Colt D.S. converted from P.P.S.

[flugeldan]

Hi I recently purchased a Colt D.S. which was converted at some point from a P.P.S. It now has a ramped barrel and the checkered wood grips with the Colt medallion. The barrel I believe is from the period right after WWII and the grips look like they are from 1st issue. The bottom of the barrel, the cylinder and the bottom inside of the grip frame all have the number 828 stamped on them (gun serial no. 40,XXX). My ques. is, was this gun a redo at the colt factory? I checked with Paul at Colt archives and he didn't have any records of that happening. Thanks, flugeldan

[rintinglen]

Chances are no, not a factory redo.
Right after WWII, they had a dearth of off-duty police guns. Manufacturers were still geared up for wartime needs and it took a while to get back up to speed with peace time products. Peace officers returning from duty in the Armed Forces could find duty weapons easily enough, but not many short barreled “Colt or Smith and Wesson 38 Caliber revolvers.”

Given that the standard duty pistols of the day were 5 or 6 inch revolvers and Police officers were required to be armed off-duty, a lot of older guns were converted into stubbies by enterprising gun smiths to meet the demand. I had a S&W M&P that was made into a 2 7/8’s” round butt in that time frame.

[Outpost75]

Very common pre-WW2 for gunsmiths or department armorers to shorten barrels on standard service guns. I've picked up several which were done that way.

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[flugeldan]

Hey guys thanks for the historic info.! " If this gun could only talk"! Ha.