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Need help finding Official Police build date

656 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  hsshss 
#1 ·
I have a prewar model (last patent date on barrel is 1926) beautiful condition Official Police 4" with a serial number of 402xxx, no prefix or suffix.All the charts I locate begin the Official Police in 1927 with a much higher number range.I am confident all is original with nice and consistent finish and crisp grips, so a barrel change would be highly unlikely.Any help finding the year built would be appreciated.Thanks
 
#2 ·
You may have an Army Special, which has a Barrel from an Official Police.

402xxx is not a Serial Number one would find on an Official Police, but it is one which one would find on a circa 1915 Army Special.

Official Police Serialing ( which began around 513XXX in 1927 ) merely continued with that of the prior Army Special....which had merely continued from the prior New Army and New Navy Series.

Post some pictures of it!
 
#3 · (Edited)
This is not uncommon.
Since almost all Colt revolvers had the same barrel threads, it was posible to install almost any barrel on any frame.
The Colt Army Special was simply renamed as the Official Police in 1927, so barrels were totally interchangeable.
If at a later date a revolver needed a new barrel for some reason, it was common for gunsmiths to use whatever current model barrel that was availabe that would work on an older model.

This can be confusing for owners, since the only identification of the actual model is on the barrel, not the frame.
In these cases, you have to go by the serial number on the frame, which due to Colt's serial numbering system can itself be confusing.
So, contrary to appearances, it's almost certain you have a Colt Army Special that at some point in the past was rebarreled with an Official Police barrel.

402xxx shows as a Colt Army Special made in 1915. The numbers that year started at 379000.
1916 started at 407000.
The last Army Special serial number was 540000 in 1927.
 
#4 ·
hsshss, welcome to the Forum.

Is the topstrap of your revolver smooth and rounded from side to side, with the sight groove in the center? If so, that is consistent with the contour of a 1915 Army Special with a serial number of 402xxx. If it instead looks like three flattened surfaces with the sight groove down the middle of the center flat, it would be consistent with a late Army Special or Official Police, and the serial number would be "off."

As mentioned, it sounds like an Army Special that has had the barrel replaced sometime after 1926.
 
#5 ·
Thanks

Thank to all for your replies.Tried to load photos but can't find how to put my attachments on to a post & FAQ search goes nowhere.Yes,it has the Army Special topstrap as well.It is inscribed on the butt to a Marine Corps Lt. so it was probably rebarreled and reblued then.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Hi hsshss,

What I do to post images, is...

A ) I have the images I have just taken on the floppy disc ( yes, I know, no one uses THOSE any more! But the same would apply for 'stick' image memory or whatever one's Camera happens to have, or one plugs the Camera in to the Computer ) and, then, right above the Box in which we compose our missives, there are various little 'Icons' which are in a row - 4th from the right, is the one which one clicks to insert an image.

Click on it, and it opens a little mini-window which then allows one to 'Select files', which of course is to go after the image according to it's location, and, to highlight it or elect it, so that it then will be selected, and, will appear in the Post.

Or...

B ) If I have put an image in to some folder or other on or in my Computer, then I would elect it 'there' in the folder it happens to be in, via the mini-window's 'Select Files' operation.

Or..

C ) If the image I am after is one I have put on to some Web Site Image Storage place, ( like say Photobucket, Fotki, or whatever ) there will be a method which is part of how that Web Site does things, a method to elect one's image for posting it in to a Forum, and, one will copy a Code for that, where one then pastes the Code into the Text Box in which we normally compose our missives or posts. And one's image then shows up in one's Post, by doing that.


If any of this sounds confusing, it is only because I did a crappy job of trying to explain. It is quite easy, once one has figured it out! Lol...
 
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