Old Colt PP police revolver

[David LaPell]

I picked this old Colt Police Positive .38 revolver not that long ago. It has been reblued but the action is good and shoots fairly well. It used to belong to the Troy, NY Police Department and was probably from the 1920's-1930's.

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss57/Smith29-2/coltpp.jpg
http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss57/Smith29-2/ColtPP2.jpg

[Guesser]

Good find!!! I have several of the PP's in 32, both the small 32 frame and the 38 frame. I'm always looking for a decent 38 PP. I did find a really nice S&W Regulation Police in 38 that is from the middle 20's. Great guns and they really like the boolits cast from the old SC Ideal molds 358246 and 360271. Mine drop at .361, I size to .360 and load over 2.15 gr. of A#2, light and accurate in the little 5 shooter.

[Multigunner]

I came within a hairs breath of buying a near cherry looking Colt Police Positive in .32-20 at what seemed a very reasonable price.
The revolver was like new, bought for business protection then left in an office desk drawer and likely never fired.
The finish was perfect, the grips like new.

Unfortunately some where along the line a small bit of lint had got in the bore and drawn moisture over the many decades it lay unattended. The bore was perfect except for one huge honking pit about midway down the barrel. I was devastated, it was my dream pistol, but flawed beyond redemption.

My best antique revolver is a 1920's I frame S&W in .32 S&W Long. A fine little revolver in decent shooting condition. Its the longer barreled version 4+" and plenty accurate.

[Bret4207]

I don't know who to envy more, Dave or Multigunner! I've passed up PP before in 38 S+W and 38 Special, but only because every one I've seen has been nickle and I don't care for nickle at all, stainless either. I'd have snapped that sucker up in a heartbeat.

MG- I'm still looking for a 32 Smith with a 4" or even 3" barrel. Scarce as hens teeth in my area. My dream gun would be one of those 5" J frames with adjustable sights in 32 S+W Long or Mag, blue of course. Your I frame would be a close 2nd to my dream gun.

[Guesser]

32-20 bores in Colt revolvers are very forgiving when it comes to loading and shooting cast boolits. I have 4 Colts in 32-20, the newest is 1922. 2 have ugly bores but they shoot right along side the ones with the purty innerds.

[9.3X62AL]

David et al--

I have a PP x 4" in 38 S&W dating from 1920. Its condition is close to that of the example in your photo. Throats run .359", grooves at .358", and Lyman #358477 sized at .359" shoot right to the sights at 700-725 FPS. Its accuracy is vary close to that of most 38 Specials with similar fixed-sight arrangments, and it has accounted for several jackrabbits and a couple ground squirrels so far. I regard both your example and my own as little jewels, whether at the target range or afield.

[MtGun44]

Nice pistol, they are great guns. I wish mine was as nice as yours.

Bil

[missionary5155]

Good morning
My first firearm here in Peru was a PP 38 Special . Got it from a police sargent who was a friend of my neighbor policeman. Have had 4 over the years & still have 2 here at home. 10 years ago bought one NOS still in the box from 1974. Took it out and fired some boolits through it so it would feel at home as a good usable night stander.
Mike in Peru

[Four Fingers of Death]

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Handguns/ColtPolicePositive38SW3.jpg

This gun was in continual service from the early 30s until 2005.

It was originally owed by BHP, Broken Hill P/L a big old Aussie mining company. It was used for the bullion escorts. It was then sold to the Commonwealth Bank and used as a teller's gun. Finally, my mate bought it for his security company and it daily service until he sold the business and bought a gunshop in 2005. I have shot it with a batch of old Canadian ammo (probably would have been better off selling them to a collector. It shot ok, but the trigger is inclined to stack or load up before release. I must drag it out and get it sorted. I have bought some new Winchester brass and have a mould from a group buy. Sweet little gun, seen a lot of service.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Handguns/ColtPolicePositive38SW8.jpg

Thats not a big booger on top of the grip, it is scolloped out.

Those chamber walls are thin!

[9.3X62AL]

[QUOTE=Four Fingers of Death;1398141 Those chamber walls are thin! [/QUOTE]

True that, intrepid handloading isn't in the cards with these little jewels. That example is in remarkably good condition considering all its time in service. It got good care, for certain.

[Four Fingers of Death]

True that, intrepid handloading isn't in the cards with these little jewels. That example is in remarkably good condition considering all its time in service. It got good care, for certain.

Yep, thats 70+ years of daily use! My mate offered to refinish it and rust blue it, but it's scars were all earned honourably, so I will leave it as is.

[Multigunner]

32-20 bores in Colt revolvers are very forgiving when it comes to loading and shooting cast boolits. I have 4 Colts in 32-20, the newest is 1922. 2 have ugly bores but they shoot right along side the ones with the purty innerds.

If the .32-20 I looked at had mior pitting through out the bore and that one huge pit I might have considered talking the price down and seeing if it would shoot as is then looked for a replacement barrel or even had one made, but the rest of that pistol being in like new condition with that huge single pit to spoil the bore was just too much to handle. 'd have never been satisfied with it after that especially replacing the barrel because of that one pit and halving its collector status by doing so.

I've seen similar lint pits near the muzzle of pocket or purse pistols. Lint collects near the muzzle and wicks away any preservative oils, then draws moisture.
Bad thing about this fine old Colt is from the position I can only figure the lint was left by a patch. probably from the first and only time it was cleaned of packing grease after being bought.

One day if my financial situation improves I'll look for another Police Positive in .32-20. If I find one these days it would likely be three times the cost and no where near as pretty, but I have better luck with pistols that show their age than with cherrys.

[Four Fingers of Death]

If the .32-20 I looked at had mior pitting through out the bore and that one huge pit I might have considered talking the price down and seeing if it would shoot as is then looked for a replacement barrel or even had one made, but the rest of that pistol being in like new condition with that huge single pit to spoil the bore was just too much to handle. 'd have never been satisfied with it after that especially replacing the barrel because of that one pit and halving its collector status by doing so.

I've seen similar lint pits near the muzzle of pocket or purse pistols. Lint collects near the muzzle and wicks away any preservative oils, then draws moisture.
Bad thing about this fine old Colt is from the position I can only figure the lint was left by a patch. probably from the first and only time it was cleaned of packing grease after being bought.

One day if my financial situation improves I'll look for another Police Positive in .32-20. If I find one these days it would likely be three times the cost and no where near as pretty, but I have better luck with pistols that show their age than with cherrys.

You could re-barrel it carefully and retain the original barrel with the gun. That way, if your circumstances change (or you find a better one, you would be able to return it to it's original condiiton.

Alternately you could possibly have the chambers and barrel bored/reamed to 38S&W. I dont know if thats possible though, as I am not an expert on the 32/20 (or any others in fact, :( )

An old shooting mate of mine had an old single action in beautiful condition in 32/20. He had a stroke and sold all of his guns off. I dearly wanted the Colt to remember him by, but I couldn't afford it. I did end up with a double barrel hammer gun made by Bonehill, which is in excellent condition.

[9.3X62AL]

The general rule on the Police Positive-series Colts was that 32-20 and 38 Special examples were put up on frames with a longer frame window and cylinder (by roughly 1/4") than were examples in 32 Colt/32 S&W Long (or New Police)/38 S&W. These longer-frame examples were called Police Positive Specials, while the shorter-window examples were simply Police Positives (or Pocket Positives, if WAY early).

[Four Fingers of Death]

The general rule on the Police Positive-series Colts was that 32-20 and 38 Special examples were put up on frames with a longer frame window and cylinder (by roughly 1/4") than were examples in 32 Colt/32 S&W Long (or New Police)/38 S&W. These longer-frame examples were called Police Positive Specials, while the shorter-window examples were simply Police Positives (or Pocket Positives, if WAY early).

So a re-bore tp 38 Special would be a better option. Probably easier to shoot as is and put extra elbox grease into the cleaning (I'm thinking that the PoPo would fit into a decent sized ultrasonic cleaner. Would they remove leading? Probably not, that makes it too easy and that road rarely works.