Feb 2, 2008 - I rescued an old Colt Detective Special from my favorite pawn shop a few. And some website somewhere said its serial number placed it as. The Colt Detective Special is a six-shot, carbon steel framed, 2' barreled, double-action revolver, and the first example of a class of firearms known to gun enthusiasts as 'snubnosed revolvers'. Colt model 1903 pocket hammerless 32 acp serial number 558028 32 Acp. Colt Detective Special.38Save those thumbs & bucks w/ free shipping on.
I've got the same gun (except mine is 4th Generation and yours is 3rd Generation) but I had to pay double what you paid! Anyway, even at 400.00 it is a good buy as it is considered the best revolver Colt ever made! Here is some info for you. (You need to find out from Colt what year yours was made to find out if it is +P rated). Colt manufactured four variations of the Detective Special. First version revolvers were manufactured from 1927 to 1946, they had a blue finish and were chambered in .38 Special with 2 inch barrels and wood grips. Square butt grip frames were standard through 1933, after that round butt grip frames were standard. Second variation revolvers were manufactured from 1947 to 1972, they could be ordered in .32 New Police, .38 New Police, or .38 Special calibers with 2 or 3 inch barrels. Second variation grips were mad of plastic from 1947 to 1954, after that wood grips were used. Wrap-under wood grips were introduced in 1966. Third variation revolvers were manufactured from 1973 to 1986 in .38 Special only, they were similar to late second variation models except that they had a shrouded ejector rod. Fourth variation revolvers were manufactured from 1993 to 1995 and were the same as the 3rd variation revolvers, only serial numbering was changed to 2 alpha characters and 4 numbers. Mine was made in 1993 - AE46##. All Detective Special’s made after 1980 are +P Rated.
Colt Detective Special Serial Number Dates Of Manufacture
Enter the serial number, without spaces or dashes, to search the database. If multiple models appear for your serial number simply match the date with the. .38 Detective Special. The gun also came with the extra after-market real mother of pearl grips it's wearing, which did have some influence on my purchase. For purposes of the historic value graph, I put the value of the gun at $800, subtracting $100 for these extra grips. Sold on their own, the grips might bring $150-$300.