Colt Agent- steel frame

[Fat Boy]

I recently acquired a Colt revolver. The barrel has the word "agent" on it but the frame is not an alloy- heavier and a magnet sticks to it

I am curious as to what happened. I guess I could have it lettered but I was wondering if a detective special might have been re-barreled with an agent barrel or some left-over parts were used by Colt at some point.

Any ideas?

Thank you

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I would guess rebarreled.

 

[Old Fuff]

If the revolver is sand-blasted and Parkerized, rather then blued, and has uncheckered wood or molded black rubber stocks, I suspect that the revolver may be original. Barrels were marked relative to models, but frames weren't, and during hard times some strange combinations came out of Hartford.

Post the serial number, using xx for the last two numbers. It's located on the frame, behind the crane cutout, and below the barrel. Swing out the cylinder to see it.

 

[silicosys4]

I have a colt with an agent barrel and a blued steel frame.
The frame is polished, not parkerized, and the serial numbers put it as a detective special frame.
I suspect your serial numbers will put it outside of the Agent line as well,
I have researched mine a bit, and everything i've found indicates a rebarrel.
One of these days I might send for a factory letter, but not until I find some indication a small amount of agents left the factory with parts-bin steel frames.

 

[SwampWolf]

An interesting question. As far as I know, all Colt Agent revolvers came with an alloy frame and most, if not all, with the short grip frame. I agree that a rebarreled Detective Special seems to be the most plausible explanation for your apparent anomaly.

 

[Monac]

I apologize for nitpicking, but wouldn't a good explanation for a steel Agent be somebody who wanted a Detective Special, couldn't get one, but could get a Police Positive and an Agent barrel?

Also, I once heard that a number of Colt Agents got turned into Colt Vipers when Colt surplussed out some Viper barrels, because a Viper was worth more to collectors than an Agent was to shooters. That would also account for a supply of spare Agent barrels.

 

[silicosys4]

I apologize for nitpicking, but wouldn't a good explanation for a steel Agent be somebody who wanted a Detective Special, couldn't get one, but could get a Police Positive and an Agent barrel?

Also, I once heard that a number of Colt Agents got turned into Colt Vipers when Colt surplussed out some Viper barrels, because a Viper was worth more to collectors than an Agent was to shooters. That would also account for a supply of spare Agent barrels.

Although that would be a possible explanation, my steel "agent" probably wasn't a PP,

If swapped, to properly mimic an agent (steel though) with the polished barrel, the frame had to have come from another steel d frame with a polished bluing and short grip frame. I don't know Colts well enough to know which ones could be a possible donor, but the serial number on mine has a detective special prefix. I think the later PP's had the shortened grip frame too, so that would be a possibility for other steel "agents".

My glimmer of hope that it left the factory in its present condition is the date of manufacture of the frame. If I remember right, its right in there during the time in the 1980's that the Colt polishers were on strike, and the agent barrel is shrouded which also matches that time period.
So there is a chance that Colt just threw together all the extra polished agent barrels onto all the extra polished D frames, (which at that time were all short grip frames i believe) before they moved on to the parkerized production.
I'd have figured there would be something to confirm this if it were true, but I haven't run across anything yet. I don't know if Colt would even bother changing the serial number on a parts bin gun like that to match the series the barrel was marked as, but probably not.

The vipers would be a tricky one, and I wouldn't trust a viper that had a serial number outside the viper range for just that reason. You would probably be able to see a mismatch in the finish too. I don't think the Agent frame was polished as nicely as the Vipers were, and an aluminum anodized frame would be hard to rematch to the Viper barrel if someone were to attempt to refinish to match.

Any info or corrections would be most welcome, my knowledge of Colts is sadly lacking.

 

[DougW]

The Agent I had back in the early 80's was all steel and parkerized. 2" .38 Special, wood grips, sweet pistol. I wish I still had it.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Makes me wonder if Colt cobbled parts together to get them out of the door and improve their cash flow.

 

[bannockburn]

I believe Colt also made a Detective Special in the mid-80s with a matte blued finish and called it the Commando Special. Maybe it's possible somehow that an Agent barrel got used to finish out a production run. Kind of reminds me of somebody my Dad worked with who got a new company car and it had Ford emblems on one side of the car and Mercury emblems on the other!

 

[Fat Boy]

The serial #is b445xx

The gun is polished blue steel with synthetic grips


If I am reading proofhouse.com right that could be a Detective Special frame?

 

[Old Fuff]

The number dates from 1971, in the Police Positive/Detective Special serial number series. The steel frame could have been assembled into a revolver that year, or any time thereafter. It shouldn't have an Agent-marked barrel.

That means an aftermarket barrel switch could have been done later, because the shrouded barrel was introduced in 1973. Or Colt may have still had the frame in stock but was short of Detective Special marked barrels and so substituted an Agent one. But this would have upset the BATF no end because the serial number is supposed to reflect the model. Confusion would have come easy because at Colt the serial number was stamped on the frame, while the model was marked on the barrel.

In 1971 I would have expected checkered wood stocks, but again who knows ? A factory historical letter might tell, but given the serial number they'd look for it as being a Detective Special.

 

[silicosys4]

The serial number on mine is S284xx, which from what I could find is a DS frame made sometime after 1978.

That also puts the frames quiet a few years apart between mine and the OP's, which to me doesn't support the theory that a few parts bin all steel Agents left the factory together at some point.

 

[Old Fuff]

The most probable answer is that someone had a Detective Special with the older "pencil" barrel and wanted one that would enclosed the extractor rod with a shroud.

But "probable" doesn't mean "absolutely certain."

And all of this was going on during a time frame when Colt was having problems. Unfortunately a historical letter, based on shipping records, would only list the length of the barrel, but not the style.

When it come to Colt, most authorities and experienced collectors say, "never say never." Sometimes some strange things happened. The reason could be intentional or not.

Often trying to pin things down become next too, or actually impossible. You can quire the company, but Colt may not know for sure. They might request that the revolver be returned and have a correctly marked barrel installed, but I doubt it. For them, at this time, it's of no concern.

If it doesn't have any mechanical or operational issues, I'd accept it as it is.

 

[coondogger]

I'm pretty sure Colt made an Agent revolver with a steel frame as well.

 

[SwampWolf]

^^^Evidence? I'd be interested in seeing it.