ratio of 32's to 38's in the DS

[bang]

Shooting and really enjoying my 51 DS in 32 NP, and was wondering how many of the 32's were made compared to the 38 -- I would assume that 38 is the most popular, so is the scarcity of the 32 a plus in the value of the gun, or is it a detriment because most prefer the 38 ? ?

Not planning on selling the DS, just curious . . .

BTW, it is super accurate with everything from .33 lead balls to 110 gr .308 M-1 Carbine FMJ over 2 gr of TB.

[saemetric]

3.141592653589 to 1 in favor of .38 Hell, I got no idea!

[WIL TERRY]

IT would not surprise me if the 38 guns outnumbered the 32'S by 1000 to 1. IT is probably a lot less that that though...maybe more like 998 to 1.....

[smkummer]

Only time will tell if they will bring more than a 38 special. As of now most used detecitve specials are probably sold with functional use as a deciding factor. Maybe a better way to determine value would be to see what the auction sites are selling them for. Because a gun was of low demand when made and thus less common doesn't always mean that it is now is of high demand becuase it is "rare". The 32 is great for recoil sensitive shooters though.

[Eldon Hickey]

Just got a .32 D Special....70's vintage in like new condition. I've been shooting handloads--76 and 95 gr cast bullets with 2.5 to 3 gr. of Unique. Just tried 2g Trailboss with the same bullets today. The heavier bullets seem to show a lot more consistent velocity. Got my first .32 several months ago and I love the round...very pleasant to shoot and cheap to reload.

[Malysh]

I don't know either but I'd bet 5% or less of the DS's were 32 vs. 38 Special.
I don't think they bring more money because they are scarcer, though.

Here's some pictures of my 1952 DS in 32 Colt NP

1952 Detective Special 32 Colt NP w/hammer shroud

[Abe Anglin]

JMO - Prior to 1960 (or so) the numbers weren't too far out of balance - but after that, the .38 Spl predominate = in a big way.

[bayouboy]

The 32 Detectives were numbered together with the 38s so we will never have a true relative number. I collect Detective Specials and based on my observations and discussions with other collectors I can offer the following: It appears that Colt made two main "runs" of the 32 Detectives. Of course, the 32 was not produced before WWII. The first batch seems to begin after the war (I have a 32 which dates to 1947 and has the pre-war type frame) and run to the early to mid 1950s. The second batch seems to show up in the 1970s and were produced on the post 1966 style short frame. Some speculate these were "clean up" guns which enabled Colt to dispose of their remaining stock of 32 parts when they switched over to the shrouded barrel. Of course these are just observations and I would not be surprised to learn that Colt produced a few individual guns between these "runs" but I would expect the number to be very small.

This is just an opinion, but I would guess that the 32s made up well less that 1% (i.e. 1 in 100) of the total number of Detective Specials and would not be surprised if that number was much smaller. Again we will never know the total but this is the kind of stuff that makes collecting these things all the more fun!

[swamprat]

I wonder how many 32's have been converted to 32-20 and 32Mag like these two; top one is 32-20, bottom one is 32 Mag:

[Oyeboten]

...were there any Detective Specials in .22?