Anybody Have a Colt Official Police?

[sigep1764]

Just like the title says, anybody got one of these? My grandfather had one and I offered my grandmother $400 for it. She took a couple of weeks to think about it and said I could buy it if I still wanted it. I don't take things from family members and I want them strictly to preserve family history. I enjoy thinking about them while enjoying something they used to have.

Anyhow, never had a revolver other than my NAA Mini, this one is in 38 Special with I think either a 4.5in or 5in barrel. I have the Elco mold and loaded some with 3.5 grains of Red Dot to try out. I also have the Lee 358 105 SWC and an Accurate 358 120B mold which is a 125 grain TC boolit. What have you found that works well? I understand all guns are a lesson unto themselves, just looking for anyone with a little experience with this pistol and what they've found.

Thanks,
Kyle

[Preacher Jim]

Kyle first off you have I fine 38spc. Second you have a remembrance of your grand father.
Those Colts were works of art in the gunworld that led to the action of the Python. Enjoy it and stay away from any plus p or over pressure load and your son will have it as a remembrance of you.

[Guesser]

If it is a 4 1/2" then you have a scarce and wonderful rarity. Colt Op's are among the worlds finest service grade revolvers; I have several. If yours is a somewhat rare 5", then even better. The sights are regulated to use 158 grain bullets at standard pressure loads. Fine, fine revolvers. Treasure yours but enjoy shooting it as well. If it ever needs work, google Glenn Custom in Phoenix Az. He is a master at Colt repair and rework; email him for best response. Congratulations!!!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

One of my favorite revolvers! I have two of them, both in great shape, both 4 inch models. I can give you a listing of some loads that work for me, but the truth is they'll work with any standard, reasonable load in any manual; anything from cast full wadcutters, semi-wadcutters, all the way up to JHP +P. Start with a 148 gr. wadcutter over 2.5 gr. of Bullseye for practice, and slowly work up to a defensive load if that's your desire. They are a .38 built on a .41 frame, and a bit more sturdy than the S&W Mod. 10. I see one currently for sale on an on line auction that is in like new condition and has a reserve price that seems to be well above $500.

[sigep1764]

Thanks gents! Sounds like its gonna be a good candidate for a foray into revolvers! Thanks Guesser, the sight regulation with 158 grain boolits is great to know. The Elco mold I have drops a HP around 152 grains so should be close enough. Gebirgsjager, nice to know its a good solid frame. I don't really plan on putting high pressure loads through it, but rather just as you said, standard loads for some paper punching and plinking.

[Char-Gar]

Yes, I have a couple and have had others in the past. They are classic American revolvers carried by many police officers over the years. They are accurate and reliable. Yous most likely has a 5 inch barrel. Here is mine with a 5 inch barrel.

[higgins]

Chamber mouths will likely be about .358, with a .355 groove dia. barrel. Don't worry about the difference; just size .358 or don't size at all if your bullets are .358 as-cast.

[The Governor]

I have one that has the police officer name etched into it.
I'll post a pic.

[bob208]

I have a 6" one it belonged to the littlestown pa. pd. they traded it in on a shotgun. I used it for falling plate. did quite well with it. I used 358429 and 3.6 gr. red dot.

[retread]

I have one in 4 inch. Really accurate. I found that mine shot at the point of aim with a 156 gr SWC or a 148 WC but if I go to a 172 SWC it wants to shoot to the left by several inches. Don't have the answer to that but that is how it is. Fine gun. Have fun!

[am44mag]

Just like the title says, anybody got one of these? My grandfather had one and I offered my grandmother $400 for it. She took a couple of weeks to think about it and said I could buy it if I still wanted it. I don't take things from family members and I want them strictly to preserve family history. I enjoy thinking about them while enjoying something they used to have.

Anyhow, never had a revolver other than my NAA Mini, this one is in 38 Special with I think either a 4.5in or 5in barrel. I have the Elco mold and loaded some with 3.5 grains of Red Dot to try out. I also have the Lee 358 105 SWC and an Accurate 358 120B mold which is a 125 grain TC boolit. What have you found that works well? I understand all guns are a lesson unto themselves, just looking for anyone with a little experience with this pistol and what they've found.

Thanks,
Kyle

I have a Colt Army Special (exactly the same as an Official Police, just older) circa 1917. I got it a few years ago for I think $300, but the finish was toast on it and it had some pitting on one side that had to be filed off. It's also in 38 Special. It's a great gun none the less. You won't regret owing one.

[salvadore]

I also have a 5" OP 32/20 circa 1931. Had a 1956 Marshal but a guy born the same year wanted it. I wouldn't worry about +p loads. The 358429 was very accurate if I pushed it fast enough. I hear they are tough to work on but that memo didn't reach me in time. There is a website that will tell you how old it is

[rintinglen]

I have two, both 5 inchers, one nickle, and one blue. The nickle is a 1950 .38, the blue is a 1927 Army Special. If you shoot it a lot, it will need to be timed by a Smith who knows what he's about. And there are not many.
229165229166

[pjames32]

I have a 5" .22 from my Grandfather. It was half of a pair he ordered in the early 30's. The consecutive serial number .38 was stolen many years ago. This is the pistol I learned to shoot starting age 6. Lots of memories.

[Dutchman]

Made in 1929. Was armored car guard's gun. Not real tight anymore but functions smooth and has a nice bore. I bought it as a holster gun with these grips on it. Don't have original grips.

229358
229359

[Outpost75]

Here is mine.

229369

[sigep1764]

230646230647

Well here she is! Having trouble with my reloads tho. They won't chamber. It is not a crimp groove boolit, its the Elco from NOE. Trying to remove the bell from the case mouth, they became roll crimped causing a bulge. I think I need a taper crimp die, but I was thinking, could a taper crimp die from a 9mm or 380ACP die set work? Forgot to mention the 38 Special set are lee dies and the 380 and 9mm sets are Dillon.

[El Bibliotecario]

Easiest way to see if a 9mm taper crimp die works is to try it--you could start with one of your buggered-up rounds. The problem if it does work is that the 9mm cases being shorter tha a .38, I am guessing you will have to 'feel' your stopping point with each round, as opposed to a complete cycling of the press handle--which offers opportunity for further buggered-up rounds.

Does this bullet not have a crimping groove for a roll crimp? I glanced at the NOE website and that seems to be the case with their .358 Elco bullets, but I am not really familiar with this vendor. If you want to use a bullet with no crimping groove, an appropriate .38 taper crimp will work but it is my opinion a Lee Factory crimp die would work even better. I am thinking they are similarly priced.

You probably know this but the two other bullets you mention are a bit light for use in a fixed sight .38 Special, which I would guess is factory sighted for a 158 grain bullet. Using them might involve holding high.

After you begin constructing usable ammunition, you will be taking a giant step forward from the NAA Mini.

[sigep1764]

I have Tuesday off, I will be heading to Grafs for the taper crimp die. Tmro night will be spend pulling the rounds and resizing the brass. Took the revolver apart tonight, removing the crane and giving the whole thing a good cleaning. It has a lot of holster wear but the chambers are mirror bright and the bore has strong rifling with no pitting that I can see. Original Coltwood plastic grips and holster. Im pretty happy with it. Single action pull is super light.

I kinda thought the other boolit molds I have would be a little light but the little 105 SWC sure is a lead saver! It was originally sighted for 158 grain RN and 148 WC boolits which is why I was loading the Elco. It drops at 152grains in hollow point in my ww alloy. Appreciate your thoughts on the 9mm taper die, I feel it will not be able to be backed out enough to use it after looking closer.

[Walks]

I've got a 6" my DAD bought in the late 1950's. It's been fed a steady diet of the LYMAN #358429 cast of 50/50 COWW/#2 over 5.0grs of UNIQUE for as long as I can remember. It has the stock brown plastic grips with a TYLER T-Grip Adapter.
POI is an inch over POA at 25yds. He passed it on to me 30yrs ago. As far as I know, it's never been carried in a holster. Very Clean Gun.
A real sweet shooter.

I load all my .38spl plinking ammo using a RCBS Carbide Sizer & an old LYMAN AA M-Die, Seat/Crimp Die.
All my .38spl brass was trimmed to minimum when I got it, and I've never had to worry about case length since, seat & crimp at the same time as long as the Bullet has a Real Crimping groove. I have a RN seating stem with double locking nuts and 3 different SWC stems set up the same way for the LYMAN #358429, #358477 & LEE #358-158-RF. And one WC stem for HORNADY 148gr Swaged WC for my S&W Model 14.
Yeah, I know, 5 different seating stems for one seating die. Well that stuff used to be real cheap, I think those 2 extra SWC seating stems & the extra locking nuts may have cost all of $3 bucks. From back in the day when you could walk into any GUN SHOP and they'd break out their big boxes of spare die parts.

Works for me and my COLT OFFICIAL POLICE 6" bbl and S & W Model 10-5 6" bbl. And all the other .38 Special Revolvers I got.

[Outpost75]

If your bullets run a bit large and you are using modern thick-walled .38 Special cases which are dimensioned to increase bullet pull when loading lighter-weight, jacketed bullets, your reloads may exceed SAAMI max. cartridge dimensions. The correct answer to both your oversized bullets and the need to perform a consistent crimp with no mouth bulges is to use the Lee Factory Crimp Die.

This will size the bullet, if necessary, by compression inside the case, and it will profile the full length of the loaded round to iron out any bulges causes by mismatch of the interior case wall taper by the bullet base impinging against it. This is both the simple AND correct answer.

[sigep1764]

Im not using overly large boolits, they are sized at .358. I am going to try the taper crimp die first and if no joy, try the FCD. Problem is, I am sure I need .358 sized boolits for this pistol and do not want the FCD to swage the boolits down any further. But I am getting ahead of myself. In all actuality, I will prolly try both since both are inexpensive.

[Walks]

sigep1764,

Have you checked case length, if your cases are too long, a roll crimp die will Bulge the case out and cause hard chambering.

I don't like the FCD, it will actually size down the bullet.
I tried it in .44-40 and it sized the bullets undersized and I got leading in both rifle & revolver.
A light taper crimp can smooth out some case length problems. Light Taper Crimp.

Good Luck.

[bedbugbilly]

If it is a "Official Police" then it is post 1927 - they changed the name that year to OP from Army Special. I have a 6" Army Special - made in 1910. A good shooting revolver with cast - I keep them mild for mine.

Take your serial number - go to ProofHouse (google it) - find the Colt section and look up your serial number it will tell you the DOB. And measure your barrel from the front of the cylinder to the end - that will give y0u the length of the barrel - not from the front of the frame to the end of the barrel.

[sigep1764]

Thanks BedBug!! Mine was born in 1948 according to ProofHouse.

Walks, I did not trim the brass. I have never trimmed pistol brass before, all my experience in pistols has been 9mm and 380. I will definitely look at it when I pull the rounds down to resize and reload using the taper crimp die.

[El Bibliotecario]

My purely subjective opinion is that after several firings .38 Special brass is more likely to need of trimming than either of the aforementioned 9mm autoloader cases. Or maybe I manage to lose autoloader brass before the issue arises.

[sigep1764]

Well, called 5 shops this morning in the area plus Cabelas and Bass Pro and no one has a 38 Special taper crimp die. Resorted to Amazon. Should be here Friday. The RCBS die was on sale so I ordered that one.

[fjruple]

Great revolvers but a bit more hard in double action then the S&W revolvers. I have a Official Police 4 inch barrel made in 1967 and a 3 inch Army Special made in 1922. Both revolver were in like new condition as they were purchase and put away and hardly ever used. When I carry them I use a handload of 200 grain MKI lead bullets back with 2.5 grain of 700X. The bullets do tumble on impact.

[sigep1764]

Taper Crimp Die came in and all rounds now chamber! First firing tmro...

[sigep1764]

60 rounds, no leading down the barrel. A little lead/lube splatter on the frame to the left of the forcing cone. Pretty accurate soft shooting pistol! It prints to poa with 150ish grain boolit and 3.1 grains of Red Dot. The frame is a little large for my hands. In double action it is difficult to get to the trigger but not impossible. Single action is a dream and breaks very cleanly.