Colt Official Police
Colt Official Police | |
---|---|
Type | Revolver |
Place of origin | United States |
Service history | |
In service | 1907 - Present |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Colt's Manufacturing Company |
Produced | 1907–1969 |
No. built | 1,000,000[1] |
Variants | See Variants |
Specifications | |
Barrel length |
|
Cartridge |
|
Action | double-action |
Feed system | six round cylinder |
Sights | Fixed iron: Blade front, V-notch rear |
The Colt Official Police is a medium frame,
Development and history
As the 20th Century began, the older .32 caliber revolvers which had been standard-issue for the majority of American police departments began to be phased out in favor of the larger-bore .38 caliber. In 1908, Colt introduced a sleek and modernized revolver they dubbed the Army Special, which in the powerful (for the time) and popular .38 Special quickly became the issue service revolver of many departments.[2][3][4] During the same period, revolvers began to fall out of favor with the
By 1927, the overwhelming sales of two popular models, the Army Special and
Between May 1940 and June 1941, 49,764 Official Police revolvers in .38 New Police or
When the U.S. became involved in World War II, the U.S. government requested contracts to supply .38 revolvers required for arming security personnel charged with the security of government buildings, shipyards, and defense plant installations against sabotage or theft. Commencing in 1941, small quantities of the .38 Colt Official Police were procured directly from the Defense Supplies Corporation (DSC). When government purchasing officials objected to production delays of the OP, as well as the unit cost, Colt responded by simplifying the gun. Savings were achieved by eliminating all unnecessary exterior polishing operations, substituting a smooth-face trigger and hammer, and fitting the gun with simplified checkered wood grips with the Colt medallion; the latter was soon replaced by 'Coltwood' molded plastic grips. Instead of the normal bluing, the revolver was given a dull parkerized finish. Dubbed the Colt Commando, the new weapon was primarily used to arm units of Military police, security guards at U.S. defense plant installations and shipyards, as well as limited clandestine issue to agencies involved in overseas espionage and military intelligence.[2][3][6]
In mid-1942, the Springfield Ordnance District (SOD) was given control over procurement and distribution of the Commando, which transferred the revolvers to the end user. A few Commandos were shipped to the U.S. Maritime Commission and used as small arms equipment on U.S. merchant ships and ships provided to the Allies under Lend-Lease.[7] Most Commando wartime production went to the DSC for use by security and police forces,[7] while approximately 1,800 Commandos were used by the U.S. Navy, and another 12,800 revolvers distributed to various military intelligence agencies. Control over procurement changed in 1944, after the DSC formally objected to being charged additional handling fees by the armed forces, and was then authorized to procure the Commando directly from Colt.[7]
After World War II, Colt resumed commercial production and returned to the prewar polished blued finish, but retained the 'Coltwood' grips until 1954 when the checkered wooden grips were reintroduced.[2] During the postwar period, Colt fell on difficult financial times and the company introduced few new models. At Smith & Wesson, both output and new model civilian and police sales improved, and the sales margin gap between the two corporations progressively tightened. Finally, in the 1960s, S&W took over the lead.[2][3] A contributing factor to this change may have been Smith & Wesson's generally lower cost per unit, accompanied by a double-action trigger pull on their Model 10 that was preferred by many agencies teaching the new combat-oriented double-action revolver training.[2][3] Colt announced the discontinuation of the Official Police in 1969, stating that competitive production of the design was no longer economically feasible.[2][3] With a total production of over 400,000 pistols, the Official Police ranks as one of the most successful handguns ever made.[2]
Features
The Official Police was machined of fine
Variants
Commando
The Commando was a wartime variant of the Official Police, manufactured with either a two or four inch barrel, and incorporating several production economies including a non-gloss Parkerized finish. The Commando also lacked the usual metal checkering on the hammer, trigger, and cylinder latch, as well as the reflection-deadening treatment of the commercial version's top strap. In addition, plastic material replaced the wood grips of the civilian model.[7] Approximately 48,611 Commando revolvers were purchased by the government during World War II.[7] Of this total, approximately 12,800 were issued to various intelligence services such as US Military intelligence and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Many of the latter were procured with the two-inch barrel, referred to as the "Junior Commando".[7] A few Commandos saw service overseas in the war zone.[7] Regular production deliveries of two-inch "Junior Commando" revolvers began in March 1943, at approximately serial number 9,000. More than 12,000 of the two-inch Commandos encountered today are actually postwar conversions from four-inch models produced during the war.[7]
Marshal
A rare variant featuring a rounded grip, with barrel lengths of two and four inches. With a very limited production run of 2,500 units produced from 1955-1956, the Marshal became a true collectable.[3]
MK III
The
Users
- Panama: Used by the Panama Defense Forces[8]
- United States:
- Baltimore City Police Department .38 Special [9]
- Maryland State Police 6 inch barrel[10]
- Pennsylvania State Police 6 inch barrel[11]
See also
- Enfield No.2
References
- ^ "Serial Number Data". Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Colt's Official Police Revolver" Archived 2008-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, Shooting Times magazine Web site – Handgun Reviews. Accessed August 13, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ayoob, Massad. "The Colt Official Police: 61 years of production, 99 years of service", Guns magazine. BNET Web site – Find articles. Accessed August 13, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Colt Official Police" Archived 2008-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, Bellum Web site. Accessed August 20, 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-917218-75-0
- ^ "Colt Commando" Archived 2008-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, Bellum Web site. Accessed August 21, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pate, Charles, The World War II Commando Revolver Archived 2011-01-26 at the Wayback Machine, Man At Arms Magazine, Mowbray Publishing (October 1997), retrieved 3 April 2011
- ISBN 0710607024.
- ^ Driscoll, Kenny (29 December 2022). "Baltimore Police Weapons". Baltimore Police Museum. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- ISBN 0811704092.
- ISBN 0811704092.