Colt Army revolver

[Fat Boy]

I am looking at a Colt revolver- on the side of the barrel is stamped "Colt Army Special" and the number "38" On top is the manufacturing information, and I believe the patent year is 1905, or 1906? 4" blue steel barrel, with Colt logo grips, probably aftermarket, given their condition

Serial number begins 417xxx

After some research, I believe this gun was manufactured somewhere around 1916/1917 (Proofhouse.com)-

The gun is tight, the action locks up nicely, and it appears to check out satisfactorily.

I have read various opinions about this gun and what it will safely shoot. My goal is to get a serviceable revolver, that can be used primarily as a shooter- no safe queens.

I read a post on my search from Old Fuff, talking about how Colt changed in around 1908 from the 38 Colt round to the 38 special round for this gun. (I believe I have that correct; if not, I apologize in advance- I have no intention of incorrectly quoting anyone-especially someone as helpful as he is) Since this gun was built around 1916/1917 (assuming proofhouse.com is correct) and the word special and the number 38 are on the side of the barrel, can it safely fire .38 special rounds, assuming good condition and lock up? I would not fire any +p rounds in this gun.

If it cannot fire .38 special, would it be safe to fire the currently available .38 colt long rounds, from say Goex, or other modern producers of the round?

Thanks!

 

[dfariswheel]

The Army Special was Colt's first double action revolver specifically made to shoot the .38 Special.

I'd recommend shooting standard .38 Special ammo.

417XXX was made in 1916.
At that time, the gun left the factory with hard black "Gutta Percha" rubber grips with molded in checkering and Colt logos.
Since the army never bought the Army Special, in 1927 Colt renamed the gun the Official Police and made it virtually unchanged until 1969.
The Army Special was the base gun that Colt made all medium frame revolvers on up to the Python.

 

[Old Fuff]

And while it doesn't really matter, I fully agree with what dfariswheel just said. While Colt did chamber some late production Model 1892 New Army/Navy revolvers in .38 Special, the Army Special revolver was the first one they made that was intended to use that cartridge. One plus was that an owner of an Army Special could use both .38 Long Colt or .38 Special ammunition in their revolver.

 

[evan price]

Colt's Army Special was also available in 32-20 and some in 41 Colt. Yours is indeed chambered for 38 Special.

These revolvers will do fine with any .38 special ammo currently on the market. When these guns were built, the .38 Special ammo was a lot closer to what we today call 38+P. That said, I would avoid shooting +P ammo in it because it's an old gun and there's no reason to beat it up.

I find that my Army Specials like a medium velocity 158-grain lead semi wadcutter. I load to midrange Cowboy loads which gets me an advertised velocity of about 865 fps and around 13,500 pressure.

These guns use the leaf spring mechanism, and you'll find it should be well broken in and have a nice trigger. If you want speedloaders, I find the HKS MkIII speedloader for the Trooper model fits my Army Specials just fine.