Colt .32 Long Police Positive: Thoughts?

Its probably actually chambered for .32 Colt New Police, which, IIRC, used a slightly heavier bullet than the .32 S&WL, but is otherwise identical. I never got very good accuracy out of mine shooting the S&W cartridge- but then I could only ever find a few boxes of old Remington stuff, so it could have just been that one load it didn't care for.

Otherwise, it was a great little gun, but do a thorough timing/endshake check as with any old revolver.

Need pics when you get it.

That is one thing I was told about my police positive when I got it, watch the timing, and don't load it hot.

About all I have.

Didn't the Police Positive come in .32/20 also?

I seem to recall one like that at the LGS years ago.
I fell in love with that gun. Those are the most beautiful revolvers I ever laid eyes on.
It's a shame I'll never own one .

(All I'll ever own is Smith and Wesson - Colt has a different configuration that makes you pull instead of push. I was taught that small seemingly trivial things like that can get you hurt when you are under extreme stress.)

I love those old Colts.

Looked at an Official Police .38, at a pawn shop last week. Had been .32, it would have come home with me.

.32-20 is a huge want, .32NP would be acceptable.

Nice find, hope you enjoy it.

Hal said:

Didn't the Police Positive come in .32/20 also?

I seem to recall one like that at the LGS years ago.
I fell in love with that gun. Those are the most beautiful revolvers I ever laid eyes on.
It's a shame I'll never own one .

(All I'll ever own is Smith and Wesson - Colt has a different configuration that makes you pull instead of push. I was taught that small seemingly trivial things like that can get you hurt when you are under extreme stress.)

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Why limit yourself like that? I understand that for defensive use but why not for the range.

Hal said:

Didn't the Police Positive come in .32/20 also?

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The Police Positive Special came in .32-20 as well as .38 Special.
The original Police Positive had a shorter cylinder for .32 and .38 Colt, then .32 and .38 New Police/Police Positive on the S&W brass.

After the Police Positive was discontinued, Colt made some Police Positive Specials and Detective Specials with the .32 NP in the longer cylinder to fill what demand remained.

The "Positive" part of the name comes from the Colt Positive Safety System with hammer block, predating S&W's design.
The Army Special/Official Police and New Service got the Positive Safety action, too; but Colt did not add that to the model names.

If it checks out timing wise go for it! Hard to make a revolver go bad from the pressure of a .32 unless hand loaded hot, factory ammo has always been fairly mild. But use and possible abuse over the last 80-100 years can take its toll. I recently handled a Pocket Positive that was tight as a bank vault but the barrel was roached from poor storage. I can only assume it was shot and put away dirty for a few decades as a lot of these guns are. One is on my list but it’s one of those things I have to handle first and give a good check. Best of luck they are nice little guns and fun to shoot in .32 Long.

Hal said:

Didn't the Police Positive come in .32/20 also?

I seem to recall one like that at the LGS years ago.
I fell in love with that gun. Those are the most beautiful revolvers I ever laid eyes on.
It's a shame I'll never own one .

(All I'll ever own is Smith and Wesson - Colt has a different configuration that makes you pull instead of push. I was taught that small seemingly trivial things like that can get you hurt when you are under extreme stress.)

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The police positive only came in .22 LR, .32 S&W Long and .38 S&W. These all stopped at the end of WWII. A slightly larger pistol the Police Positive Special was made in .38 Special and .32-20. The .32-20 production stopped after WWII , but the .38 Specials kept right on into the '80's

I forgot the .22 Police Positive.
My boss had a Police Positive Target in .22 WRF. I figure his nephew inherited it, split some .22 LRs, and shelved it.
They made some Cobras in .22 LR, too; just a Police Positive Special with aluminum frame.

Howdy

Although I am very familiar with Smith and Wesson frame sizes, I am not as familiar with the name of Colt frame sizes.

However I can tell you this: Colt Police Positive Specials have a slightly longer cylinder and frame than standard Police Positives. That is because the standard Police Positive was chambered for the 38 S&W round, while the Police Positive Specials had a slightly longer cylinder and frame to accommodate the longer 38 Special round. And the only Police Positive that was chambered for 32-20 was also built with the same longer cylinder and frame as the 38 caliber Police Positive Specials.

Except for the small 22 Rimfire Police Positive Target model on the right, these are all Police Positive Specials. The revolver in the center of the photo is a 32-20 Police Positive Special






As I said, I am not familiar with the names of Colt frame sizes, but the Colt Detective Special was built on the same frame and had the same cylinder length as a Police Positive Special. In this photo, a Police Positive Special chambered for 38 Special is at the top, Colt Detective Special, also chambered for 38 Special is in the center, and a Smith and Wesson, J frame Model 36, the Chiefs Special is at the bottom. The Smith is also chambered for 38 Special, but the J frame is not large enough for a six chamber 38 caliber cylinder, so the Smith is a five shot revolver.






As far as I know, the standard Police Positive and the Police Positive Special were never chambered for 32 S&W Long. This is Police Positive 32. It is chambered for 32 S&W Long, or 32 Colt New Police.






This photo shows the comparative sizes of several Colt double action revolvers. The largest is a Army Special. Later, the name of this revolver was changed to Official Police, but they are one and the same, chambered for 38 Special. Next down is a Police Positive Special, also chambered for 38 Special. The smaller framed revolver at the bottom right is the Police Positive 32 pictured in the photo above. The really tiny revolver is a Pocket Positive, chambered for an obsolete 32 Short Colt round.






The 32 Colt New Police round is/was almost identical to the 32 S&W Long, the only difference being the Colt round had a 100 grain bullet with a flat nosed bullet, the S&W round has a 98 grain round nosed bullet. Otherwise they are the same. Just corporate rivalry about using the other guy's name.

Barbaroja said:

Why limit yourself like that? I understand that for defensive use but why not for the range.

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The range is still a part of shooting and practice and may interfere with habit/muscle memory or whatever.you want to call it.

Jim - thanks for that clarification about the PP Special.

The ultimate reason is that it worked for Paul Kersey!

wcwhitey said:

The ultimate reason is that it worked for Paul Kersey!

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Paul Kersy's 32 caliber Pocket Positive.

Hate to disagree, grip frame is too large. That’s a square butt frame. Police Positive .32

I have a Police Positive in .38 and it is a quality revolver. The blueing is worn but, the trigger pull is still great and it is actually very accurate.

As noted they are a small gun and not really something I shoot very often and only a few rounds at a time when brought to the range. It would make a great carry gun other than the fact I'm not going to put any more wear and tear on mine.

I love my Police Positive Special in 32 CNP. Such a sweet little revolver. Can never have too many colts or 32s!

Pictured next to a very well worn Shooting Master 38.

I own a 38 S&W (not Special) Colt PP that I received from my mother in law. Gorgeous firearm. Actually they look great in nickel and blued as long as they are in decent shape. The one I got is nickel and it shined up well with Flitz and a soft cloth. There are lots of listings for 32 S&W long on ammoseek but you will be paying about 43 cents per round and up. Not a bad price if you don't plan to shoot it much. Old rounds like 32 S&W Long and 38 S&W are loaded slow compared to something "modern" like 9mm. So they aren't really comparable to self defense weapons, but should work okay if you carried them as a defensive firearm.

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/32sw-long

Advice for when you get it: clean it and inspect it for major issues like missing parts or timing. And then go shopping for more ammo.

wcwhitey said:

Hate to disagree, grip frame is too large. That’s a square butt frame. Police Positive .32

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Here is a photo of 'Paul' holding his revolver.






It sure looks to me to be the same as my little 32 Police Positive.

Howdy Again

I did a little bit more research on Colt Police Positives.

As has been mentioned already, Colt called them 'positives' because the "positive lock" was patented in 1905. This was a hammer block that prevented the revolver from being accidentally discharged from a blow to the hammer. The trigger had to be pulled to disengage the hammer block.

The hammer block rode in a slot in the frame. In this photo of a 32-20 Police Positive Special, the hammer block is in its normal position, between the hammer and the frame.






In this photo, the hammer has been cocked, and the hammer block has been pulled down in its slot, so the hammer can fall and fire a cartridge.






The first of the Police Positive revolvers was the Pocket Positive, manufactured from 1905 until 1945. This particular one shipped in 1917. The hard rubber grips are typical of Colts made at that time.





This is the caliber marking on the 32 Police Positive. CTG stands for cartridge.






Smith and Wesson had introduced the 32 S&W Long cartridge in 1896 along with their 32 Hand Ejector 1st Model. Colt did not want to provide arch rival S&W with free advertising, so they renamed the cartridge 32 Colt New Police, with a 100 grain flat nosed bullet as opposed to the 98 grain round nosed S&W round. This model was offered in several different 32 calibers, but this particular one will chamber 32 Colt New Police at the left, 32 S&W Long in the center, or 32 S&W at the right.






The 32 caliber Colt Police Positive was very popular with police departments, it was small, light weight, and easily concealed with short barrels. Barrel lengths were available between 2 inches and 6 inches long. This particular barrel is 4 inches long.

But it soon became apparent that a revolver chambering a more powerful cartridge was needed.

So around 1907 Colt introduced a larger version of the revolver, chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge. The frame and cylinder of the new revolver were significantly larger than the 32 caliber version.

I do not own a 38 S&W Police Positive, but I have a few Police Positive Specials. For a size comparison, the larger revolver in this photo is a Police Positive Special, chambered for 38 Special. The smaller revolver is the 32 Police Positive.







Sorry it is a little bit out of focus, but this photo tells the whole story, with the smaller 32 cylinder on the left and the larger 38 cylinder on the right.

Driftwood Johnson said:

Here is a photo of 'Paul' holding his revolver.

View attachment 1100474



It sure looks to me to be the same as my little 32 Police Positive.

View attachment 1100475

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Yes a Police Positive, you said Pocket Positive in the first post. I figured it was a typo. All good my friend.

And yes it’s all about Colt not wanting to put S&W on its barrel.

Actually, I have seen that version referred to as the Pocket Positive and the 32 Police Positive.

Driftwood Johnson said:

Actually, I have seen that version referred to as the Pocket Positive and the 32 Police Positive.

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In your first post, last picture you showed all the different models. The Pocket model has a round butt, Police square, same frame but different butt. Bottoms left Pocket Positive, bottom right Police Positive. One in the right is from the movie.

Jim Watson said:

I forgot the .22 Police Positive.
My boss had a Police Positive Target in .22 WRF. I figure his nephew inherited it, split some .22 LRs, and shelved it.
They made some Cobras in .22 LR, too; just a Police Positive Special with aluminum frame.

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I have a nice one in .22WRF, six inch barrel I think, but I've never been able to get good accuracy out of it. When I first got it, I thought it would be the perfect "woods gun" for small game and survival, with a little extra oomph for slightly larger critters or the coup-de-gras. So it was/is a bit disappointing. The one time I took it out with me hunting I shot at a grouse about eight times, missing it each time. However, nice pistol for sure.

My father in law used it to shoot coons, it is a minute-of-coon gun, but she won't shoot minute-0f-grouse. Would probably do okay on rabbit.