[Malysh]

I've done quite a bit of research on this. Colt used spring pins (aka roll pins or tension pins) on D frames like the Cobra, Detective Special, Agent, etal, in the 1966-1969 time frame. I have seen no overlap of 1965 guns or earlier with the spring pin, but I have observed a few 1969 examples with the solid pin. So there is some overlap with the end date of 1969. It's a pretty safe statement to say that by 1970, all production was returned to the solid pin for the hammer.

I never liked the look of the spring pin either, when I was staring at various Colts with solid pins covering 7 decades! It's fine for S&Ws, but not with Colts!

 

[Malysh]

As far as Detective Specials go, I have SN 9878xx which the tables show as 1968 although it's lacking the "D" prefix, which supposedly started in 1966 (?), and a 3" DS, SN A332xx which shows as 1969. Both have the solid pins if you're keeping track, Malysh.

Dick

Dick, thanks for your information. There is always a parts overlap. In the main, spring pin hammers were used approximately for the 3 year period mentioned above