Puzzling Police Positive

J

jimmy

New member
Saw a (to me) puzzling Colt revolver in a gunshop today. Hopefully some of the Colt experts here can shed light on it.

The barrel was marked "Police Positive Special Mark V." Barrel length was 4 inches, with full-length extractor shroud. But the receiver was not a Mark V action. Rather, it was a late Detective Special (D-) frame with traditional (non-Mark V) Colt revolver mechanism. RD serial number prefix. Finish blue. Condition excellent. No box.

IOW, I understood the Mark V mechanism was a refinement of the Mark III and therefore completely different from from the old D-frame mechanism. It doesn't make sense to me that a "Mark V" barrel would be on this frame. However, I'm no Colt expert, so for all I know there may be no puzzle at all.

So, is this a regular production gun, or Colt using up old parts, or a gunsmith's jackalope? :confused:
 
We're talking two different guns.
The Colt Mark V was a medium-frame version of the .357 Colt Trooper Mark III/King Cobra.
It was known as the Trooper Mark V.

The gun you saw is one of the last versions of the old Colt small "D" frame guns like the Detective Special.

Over the years, Colt used the "Mark" designation on a number of guns, including:
The Colt Government Model Mark IV.
The Trooper Mark III, and Mark V.
The PPS Mark V.

The last version of the Police Positive Special was the PPS Mark V.

This was just the old "D" frame Detective Special/PPS with a new profile barrel.
The barrel was itself, just the heavy shrouded Detective Special barrel made in a 4" length.

The PPS Mark V was introduced in 1994, and discontinued in 1995, so they do have some collector interest due to the very limited production.
Collector's are looking for these in NIB condition due to the fact that over one year, VERY few were made.
 
Thanks for the info! I was giving myself a headache trying to reconcile the Mark V nomenclature. :)

The PPS MK V I saw today is a handsome gun, nicely balanced, with the Colt medallion Pachs of the late DS. And, if it's basically a 4-inch DS by another name, it would fit into my very, very modest Colt collection, as I have 2- and 3-inch DS's.

However, though in excellent condition, it has no box, so the NIB goes out the window, if that's the standard for a collectible. Price is $450. Don't know if this is reasonable or not.
 
The price is out of line. No box or papers drops it to shooter class. $350.00 would be possible. I would not go over $299.99 myself.
 
Sir Will

I just bought this MK lll Trooper on Auction Arms for $269, and I probably over bid it by $10 to $20.
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Sounds like you're positively in a perfect pickle with this perplexing problem that you've posed to people here. Just perusing your post has me perspiring.
:D
 
Bullrock, good buy. I dropped out of a live auction when a nickel Colt Trooper MKIII in 357 Magnum, 4" form went over $385.00. Older shooters appreciate their actions. I like my blued and nickel, 2" and 4" models. A 6" will be a nice addition someday.
 
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