Colt Officers Match Questions

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ir3e971

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I purchased a Colt Officers Match. It has a wonderful trigger, and has been refinished in a Matte blue at some point.

Suspect his may have been a target pistol of someones, and I have not gotten to shoot it yet. I looked it up on proofhouse, and it was manufactured in 62. I don't know much about Colts, the only other one I have is the Official Police it is pictured with below. All my other revolvers have been SW.

The price seemed reasonable for a refinished gun. Probably would not have purchased one for the additional cost of an untouched model.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions:

First - Was Matte blue ever an original Colt finish, or was this likely applied at a local gunsmith?

Second - The trigger has been polished smooth. Was this a common modification for a target gun, or just someone loose with a piece of emery cloth?

Thanks for the time.

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While I really can't be of much help as far as an answer to your questions, I would like to compliment you on a nice pair of some of the finest revolvers ever made.
 
Nice looking Colts. I'd post a picture of mine, but don't know how.

My much older (1926?) series two officers model (it was given to me) has a DA trigger that is smooth as silk, and a SA trigger that is like my 700BDL rifle. Very crisp and light. Breaks sharp with almost no creep.

My finish is original, and it is high gloss blue. This was a hand down from my FIL, it was given to him by the original owner's son, a NY city police officer.
 
I doubt any Officer Model was offered in matte ,most were a perfect blue.
You are the proud owner of a poor mans Python, their ain't many that can match the quality of an Officers Model.

I own a OM Target 4" 38 S&W Special that is in poor exterior condition as it was left in a holster to rust, plus it has plenty of pits, I'm thinking about refinishing mine. But man what a shooter, bore is perfect along with the buttery smooth double action and crisp no creep "break like glass" single action let off.

Old Fluff can give you the rundown on your new addition. Hell be by in a few.
 
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Probably was a polished blue finish when it left the factory. My Colts have either grooved or checkered triggers.

These early Colts were bored a bit tighter than were the Smiths and tended to shoot lead bullets a little better. Back in the days of the "Bullseye" matches the various Colt target models ruled the roost.

I like the early I frame target model Colts and have several.


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One of the best guns ever made

I have a 1956 Officer's model match in .38spl. The gun has a beautiful blue on it, and for a gun that is 55 years old, it's in excellent condition.

I was given the gun by a retiring cop about 30 years ago, and is by far my most prized pistol, not because of it's dollar value, but because of how it performs, and that it was made in the same year I was born.

I was told by it's former owner that the gun had been accurized, and I have no reason to doubt it. At 20 yards, off-hand, standing, single action, I can group 3-4", and rested, 2". The SA trigger pull is under 2lbs and has no creep, just a clean break. In DA, it has a smooth pull, with an audible click just before the break.

I have no idea how many rounds it had through it before I got it, but I personally put about 7000-7500 rounds through it since.

This is the gun I would rely on in a dire situation ( like a doomsday, zombie invasion :D ).

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Beautiful revolver, Dudemeister. The Officers Match (and the Officers Special) were premiere Bullseye target revolvers in their day, the only real competitor to the "throne" being the equally splendid Smith & Wesson K-38 Masterpiece (Model 14). I'm not sure how somebody could "accurize" already darn near perfect revolvers that had fine trigger pulls and sights straight from the factory. I can see how some shooters might want to personalize a revolver to accomodate their own individual needs/wants but to increase the intrinsic accuracy of a typical Officers Match from the factory seems to me to be a bit of reach.

I also agree with some others in this thread that a matte blue finish, as opposed to a highly polished blue job, from the factory seems unlikely.
 
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