[TMann]

Just picked this little guy up from a local gun shop. The finish on the gun is immaculate...which makes me think that it was probably refinished. Also, the grips, which are obviously not stock, are a little on the large size for a possible carry gun. I'll have to look into getting those swapped out at some point. When dry firing, the cylinder locks up REALLY tight. I've never owned/shot a Colt revolver before, so maybe that's par for the course. Still, it makes my S&W 442 feel kind of sloppy by comparison. :D

All in all, I'm pretty pleased. I had been looking for a Colt DA/Agent/Cobra for a while, and I was happy to find one locally for a very reasonable price.

TMann

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/TRM2005/P9280076.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/TRM2005/P9280075.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/TRM2005/P9280077.jpg

[RevolvingGarbage]

Very nice!

Do you think you could post a pic of the D.S and 442 side by side for a size comparison? I have a 6 shot .38 with the same frame size and barrel length and Im curious if the J frame is really much smaller (as in, would the purchase of a J frame for extra concealability be justified when I already have a 6 round snubby?).

[Dr.Rob]

Nice find! You'll have to tell us how it shoots!

[Evnldr]

My father has a Diamond back... They are Sweet Nice Gun

[MMCSRET]

I own a twin to your DS, mine has never been refinished and is the same as yours. The lettering is sharp and the color is identical, I conclude that yours is original. I have several different revolvers in the same class as the DS, but the DS is the finest in every way. Mine prefers and functions best with 125 gr. bullets. I load my own so I don't know about expensive, store bought ammunition. Good carrying and shooting!!!

[Texas Colt]

TMann, congratulations on a great find. As MMCSRET said, the finish on your DS looks original. I have owned several in that same condition.

As you said, the lockup on the Colt is tight. That is how it should be.

You should be able to find a set of factory grips on GunBroker or possibly from Numrich (www.gunpartscorp.com). You should also consider either Eagle or Badger boot grips. Both offer excellent concealability. I am personally partial to Badger grips, as I have dealt with Jim Badger on many occasions and he is a great guy to work with.

Enjoy your Colt. Just be careful, they tend to multiply :)

[TMann]

RevolvingGarbage: I'll try to take a photo of the two guns tonight. My impression of the two gun is that the 442 feels a lot smaller because a) it is quite a bit lighter, and b) the grips on the Smith are a lot smaller than the ones on the Colt.

MMCSRET and Texas Colt: Thanks for the input on the gun's finish. The finish is in such good shape that I assumed that it couldn't be original. But maybe I just got lucky. :D Unfortunately, that leads me to the question of whether I want to be using this Colt as a carry gun and risk marring the finish. I usually carry my 442 in a pocket holster, but I had envisioned getting a nice IWB for the Colt. Hmm. I'll have to think about that one.

TMann

[pogo2]

RevolvingGarbage asked:

Do you think you could post a pic of the D.S and 442 side by side for a size comparison? I have a 6 shot .38 with the same frame size and barrel length and Im curious if the J frame is really much smaller (as in, would the purchase of a J frame for extra concealability be justified when I already have a 6 round snubby?).

Here is my Detective Special next to my J frame model 36, which is the same size as a 442. Note that the J frame has 2 finger boot grips while the Colt has 3 finger Hogue grips, which makes the Colt look bigger. In actual fact the Colt is slightly larger, but not much.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/pogo2/ColtDSandSW36.jpg

[doc540]

congrats

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Colt%20Detective%20Special/ds4-2.jpg

[Cosmoline]

That doesn't look like a reblue to me. It's a later generation of DS's with the ejector rod shroud so it may have just been sitting in a box. Check your SN to find the date of manufacture. It's probably younger than you're thinking.

For a more compact grip go with factory plus a Tyler T-Grip.

[tackleberi]

Also, for a more compact grip, Craig Spegel made a run of grips for the Colt DS recently...

[doc540]

good to hear about the Spegel's!

He was many months out when I tried to order, so I went with Badger's.

[hushnel]

Nice one, I picked up this older Colt a few years ago. It is used but in great shape.

http://inlinethumb33.webshots.com/42720/2495085770033885154S600x600Q85.jpg

[tackleberi]

Here's my wife's Colt DS with a set of 2009 Spegels (from the most recent run, Bolivian rosewood):
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh301/tackleberi/IMG_1828.jpg

Mine with 1998 Spegels:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh301/tackleberi/IMG_0734.jpg

To the OP, it might be worth it to check in with Craig to see if he still has any grips lying about...

[GunTech]

Love that Dick special. You got a nice one. Here's mine after many years if carry and a newly added shroud.

http://guntech.com/revolver/dick_special.jpg

[TMann]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess that I'm going to start keeping my eyes open for a nice IWB holster and a set of new grips.

I took a couple of photos this evening of my DS and my 442. I superimposed the two pics on top of each other, using the lines on the counter as reference points. The 442 is pictured as a black silhouette, while the DS is pictured as the white silhouette. I tried to line up the triggers on top of each other.

As you can see from the pics the Detective Special is slightly taller and longer than the 442, and the hammer sits much higher than the covered hammer of the 442. However, if one were to put similar stocks on the two guns, the overall dimensions would be similar.

So after looking at this picture, I am starting to think that an Agent or Cobra with a bobbed hammer would make a very nice, 6-shot pocket gun. Hmm. It might be time to start browsing at my local gun shops...

TMann

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/TRM2005/Revolvers.jpg

[Glock Holiday]

Lag induced double tap see below my Colt wheelgun friends.

[Glock Holiday]

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x42/Glockholiday/Colt2-1.jpg
After being a S&W guy all my life I know how they open your eyes...
Congratulations. Actions so smooth.
I love mine even if the cylinder spins backwards..

[Texas Colt]

Hey Glock Holiday, the Colt cylinder spins the right way :)

[Cosmoline]

The shroud looks much classier on a Colt than a bob IMHO.

[Guillermo]

I have one of those. My favorite carry gun.

[TMann]

The shroud looks much classier on a Colt than a bob IMHO.

I was just thinking the opposite thing. I like the bobbed hammers. I'm not so hot on the shrouds.

To each their own, I guess. :D

TMann

[Guillermo]

I love the look of the old pencil barrel but the exposed ejector seems vulnerable to me. I see no need for a bobbed hammer and am interested in putting a real hammer on my 36 (or trading it for a Colt)

[Old Fuff]

I love the look of the old pencil barrel but the exposed ejector seems vulnerable to me.

After checking the chambers to be sure they are unloaded, look at the ejector rod from the front and see if you can find a way to hit the rod without the barrel blocking the blow... :scrutiny:

[Cosmoline]

Well one option is to get a hammer as a part (they show up on Gunbroker) and bob it, then with some fitting you can have the same revolver both bobbed and with the spur.

[MR_A]

I have been carring one since 1982, I like the older s&w but i love my colt carried the trooper iii and v and a phython during my ploice years, you got a fine revolver. Simply rugged makes great cc holster for you colt.

[Guillermo]

see if you can find a way to hit the rod without the barrel blocking the blow

While recognizing the that disagreeing with Old Fuff is a perilous venture, the vulnerability seems to be from below. For instance, shooting over the hood of a vehicle.

[David E]

After checking the chambers to be sure they are unloaded, look at the ejector rod from the front and see if you can find a way to hit the rod without the barrel blocking the blow...

How about straight up from 6 o'clock?

If the ejector rod never bent, they wouldn't have come up with the new design to protect the ejector rod.

[Old Fuff]

How about straight up from 6 o'clock?

Not likely. The ejector rod head will strike the bottom of the barrel before the rod can move far enough to take a set. if the revolver is dropped the ejector rod is unlikely to be hit because the more likely contact points would be the edge of the barrel's muzzle, and the corner of the frame just below the crane.

They added the shroud and increased the diameter of the barrel, while adding a rib and lowering the front sight; because this particular style had become popular on other conpetitors' models, and also some potential customers did worry about bending the ejector rod, although in fact this seldom happened, and usually when it did it occured while the cylinder was unlatched and open.

[Guillermo]

Just last week I was hiding behind a lowered 1952 Studebaker pick up truck shooting at a velociraptor that was chasing the Taco Bell Chihuahua with my Colt Anaconda. Bringing the gun out of recoil I banged the bottom of the gun on the sheet metal scratching the stainless finish (but interestingly not the truck). I was very happy to have the underlug.

BTW, the Chihuahua didn’t make it but the taxidermist is making me a really cool wall hanging!

[Old Fuff]

For instance, shooting over the hood of a vehicle.

So where does the blow come from? Usually if one is shooting over a hood they will rest their hands on the hood. If they are going to rest the gun it will either be on the butt, or the bottom of the trigger guard. It's sort of difficult to rest the barrel without the trigger guard getting in the way.

If you do rest the barrel on something, that "something" itself will get in the way of a blow.

[Publius1688]

Great job on the Colt!

[Cosmoline]

Let's be honest, the bent rods are from smacking suspects around.

http://images.blu-ray.com/reviews/1546_4.jpg

[Guillermo]

:eek:
Just how did that rod get bent?
:barf:

[David E]

They added the shroud and increased the diameter of the barrel, while adding a rib and lowering the front sight; because this particular style had become popular on other conpetitors' models,

Like who? The DS was the direct competitor to the S&W J-frame and even today, many of their models do not enclose the ejector rod.

I do agree, tho, that most of the rods were bent when the cylinder was out.

[Old Fuff]

Like who? The DS was the direct competitor to the S&W J-frame and even today, many of their models do not enclose the ejector rod.

Well Smith & Wesson's Model 19 for one. Dan Wesson revolvers were another. Ruger's Security Six had a shroud of sorts.

The main source of bent ejector rod stories came from pre-World War Two S&W advertising, and Colt was ready to finely put that issue completely to rest.

Smith and Wesson didn't enclose the ejector rod in an extended underlug until they introduced the famous New Century or Triple Lock .44 in 1908. They had to do this because some of the parts that operated the 3rd. lock on the yoke were housed in the underlug. On later models they dropped the 3rd. lock but kept the underlug.

During World War One the British ask S&W to eliminate the underlug because trench mud and such was getting into it and causing the revolvers to hang up.

Colt's advertising never failed to mention this and point out that they're revolvers hadn't suffered any such problems. :evil:

[Jim K]

The S&W ejector rod is tubular and is also supported in the closed position; the result is a lot harder to bend than Colt's unsupported ejector rod.

While S&W used that as a sales point, the only Colt ejector rod I actually saw bent was on a gun that had somehow encountered the head of a man who was actively resisting arrest. Colt salesmen countered the "bent rod" claim by showing that if the gun were rapped hard enough on the butt, the empty cases would be ejected without using the ejector.

Jim

[egagne2]

I am new to guns - not owning one, but firing and caring for one. I purchased three of them in Texas when I was immigrating to Canada in 1977. (At the time you could not purchase a gun in Canada. Don't know the rules now since I've been back in the States since 1981.) I kept one of the guns I purchased - a colt agent and never fired it. Right now I have empty shells in it to learn how to load and unload it. I don't want to fire it until I decide if that is the gun I want to conceal carry. If it is worth more to sell it and purchase another gun, that is what I will do. Any ideas???

[David E]

Smith & Wesson's Model 19 for one. Dan Wesson revolvers were another. Ruger's Security Six had a shroud of sorts.

All of these are/were larger than the Colt DS, so again, not in direct competition with each other.

The 2.5" Model 19, tho, became "the" gun to have in the 70's.

[Old Fuff]

Colt planed to go to shrouded/heavy underlugs on all of their double-action revolvers after the late 1960's. This included all of the D-frame guns including the Viper and Police Positive Special. The only revolvers with this feature in earlier models were the Diamondback and Python.

Recently Colt auctioned off their Archival Collection going back to the 1930’s. It contained such things as prototypes, concept and patent models, selected samples of all of they’re production models that were kept for reference, and special issue/commemorative samples.

If one reviewed the auction catalog (which the Old Fuff did) Colt’s engineering, sales and management ideas and directions were clearly revealed. One of them was obviously to up-date the appearance of the D-frame line to make it look more contemporary in respect to what competitors were doing. They also understood the unease that some had concerning the "unprotected" ejector rod, and decided to end that issue altogether on all remaining models, not just the snubbies.

[Guillermo]

I am looking at my I frame smith and my daughter's 19 and would not describe either one as being unsupported. They both have a support on the front where the front of the knurled knob snaps into.

Hey, obviously we are picking nits. I would love to have an original DS. After all, the chances of another velociraptor is pretty slim. And if the terradactyls come back, the lighter muzzle will be great for aerial shooting.

[David E]

The DS was/is a gem of a gun. Too bad they don't make it anymore.

[TMann]

UPDATE: Well, after a week or so of owning this gun, I decided that I really didn't like the grips that much. Actually, what I didn't like was the size of the grips. They were too large for such a short barrelled gun. So like many guns owners that have more enthusiasm than brains, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I spent a few hours this evening cutting, sanding and shaping the grips into a size that worked better for me. I like 'em a lot better now. The bottoms will need another coat of tung oil, but they're otherwise finished.

Next order of business will be to order a nice belt holster for this little guy...

TMann

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/TRM2005/ColtDS_Grips.jpg

[Old Fuff]

Looks like you did a good job, and it always makes sense to either alter or replace stocks that "don't work for you."

As for refinishing; it looks like they are made from laminated rosewood, and if that’s the case simply go over the area you worked on with finer grades of wet/dry sandpaper until you get a surface that matches the rest of the stocks.

Oil finishes won’t penetrate into the wood, and in a short time look awful.

[The Lone Haranguer]

Those are - in the new parlance - mad woodworking ski11z. :)

[whforbes]

That's a real beauty. The grips look awesome! Good job.

[MrFox]

I would suggest one of Simply Rugged's Silverdollar belt holsters. I recently got mine, and it is fantastic. Turn around time was very short too (one week).

[SGTB802]

i have a cobra and a dick love them both nice find

[Billy Shears]

When dry firing, the cylinder locks up REALLY tight. I've never owned/shot a Colt revolver before, so maybe that's par for the course. Still, it makes my S&W 442 feel kind of sloppy by comparison.
It is par for the course for Colt revolvers, and it's part of why they've always been so popular with bullseye shooters. Colt's lockwork is different from anyone else's, and uses the hand and the bolt to hold the cylinder perfectly still when the gun fires, and there should be absolutely no movement whatsoever when the trigger is held back. Be aware, however, that to achieve this the hand - which is the easiest part to replace - will take the majority of the wear, and is expected to be changed when wear exceeds a specific point. This is where Colt's get their reputation for being "delicate" and going out of time easily. They don't really, but the hand will have to be changed more often than on other revolvers -- this is just considered normal maintenance for the Colt, and is the price you pay for that bank vault lockup. If this maintenance is not carried out as often as it is supposed to be, then you will start to have problems. A lot of shooters over the years have not kept up with this maintenance the way they should, and then the cylinder starts to show some play -- but since even in this state it is showing no more play than an S&W does normally, a lot of owners don't think anything is wrong, and keep right on shooting with the revolver now out of spec. And then it does start to show excessive wear, and is more expensive to fix, and people come to the conclusion that Colt's are "delicate."

Once again, they're not, as long as you perform the necessary preventive maintenance. As long as you do, they'll digest thousands of rounds and outlive you.

As for the ejector rod bending, gunsmith Grant Cunningham (who specializes in revolvers, and in Colt revolvers in particular) has this to say:

A common complaint about the old-style Colt Detective Special is the unshrouded ejector rod. Many people believe that the exposed ejector rod is a liability; should it get bent during a struggle, the theory goes, it will tie up the gun and make it inoperable.

Not quite.

Many folks have experienced this problem with a Smith & Wesson. Since their ejector rods are locked at the front and rotate about the front latch pin, any small amount of runout (deviation from true) will impose an inordinate amount of friction to the system. This usually manifests itself as an action that locks up, being completely useless in double action (and often in single action as well.)

The unshrouded Colts, however, are a different matter. Since the ejector rod doesn't have any function other than the ejection of spent casings, even a large amount of runout has no effect on the action. In fact, you would have to bend the ejector rod to the point that it actually hits the underside of the barrel before you would encounter a problem! Because of the plasticity of steel, about the only way you could do that would be on purpose, with the cylinder open - I honestly cannot conceive of any accidental way to get it into such a sorry state.

I would be remiss if I didn't address the effect of small bends on the ejection process; a relatively modest bend in a Colt ejector rod can cause the ejector to stick in the cylinder, so that the ratchet (ejector star) is stuck in the extended position. This isn't as much of a problem as you might think - just shove the ratchet back into the cylinder and the gun is usually ready to be reloaded.

Every gun has strong and weak points in its design, but in the case of the unshrouded Colts the exposed ejector isn't one of them!

So not only is the unshrouded ejector rod not a problem on the older Colt's, it actually can be a problem on Smith & Wessons, since even a slight bend may interfere with the front lockup the S&W system uses.

[Tinman357]

Picked up a DS in pristine condition a few months ago. Love the way it shoots but the trigger took a bit of getting used to. Absolutely hated the stock grips so I put in a call to Jim Badger today to resolve the issue.. I have several of his grips on my revolvers and I consider them to be the best made and best fitting grips on the market. :neener:

Range report and pics as soon as they come in.

To the OP: The finish on yours is original. Purdy, ain't it? :D

[Ky Larry]

I used to have a Dick Special. Then my wife decided it was just perfect for her to C.C. She still let me clean it.

[doc540]

Nice work on the grips. They look a little bit "thick" on the butt for my concealed carry purposes, but might be perfect for yours.

fwiw: Jim Badger will custom shape a set of his grips and still only charge the standard, $69.95, price. Can't beat it with a stick.

He cut the upper area to clear speedloaders on this set:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Colt%20Agent/DSCN0660-1.jpg

And narrowed these:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/doc540/Guns/Cobra/ColtCobra008-1.jpg