the pad of my index finger? I can probably look this up, but being right handed would having the trigger to far into the index finger cause the gun to pull to the high left? It was darn consistent and I did not notice any barrel movement. I'm pretty sure I am not flinching because I can remember the flash. Well I probably answered my own questions LoL..

Thanks all for the warm welcome! Scott
 
Great story, I love it when fine useful guns are passed down from one generation to another. It helps keep our culture alive. There is a Colt forum that is dedicated to Colt firearms that you may wish to check out. You will find many folks there are memebers of other forums as well. Treat the old Colt well and she will take care of you when called upon to do so. Oh yeah keep passing it on, to your kids one day.
 
Welcome to the board. For me every new gun is a little different and takes a few rounds to settle into. Just buy plenty of ammo and have fun. And whatever you do don't go to the gun manufacturers sites and start looking at guns. There is no 12 step program.
 
LoL Manson, I am laughing my ass off... Yea I been looking at the gun sites. I got a little Sig Mosquito on the way home from work today for fun at the range, can't beat those nickel rounds.

The Detective Special to me is dear to my heart, my Mom loved that pistol and I am really sentimental over keeping it in the family.

I was looking at some local firearms for carry, and for carry I would only consider a small revolver for the inherent reliability, no failure to feed so to speak, LoL.. I am seriously thinking about the Smith & Wesson 640 .357mag. I assume all .357's will also shoot a .38 special for target use? I am just assuming from what I have read. I am sure no expert, but that would be sweet for target practice. Actually I would carry the colt special but the large hammer I think would worry me.

Well I just broke down the Mosquito, cleaned and lubed it, ready for the first sight adjustment at the range.. yea its a semi-auto, but shot one the other day and great for skills.

Best to you guys, God bless..
Scott
 
Yes the Smith you mentioned will shoot 38 specials. I'm a colt guy and don't know any of the smith model numbers anymore. If it's one of those mystery metal guns that weigh as much as a paper clip you might want to shoot one before spending hard earned money. Those extremely light guns kick like a Missouri Mule and can be painful. Mr. Newtons laws STILL apply. The lighter the gun the greater the recoil.
 
Exactly DFrame, S&W has the ultra light line, they are around 15oz, this one is 23 oz and almost as compact from what I can see. I think the extra half pound might take the edge off. They are 5 round but for a last line of defense I would rather have a 5 round revolver than a 7 or 10 round semi, revolvers don't have failure to feed or eject. ;) I'll defiantly have to test fire one if I can find a range that has one to rent.

-Scott
 
Welcome and thumbs up to a new NRA member.
It does look like you’re on your way to the great addiction of gun ownership and shooting. Just remember when you find yourself on the street corner begging for donations to buy your next gun, you might want to seek professional help, I know I did.;)
I picked up this little Colt from a collection several weeks ago. Friends gave me a hard time about buying an old 38. I really couldn’t have cared less. Old Colts are a jewel to hold and shoot. It’s become one of my favorite little range plinkers and very accurate.
Not to mention Barney Fife carried one.
 
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Glad youve found your way back to the life! I know what u mean about those old colt .38s. My dad had one gave to him it was a .38 colt police positive with those old black grips that had that realy old style design. Shoots great provided the shooter positively deliberately let the hamer fall instead of lightly staging the trigger which i always do. hope hell hand it down to me one of these days its my favorite piece he has.
 
Thanks guys, wow what a classic Colt Ozzieman! I sure know my Colt Special better now. I cleaned it after shooting it the other day at range and well one thing led to another and I found myself inspecting the springs under the grip, well I let the hammer stirrup slip off and had to remove the side plate and figure out how to slide it back on, no biggie, I would not have gone much further without the help of a gunsmith though.

All came out well and I learned about how it all goes together with the help of a pdf manual and parts breakout. After cleaning and lubing what bits of the action I could get to and re-assembling the action is smoother than ever. My Mom really loved this revolver I think of her every time I hold or shoot it and glad its kept in the family. I took a pic, let me see if I can get it online.

-Scott
 

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Thanks Ozzieman, a real beauty. I would love to come across one I could afford to get in good shape. Thanks for the link on the manufacture dates. I figure the one I have is probably from the 70's but not sure. I'm off to look it up.

I'm taking it in to the range tomorrow for some more target practice. :)

Edit: turned out to be 1977
 
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The official Police was descended from the earlier Army Special. Same gun except for the roll marks. Rock solid performer that graced the holsters of legions of police officers for decades.
 
Shot like a dream today. I only shot about 24 or 30 rounds, my aim is getting better now if I remember to keep my finger pad on the trigger, its so easy to let it land right on the crease or beyond, and my hands aren't that big. But got most all hits in the center mass of those oval targets that are about 4 inches across and 6 or so inches high at 7 yards. Still just a little high and left but I'm bringing it in, I guess its just me getting used to the pistol
 
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