Need help from any Colt historians...

[Harry Callahan]

Nother question, guys. A coach on my son's baseball team was digging around in some boxes left to him by his wife's uncle. He died about 2-3 years ago at age 92. While rummaging through these things he discovered an old blue Colt Police Positive 4" bbl in .38 Special. You know what's coming. The serial number is 293XXX and there is an "L" underneath it. It has the hard rubber grips on it that say "Colt" at the top of them. I tried doing a little research and from what I've read this should be a pre 1924 model as Colt supposedly went with the wood grips in 1924. Well, he knows I'm a bit of a firearm enthusiast(read GUN NUT!)and asked me if I would go through it and clean it up a little. It does have some pitting, and it hasn't seen any gun oil in quite some time also. However, it cleaned up pretty nice. Remarkably, it is still in pretty decent shape. He took it to a gun shop and they offered him $200 for it. Could anybody tell me a little about this gun? TIA.

 

[Webleymkv]

http://proofhouse.com/colt/index.html

Your revolver was manufactured in 1924. Also, it is generally suggested that you replace the last two or three digits of the serial number with x's when posting it on the internet. Never know who might be looking.

 

[Harry Callahan]

Thanks, should have been more discreet.

 

[James K]

It is one of the anomalies of the current market that those fine old Colts bring so little. $200 is probably not an unreasonable offer, considering they usually sell in the $250 range. Only the very best (like new) will bring much more.

Jim

 

[BillCA]

The Police Positive Special, which seems to be what you are describing, was first manufactured between 1907 and 1927. These "First Issue" guns are identified by the smooth topstrap and last patent date on top of the barrel being 1905. Second-Issue models have a serrated topstrap and a last patent date of 1926 on the barrel.

The first-issue guns were produced with hard rubber grips while the second-issue were made only with wood grips.

If the gun was in perfect shape it could fetch about $800. But values drop quickly and even a gun in 90% condition only gets $325 or so. Depending on how severe the corrosion damage is, $200 to $250 might be very reasonable for your specimen.