My New-To-Me Colt Detective Special

[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.

 

[Guillermo]

Just how did that rod get bent?

 

[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.

 

[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]

Just now learning about my unfired colt agent purchased in 1977

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

 

[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]

Me too!!

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.

Range report and pics as soon as they come in.

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