Colt Police Positive

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Colt Police Positive
Blued Colt Police Positive revolver; six inch barrel
TypeRevolver
Place of originUnited States
Production history
ManufacturerColt's Manufacturing Company
Produced1907–1947
VariantsSee Variants
Specifications
Barrel length
  • 2.5 in (63.5 mm)
  • 4 in (102 mm)
  • 5 in (125 mm)
  • 6 in (153 mm)
Cartridge
Actiondouble-action revolver
Feed systemsix round cylinder
SightsFixed iron; half-moon blade front, V-notch rear

The Colt Police Positive is a small-

double-action revolver featuring a six-round cylinder, chambered for either .32 or .38 caliber. A .22 caliber model was also offered. Designed primarily for sale to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies, the Police Positive was introduced into the firearms market by Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1905.[1][2][3]

Development and history

The Colt Police Positive was an improvement of Colt's earlier "New Police" revolver, upgraded with an internal hammer block safety. Colt named this new security device the "Positive Lock", and its nomenclature ended up being incorporated as a partial namesake for the new revolver.[2] The cylinder of the Police Positive rotated in the clockwise direction, the opposite of firearms maker

accuracy.[2]
The Police Positive was very successful; along with the Colt Official Police it dominated the law enforcement firearms market in the early 1900s.[4] The Positive was itself incrementally modified in 1908, forming the basis for Colt's Police Positive Special model.[2]

A nickel Police Positive with pearl grips and .32 calibre was used by Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey in Death Wish. American gangster Al Capone also used a Police Positive, a nickel .38 Police Positive with walnut grips and a 4-inch barrel, manufactured in 1929; in June 2011 a private collector sold it at Christie's for the sum of £67,250/$109,080/€75,656.[5]

Colt Police Positive in .38 S&W. Made in 1925

Features

The Police Positive was made of

nickel-plated.[2]

The First issue of the Police Positive ran from the revolver's introduction in 1907 until 1927. Sporting Colt's standard hard rubber grips, it was offered with barrel lengths of 2.5 (available only in .32 caliber), 4, 5, and 6 inches, and was chambered for the .32 Long Colt (it would also accept the .32 Short Colt), .32 Colt New Police, and .38 Colt New Police cartridges.[1][2][3][6] Checkered Walnut grips became standard after 1923.

The Second issue began in 1928 and ran until 1947, adding a somewhat heavier frame as well as a

competitor with any free advertising.[2]

Colt's Positive Lock safety, the

milled into the revolver's topstrap.[2]

Colt Police Positive caliber .32 S&W Long/.32 Colt New Police made in 1938.

Colt Police Positive revolvers marked with Colt D.A..32 on the barrel are chambered for .32 Long Colt. Revolvers marked with .32 Colt New Police on the barrel are chambered for .32 Smith & Wesson Long.

Variants

Police Positive Target

Weighing 22 ounces and available with a blued finish and black hard rubber grips in

.22 WRF, .32 Long (and Short) Colt, and .32 Colt New Police (.32 S&W Long) chamberings, the First issue of this model featured an adjustable open iron sighted 6 inch barrel and was marketed from 1910 to 1925, with checked Walnut grips replacing the rubber ones after 1923. A Second issue was sold from 1926 to 1941 and differed from the First in that it had a slightly heftier frame which upped the weight to 26 ounces; also Colt's nickel finish was offered as an option.[6] In today's collectable market, the .32 New Police version appears to be the most sought after and valuable.[2]

1905 advertisement for Colt's new Police Positive.

Police Positive Special

The Colt Police Positive Special was an iterative improvement of Colt's earlier Police Positive model, the only differences being a slightly lengthened cylinder and elongated and strengthened frame to allow the chambering of the longer, more powerful .32-20 Winchester and .38 Special cartridges.

Bankers' Special

This is the Police Positive with a 2-inch barrel chambered in .22 Long Rifle or .38 Colt New Police (.38 S&W). Produced from 1926 to 1940.

Detective Special Series

The Colt Detective Special and its variants are shortened, somewhat streamlined variants of the Police Positive Special, introduced in 1927.

Users

References

  1. ^ a b “Colt Police Positive” Archived 2008-06-07 at the Wayback Machine Bellum Web site. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shideler, Dan. “Nobody Wants This Colt”, Gun Digest magazine Web site. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  3. ^ a b Lark, Syd. “Colt .38 Police Positive” Archived 2009-04-16 at the Wayback Machine, All Experts Web site. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  4. ^ Scarlata, Paul. “Colt's Official Police Revolver” Archived 2008-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, Shooting Times magazine Web site – Handgun Reviews. Accessed August 13, 2008.
  5. ^ "Release: Al Capone's colt .38 Police Positive Revolver sells for £67,250/$109,080/€75,656". Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  6. ^ a b c "COLT'S MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC. REVOLVERS: DOUBLE ACTION, SWING OUT CYLINDER" Archived 2012-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, Cheaper Than Dirt Web site. Accessed September 22, 2008.
  7. ^ Cumpston, Mike. “.32 Colt Police Positive Special” Archived September 11, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Gunblast Webzine. Accessed September 11, 2008.

External links

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