More Wheel Guns

legion · 07:39 PM

My grandfather left me some hardware from his days a cop in NJ in the 50's.

(He went on to be the head of Security at Sears Tower for the whole time it was owned by Sears.)

There's a Colt in .32 S&W Long, a Colt in .38 Special, and a Smith & Wesson in .38 special. He left me some other goodies, but those aren't the topic of this thread.

I like the S&W the best, it fits my hand and I was shooting 1" groups at 5 yards with it today at the range--when I cocked the hammer. The groups were more like 5" when I let the trigger pull the hammer.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Pretty shootin irons. Nice to have things that belonged to family members. I have one of my great grandfathers .22s from the 30s

Why be this in PARF?

legion · 03-28-2009, 08:16 PM

I thought I was posting in regular OT, same with the "Crap" thread.

boba · 03-29-2009, 02:14 PM

LOL on me, when I saw wheel gun this is what came to mind

jyl · jyl's Garage

It should group a lot tighter than that after you get used to it. 5 yards / 15 feet is pretty short.

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

My grandfather left me some hardware from his days a cop in NJ in the 50's.

(He went on to be the head of Security at Sears Tower for the whole time it was owned by Sears.)

There's a Colt in .32 S&W Long, a Colt in .38 Special, and a Smith & Wesson in .38 special. He left me some other goodies, but those aren't the topic of this thread.

I like the S&W the best, it fits my hand and I was shooting 1" groups at 5 yards with it today at the range--when I cocked the hammer. The groups were more like 5" when I let the trigger pull the hammer.

Tim Hancock · 03-29-2009, 04:34 PM

Very cool that you have your grandpa's guns. I hope you can pass them to your kids/grandkids. I have one of my recently deceased grandpa's first shotguns.... I would not even think of ever selling it. Just today my aunts, uncles and my mother were going thru his house preparing it to be sold. I came home with a signed picture of the Bush's along with a moose rack and a deer rack off of his garage wall.

tabs · 05:02 PM

The Colt in the green box is an Officers Model made in the late 1930's if so it would say "Heavy Barrel" on the barrel and have a several patent dates on the top, with 1926 being the latest. If prewar it does not have factory sights, it has a King front sight and probably rear as well. The the hammer is not the 1930's Colt hammer. It might be an after market King, and say King Cockeyed Hammer? It also could be a post war Colt hammer as well, from the picture I can not tell. The grips are standard prewar grips. It is also possible that the barrel is not original, as it looks to be a bit heavy for the prewar guns. Serial # range will be around 640,000 or so.

On the other hand it is quiet possible that this gun is known as an Officers Model Special which was produced in the late 1940's. If so it would have Colts Patent Firearms Hartford CT on the top of the barrel and the SN range would be 700,000 something, however in this time frame the Colt SN ranges gets to be rather convoluted. . The sights would be factory for that gun. However the grips are definitely prewar. Otherwise it is an after market barrel (doubtful).

There are a lot of these guns kicking around, they were made from 1904 through 1970. The calibers were 38, 32 and 22. With prewar barrels being 4, 4.5, 5, 6 and 7.5 inches. The 32 is the rarest, with the bulk of production being around 1940. I know of only 4 guns in 32 made earlier, and they were built around 1920. After the war only 6 inch barrels were made, and the calibers were 38 and 22 with a very few 22 WM being thrown in the mix. The Python and Diamond Back revolvers supplanted this model. Very few of these guns were in nickle, as there is only one that I have seen that was said to be factory.

These guns are not a very widely collected gun. Nobody that I know of has specialized in collecting these guns. Almost every Colt collector will have one or two in his collection but that is about it. There is a collector of Colt Double Actions in Michigan that has about the best known collection of these around, but it only one part of a multifaceted collection of pre war Colt DA's. He has apx 1000 Colt DA's, one of practically every model, barrel length, caliber, and finish made. He currently is looking for about 4 guns to have a complete collection in which he has an example of every Colt DA made from 1908 to 1941. Almost all of them are in 95% condition or better, many with original boxes.

So depending on the condition of your revolver $475 is about what it is worth.

targa911S · 03-29-2009, 05:05 PM

tabs any of those shown considered a "police positive"?
'

tabs · 03-29-2009, 05:10 PM

The top gun looks to be a Colt Pocket Positive with a 3 or 4 inch barrel. They mostly came in 32 spl. This paticular gun was made in the before 1926. It will have 1905 as the latest patent date on top of the barrel. The hard rubber grips are standard for this era of Colts.

Again condition is the major determinate for value. As with the OM they are not widely collected, but when a nice specimen comes along at the right price most serious Colt collectors would buy it. Price is in the $400 range.

speeder · speeder's Garage

I have my uncle's commemorative gun from the Minneapolis PD, it is a limited-edition .357 S&W that has its own special case, numbered, etc... Obviously never been fired, though I thought about getting some rounds for it in case of some bizarre situation where it became my back-up gun at home.

He was childless and left me all of his police gear, (I asked for it and he was touched that I was so interested in it). My other old bachelor uncle, his little brother, has his service gun as a home protection piece but I'll get that some day.

tabs · 03-29-2009, 05:15 PM

The top gun with hard grips could be a Police Positve as well, but the frame looks to be smaller then the Police Positive. The more I look at that gun the more i think it is a Police Positive...then to confuse things even more there was a Police Positive Special that was chambered in 38...

tabs · 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

I have my uncle's commerativegun from the Minneapolis PD, it is a limited-edition .357 S&W that has its own special case, numbered, etc... Obviously never been fired

You shoot it you lose 1/2 the value if it is NIB. The word "commerative" is death to a gun collector. A manufactured Collectable...they rise in value VERY slowly over decades. Since they are meant to be collectable 99% of the people never shoot them, and as such they are nearly all UNFIRED NIB.

legion · 03-29-2009, 05:24 PM

The gun in the green box has the following markings on the barrel:

The left side reads: "OFFICERS MODEL MATCH / CAL 38 SPECIAL"

The right side reads: "COLT'S PT FA MFG. CO. HARTFORD CONN. U.S.A."

There are no markings on the top or bottom of the barrel.

The .32 has the following markings:

Top: "COLT'S PT.F.A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A. / PAT'D AUG. 5, 1884 JUNE 5, 1900 JULY 4, 1905"

Left: "Pocket Positive - .32 POLICE CTG."

Right: No marking.

targa911S · 03-29-2009, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabs

The top gun with hard grips could be a Police Positve as well, but the frame looks to be smaller then the Police Positive. The more I look at that gun the more i think it is a Police Positive...then to confuse things even more there was a Police Positive Special that was chambered in 38...

Also a police positive special in 32-20 Winchester..

tabs · 03-29-2009, 06:05 PM

The Smith is a 4 screw mfg between 1956 and 1960. Thety are factory Gonalco Alcav, but the checking appears to be filed down. It is a K frame 38 special..and what model do they call this one...ahh Combat Masterpiece is the title.. 4" barrel. Not rare, collectable only because it is a 4 screw. This gun has some wear issues. (the 4th screw is in front of the trigger guard) If it does not have that then it is a 3 screw and made after 1960.

If it is a 357 then it is a mdl 19, again not rare.

$350 more or less is the value.

tabs · 06:18 PM

OK the gun was 1950's BUT it does have pre war grips. Most of the OM Matchs had oversized grips as standard... much like the Python

You can tell they are prewar grips because the Colt medallion is nickle the later grip medallions looked cheaper and were a shiny silver or gold colour. The grips alone are worth $50 to $75.

Also in the box are 2 after market grip adapters, most common on prewar guns.

Value stays the same. these are GREAT guns to shoot. Most prewar target shooters used them. Great lock up, smooth actions. The real knock on the gun for modern shooters is that they are 38's, they like the 357.

legion · 03-29-2009, 06:14 PM

The S&W is a model 67, I believe.

tabs · 03-29-2009, 06:33 PM

The Michigan collector used to display his guns at the Colt shows and won awards for best displays..that is until a friend of mine who is very big in the English Percussion, Falling Block, and American percussion and Single Shot Target rifles was the judge at one of the shows, the Michigan collector lost out to a display of said rifles. The Michigan collector got pissed because my friend never even viewed his display. After that he sold his display boards to a major collector of rare S&W revolvers, who now wins awards. He never has displayed since. When Over Paid came to visit me we went to the Beinfield show and I met the Smith collector.

You wana talk about rare Smiths.. WOW

tabs · 03-29-2009, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

The S&W is a model 67, I believe.

Yep Combat Masterpiece.

tabs · 03-29-2009, 06:38 PM

Put some orginal over sized grips on the OM and you will like it