New to me police positive special

[Comrade Mike]

Picked this up on Gunbroker on the cheap (200 to my dealer)

From the description the gun sounded like it had a lot of life left in it so I took a gamble. I think This old pony just needs some TLC as you will see in the pictures. Looks like it came out of an evidence locker. I'll have it in hand by the end of the week.

It's been ridden a little hard and looks like had a rough past. In my hands it's going to be put out to pasture as far as hard use is concerned and fed a nice easy diet of 125 grain cast bullets. This is the one and only colt I had any interest in picking up, I hope it gets along with my smiths!

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[dubber123]

An hour or so with some 320 Wet/dry sandpaper and a trip through the blue tanks would do wonders for that one. You'll likely find it shoots closer to the sights with standard velocity 158's. Good score for the money.

[Comrade Mike]

I'll try 158's as well. My model 10 likes the 125's so I figured I'd try those first

[Outpost75]

The Police Positive Special is one of my favorite trail guns using a 148-grain HBWC bullet and 3 to 3.2 grains of Bullseye.
Avoid any use of +P if you want the gun to last. Nice find. Addition of a Tyler-Grip adapter will help. They still make these for the pre-1970 PPs as well as the pre-WW2 ones.

[Char-Gar]

Looks to me it belonged to a Chicago police officer and it has his name and badge number.

[Rick Hodges]

That is the old time method of marking an item into evidence. Before we started taking the grip off and scratching them in inconspicuous places....I never understood why the serial number didn't suffice. You can sit on the stand and look at the weapon and say positively that this is the one I found/took from/ recovered.

[pworley1]

If the timing is still good, you have a great gun.

[Petrol & Powder]

I agree with Rick. Those markings were likely applied by the officer that seized the gun. They were applied for later identification in court. It might have some neat history attached to it and almost certainly was involved in some type of criminal case.
158gr bullets will shoot closer to point of aim and light charges behind 148gr WC make for great field/target loads. I concur that +P loads should be avoided and that a Tyler grip adaptor would be a welcomed addition. Those D-frame Colts make great trail/kit guns due to their lighter weight.

Great find, good luck.

[Comrade Mike]

Don't worry everyone, this gun will be no where near +P loads or j-words.

[Petrol & Powder]

Looks like its missing the knob on the end of the ejector rod but that's an easy fix. The grip panels seem to be in much better shape than the rest of the gun, possibly replacements but they appear to be correct.

Upon closer examination of the markings on the sideplate, those could be departmental inventory markings. Evidence was typically marked with officer's initials only and applied with an expedient scribe, such as a knife point. Those markings are more extensive and include initials, the department abbreviation (CPD) and a number. Either way it's a cool old gun.

[Guesser]

The PPS is my favorite size 32 and 38 caliber revolver. It is the "D" frame, same as the Cobra and Detective Special. You should find that the gun is calibrated to 158 gr. standard pressure 38 Special. How old is it?

[Char-Gar]

We are not so elaborate in Texas. The officer just puts his badge number on the weapon for identification and nothing more. I have never seen one with the officer's initials and department. I guess they do things different up in far Yankee-land.

[Scharfschuetze]

Ought to be great little trail gun. My fixed sight Colt and Smith & Wessons all seem to have been regulated for 158 grain bullets.

In Colorado we used our initials to mark a gun when we logged it into evidence. I always hated doing that when it was a nice specimen.

[Comrade Mike]

My 10-5 likes the 125 grain bullets, they shoot to the sights.

I'll be happy to try the new loading project with the PPS. I did a quick check on the serial number and I believe this is from the late 50ies, early 60ies.

[MtGun44]

Ejector heads are available online for a few bucks. This are good
guns, a shame it is so buggered up.

Check the timing by cocking the hammer VERY slowly by hand and see if the
cylinder lock drops just before the hammer reaches full cock. If it does
not drop when the hammer reaches full cock when done slowly, the hand
is short but this is pretty easy to fix. Look for end shake, too. Often
there is enough to have the front of the cyl touch the back of the barrel.
Shims can fix this.

Unfortunately, good Colt revolver smiths are getting hard to find
these days and they are definitely very different inside from a
S&W, so a Smith&Wesson smith may not be too good with them.

[Outpost75]

Grant Cunningham does good work on Colts.

[John Allen]

I have a couple of old police positives and army specials they are great guns.

[Petrol & Powder]

We are not so elaborate in Texas. The officer just puts his badge number on the weapon for identification and nothing more. I have never seen one with the officer's initials and department. I guess they do things different up in far Yankee-land.

How do you know it's Yankee-land? Lot's of cities and counties have names that start with "C"

Now Char-Gar I'm just poking the bear a little, no offense intended. Those markings could have a lot of different origins.

[cuzinbruce]

Nice gun. I have fired one in 32/20 quite a bit. Only problem I had is that the grip was pretty small for my hands. I put a Tyler T-grip on it and it got somewhat better, but still on the small side.

[rintinglen]

I had 10 small frame Colts at one time, one every caliber except the 22 lr, though I did have one in 22WRF. I love those those things and have to struggle with myself not to buy every one I see for sale. I curently only have two, a 1924 4 inch 38 Special and a 1933 32-20, plus a new model Detective Special and a Cobra.

[FergusonTO35]

Comrade Mike, does your 10-5 have a 4" barrel? I have one from 1967 with the 4" taper barrel. It is spot on with 158's, low with anything more lightweight.

[smkummer]

That Police positive special is pre-1966 with the full grip frame. Some of the later pachmayr stocks can be made to fit if your wanting a fuller grip. I have shot plus P out of mine but not a steady diet as its not the most comfortable with such a small frame. Change the barrel to 2 in. and you have a detective special. I might have bid on it also but stopped after seeing all the extra markings. Good glove box gun and some are amazingly accurate.

[Comrade Mike]

My 10-5 has a 4" tapered barrel and likes the 125's. My 2" model 36 and my 6" 686 both like 158's. I wish my 10 would join the others so I could just buy one bullet weight for my 38's.

I've got a new cylinder latch and a new ejector rod head on the way. Barrel looks like the gun has barely been shot! when I get it out to the range I'll be sure and let everyone know how the old pony does!