Letter A under Colt serial no. means what?

[DG45]

I have an old (mfg. 1930) Colt Police Positive Special, serial #384XXX. Directly under the serial number that's on the inside of the crane is the letter A. Does anyone know what the A indicates?

 

[James K]

I don't know the answer, and apparently no one else does either or they would have answered. FWIW, I suspect the A is the mark of one of a number of Colt factory inspectors. I have never seen a Colt serial number with a letter suffix and doubt it was intended to be part of the number.

Jim

 

[old knife buddy]

jim i would say your right its an inspecton mark. just guesing the gun might have been issued to military or a large police contract, then the where hand inspected

 

[Dfariswheel]

On the pre-war Colt's the letter "may" have a specific meaning.

As example, a "T" indicates the gun was factory targeted.

However, in most cases, then and now, a letter under the serial is a factory inspectors stamp.