Friends old Colt revolver.

[Hardtarget]

My friend has an old Colt, a gift from Dad years ago, and would like to know its approximate age. Here's the info from the gun...
on the barrel-Colt Police .38 barrel is 4.5" - 5" length.
Positive
opened the cylinder- SN#-636xx
O
Not much info. I'm sure it's not .38 special...the cylinder is too short.
I tihnk the "O" is the frame size. My Diamondback shows a "D" at that position.
Thanks in advance for any help you can share on this little gun. It's a cool gun but well past its prime...very little blue, too much rust with pitting, and worst of all...timing problems. The cylinder needs to rotate about 1/16 " more to lock . I suggested no more shooting until that is fixed...but the gun may not be worth the price of repair. I still enjoyed seeing it.
Again, thanksfor your time and intrest.
Mark.

 

[dfariswheel]

Problem is, there were a number of Colt's made in the 1900's that had "Police" as part of the name.
All these guns had serial numbers that shared ranges.

Since you think it's not a .38 Special, it's possibly a Colt Police Positive.

If so, serial number 636xx was made in 1914.
The Police Positive numbers for that year started at 62000 and ended at 71499 by the end of the year.

The Letter "O" is an inspectors mark, not part of the serial.

The Police Positive was made from 1905 to 1947.
It was available in short cartridges like the .32 Colt/S&W, the .38 S&W and other such rounds.
Barrel lengths were normally 2 1/2", 4", 5", and 6".
For a 1914 model, the original grips would be the black, hard rubber "Gutta Percha" grips with moulded in checkering and "COLT" at the top.

The same basic revolver was also made with a 2" barrel and sold as the "Banker's Special".

Because of the age, Colt no longer offers repairs for these guns.

I can recommend:
Pittsburgh Handgun Headquarters
1330 Center Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15229
(412) 766-6100

They do factory-level work, have spare parts, and are one of only three Colt repair sites I will recommend.
Pricing is good, turn-around is good, and level of work is excellent.

 

[Hardtarget]

WOW! That was FAST! Great information...and you described the grips exactly. I hope this gun gets the tlc it deserves but I also hope it'll be retired and a new one is brought in to take over the defense roll. Thanks again for your time and help!
Mark

 

[Jim K]

The .38 Colt Police Positive was chambered for the .38 Colt New Police, which is no longer made under that name, but which is the same as the .38 S&W, which is still made. The "Positive" indicates that the revolver is equipped with Colt's "positive" hammer block to prevent the gun from firing if the hammer is struck or the gun dropped on the hammer. The term "positive" was chosen because the block does not depend on a spring, being operated directly by a stud on the trigger, so dirt or a broken spring cannot render it inoperable.

Jim