Detective Special

[fourarmed]

In our local Cabela's gun library, I saw a third series Colt DS for sale for a very reasonable price. Got to be something wrong it, right? I had them pull it out to see, and what I saw was a possibly unfired, 100% pistol that had been allowed to rust, and had light pitting in several places. I didn't even try to dicker with them. They were asking less than $350 for it, and it was like new. I could not find a place where the bluing was worn off, even on the cylinder pin. No drag marks, no nothing. And the nice thing is, with the pitting, I don't even worry about jamming it into a holster. Like buying a new vehicle with the first ding already on it.

Any other dick special owners out there with lore to share?

[frank505]

I carried one as back up gun since it had one more shot than a J frame. Used to carry it in my front pocket of winter coat, right hand on it, left hand with flashlight. Very fast if needed, no one knew I had it besides my partner. I did take off the hammer spur.
Buy it, they are very good gun

[Snyd]

good score! I pack mine all the time with the ol' "FBI Load"... soft 150gr HP over 5-5.5gr Unique. I plink with Lee 150gr rn with 3.5 gr Unique if memory serves.

Mines a 1957 vintage, round butt no ejector shroud. Sounds like yours is a square butt with ejector shroud. I found a hammer on gunbroker and bobbed it, kept my original and put some different grips on it.

[ReloaderFred]

My wife is carrying hers at this very moment while she's walking the dogs. She's had her Detective Special since about 1975.

Fred

[smkummer]

Yea, you got a deal. Just go to auctionarms, gunsamerica or gunbroker and see what asking and bid prices are going for. I agree with the unique load and a semi-wadcutter for business. For fun range shooting, its hard to beat the mid-range wadcutter loads. For business make sure what ever plus P you carry you also shot for practice to see where it prints. 10 yards or less at a human print target get used to using double action only. At 5-7 yrds, you will be able to shoot the heart out in no time.

[JIMinPHX]

Those things always go for big bucks around here.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Colt Ds is a nice piece,
a friend of mine has a sweet one,
that I've been trying to pry out of his hands,
I guess I haven't offered enough $$$ yet :(
Jon

[gon2shoot]

I carried one as a back-up, but let it go while I was young and foolish. I'd give more than $350 to get it back.

[Bret4207]

I used to have a Cobra, which was the alloy version IIRC. Nice little gun.

[Guesser]

I picked up a very late model, '94/'95, last production from a guy I worked with. He inherited it from an uncle that I knew, the nephew did not like hand guns, long guns OK. I offered him 300$ and he took it. That was about 6 years ago. It is my favorite carry piece.

[cajun shooter]

I like many other cops in the 70's carried the Colt DS as it was said to be the best gun made. My gun felt good once I added after market grips and it was very accurate.
I sold it so that I could purchase a S&W model 60 Chief which was better suited for the humid Louisiana weather.

[dk17hmr]

I had one for about 2 weeks than my girlfriend at the time stole it.... had to marry that girl so I could get it back, best thing I have ever done. The little six shot hangs out in the wife's night stand. We have shot it out to 50 yards at targets its lots of fun.

[rintinglen]

When Walmart stopped carrying handguns a few years back, all the display guns ended up going back to the distributors, who sold them at cut rate prices. I have a DS that I bought for 289 dollars back a few years. Last year I finally managed to snag a Cobra. It is badly holster worn but still well timed and it only cost me 300 bucks. Shoots great.

[MtGun44]

I have a Cobra that I really like a lot. It is really easy for me to hit with, and I have the
Pachmyr Gripper grips, the ones with the little cookie bite out of the bottom corner. Fits
my hands perfectly, I highly recommend them, although they are a bit bulkier than stock.

HOWEVER, it is important to understand that while these are really, nice compact and
wonderful little guns, they have some issues with durability of the lockwork. It doesn't really
break, but there are several places in the innards where tiny points are very highly stressed
and wear relatively rapidly. When this happens, the gun will go out of time, sometimes
badly. Some versions of this are easily fixed, some are a great deal more difficult.

I love the guns but they should be fired as rarely as you can stand to preserve them as
long as you can before the inevitable rework. It also takes a talented smith to fix them
properly for some issues, while others are pretty easy. There are multiple good reasons
why these guns are no longer manufactured, sad to say. Hard to fit the internal parts and
the design is such that they must be hand fit to function.

The difference in the internal design between S&W and the older Colts (DS and Python, etc)
is huge, plus S&W has been product improving them steadily for 100 yrs. If you don't
believe me call Warren, he'll agree pretty much, I'd bet.

Great guns, but a bit more prone to wear compared to S&Ws. Really love my Cobra, and
have purchased an entire gun, less frame, as spares to keep mine running for a long time,
and shoot it as little as I can. My guess is that you can expect at least a few thousand rounds
before any issues, may be more, I don't know. But I do know the internal design will wear
relatively rapidly from working on them.

Esp not good to shoot with hot loads. This will peen the little nose at the center of the cyl that
controls end shake. I have an old Colt Police Positive with excess end shake that I will fix one
day, but this will require major surgery on the cylinder. I know I can do it, but it is a bit intimidating.
The little nose is not replaceable, I know of no source for thin steel shims. I may try making punches
to make shims before I do the machine work. PPos is the same design with a shorter cyl for .38 S&W.

Bill

[mongo]

We shot them in the academy in the 80's They issued 158gr swc +p ammo that beat the Colts to pieces. They issued model 60's but took them back when the back straps cracked in a bunch of them. I ended up buying a Ruger sp101 in .38 special 20 some years ago. I would love to know where those old colts ended up. They had a huge bunch of then. The liberals in charge probably had them made into sewer caps.. Tommy

[Combat Diver]

I have owned several of the Colt D frames in the past. Bought my first one when I was 17-18 in High School. A NIB Colt Agent, parkerized D frame. Sold it a few years later at Ft Bragg. During the early 90s picked up a used Detective Special that I loved but gave it to my ex sister in law at the time. Good guns for what the are.

CD

[Wayne Smith]

I have a low number Agent with the long grip frame. It had only been used for training with wax bullets when I got it! Still carry it sometimes.

[fourarmed]

I've always wanted a Cobra, but never actually got my hands on one. I did buy my wife a very nice late second-series DS about fifteen years ago. A guy was trying to sell it at a gunshow, and the dealers were offering him a pittance. I think I gave him $250. Nice gun with excellent sights for a snubby. That is the one thing that is not so hot on the third-series: that long, sloping front ramp. I guess it isn't too critical for short range DA work - the grip is excellent and it seems to point naturally for me - but I like to shoot them at longer range too. Outhouses at 600, y'know.

[MtGun44]

I agree on the later sight, since mine has it and is a nickeled Cobra. Not a great sight unless
you paint it. Really nice guns, just a bit fragile.

Bill

[Char-Gar]

Over the years I have had about a half dozen of the Cobra (2 and 4 inch), the Agent and Detective Special and liked them all. The only one I have now is a 3 inch Detective Special (1967).

[Walt]

No Dick Special here but I did paperwork on a 1st model 38 Special Cobra today. It has no finish on the backstrap but otherwise is clean as a pin and tight as can be. Must have been leaned on all day by a cop. It strikes me as odd is that other typical signs of holster wear are almost nil.

[MtGun44]

Good guns, you'll like that Cobra. Mine is like pointing my finger and a boolit hole appears
where I am pointing.

Bill

[Walt]

The little gun does feel pretty good in my hand, and points well, with the factory checkered stocks. It appears like my middle finger knuckle will be whacked in recoil though. I may have to look into some new ones or maybe a Tyler T.

[Geraldo]

I had one (made in 1966) that I got at a good price from a friend, but the unshrouded ejector rod had a slight bend in it that caused it to hang up when ejecting empties. In my large hands the grip felt better than a J frame. The best part was nostalgia for a time before high cap .40s, when six .38s was all you needed to get the job done.

[MtGun44]

I find that the Pachmyr Compac Gripper, the one with the little cutout for your pinky
works perfectly for me. The little cutout indexes the gun perfectly each time for me.
Controls recoil well and fills in the area behind the TG, like the Tyler T.

Bill

[rintinglen]

I currently have a Detective Special and a Cobra, but I previously had an old style Detective Special, a 4 inch Cobra, and one of those parkerised Agents they made back in the 80s. I love them, they and the police positive are some of my favorite guns, but they are a bit fragile and the number of gunsmiths competent to repair them gets fewer with each passing year. 3,000 -5,000 rounds and it's time to retime the gun. Still, mine get shot regularly, and I'll pay whomever whatever to get it fixed.

[Walt]

I find that the Pachmyr Compac Gripper, the one with the little cutout for your pinky
works perfectly for me. The little cutout indexes the gun perfectly each time for me.
Controls recoil well and fills in the area behind the TG, like the Tyler T.

Bill

I've used one of those on a S&W M34. That one was rather hand filling, I may have to look into that.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Several years ago I was in a local gun shop and just about to leave when I caught sight of what appeared to be a brand new Colt Detective Special. The gun was in on consignment and priced at 350 dollars. I think the owner had fied less than a cylnder full of ammo thru the pistol. I had to have it. For some time after I bought the gun my wife kept asking me, when are you going to shoot that last gun you bought? I keep telling her , Honey , it is just too pretty to shoot. I haven't fired it yet. I have a Colt Diamond Back in almost the same condition and I rarely shoot it. They have the same frame and lockwork. It has a four inch barrel and they make a beautiful pair. I have several really nice pistols but those two will probably be the last I would part with.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I decided to share pictures of my Special and Diamondback. I made the holster by the way.

[fourarmed]

I had a .22 Diamondback like that one, but in nickel. Traded it for a Series 70 Government model, which is my softball bullseye gun. The DB was nice, but the grip was too big and the rear sight notch was too shallow for my taste. Too many Smiths over the years, I guess. My dick special is just like yours. That is an excellent grip.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

fourarmed, I agree with you about the DB grips, just too big for my little mitts.