1953: My Youngest C&R Piece

[majspud]

(As I no longer have my P1 that I had for three weeks; SN dated it to 1958).

1953 Colt Detective in .38 special. As a revolver man at heart, I finally found my ultimate carry piece. Small with a decent punching round. I traded my 1857 percussion Allen & Wheelock top hammer .34, 5-shot revolver for it. The A&W was just sitting in the cabinet, and as I don't reenact Civil War anymore, it was one I could let go.

About 90% overall, very clean bore and cylinders. Locks up fine. Butt is stamped B.P.D., which I assume is Boston Police Department as I got it here in MA at my LGS. At some point I'll get a Colt Letter to find out if that's true or not. With this piece, I complete my revolver collection for now. At some point down the road I may get a Reichsrevolver, and in 10 years or so, a S/W M66 .357 when they start becoming C&Rs (the revolver I carried for Uncle and the USFWS back in '92)

So we have:

*1914 M06 Colt Police Positive in .38 special
*March 1918 S/W .45 M17; reworked, parkerized for WW2
*1936 Tula M95 Nagant revolver, original finish
*S/W Victory .38 special; U.S. Navy contract, shipped to July 9, 1943 to Oakland, CA
*1953 Colt Detective .38 special

The Tula seems odd here, but I just think it's a cool piece

t

 

[dw617]

I think the seller forgot to include the pack of Luckies and Fedora. Nice piece.

 

[45collector]

Cool. I forget who, but there's a member on this forum who has a big collection of Boston PD issue revolvers. I'm sure he'd like to help ID the provenance of your gun.

 

[CrackPot]

Cool. I forget who, but there's a member on this forum who has a big collection of Boston PD issue revolvers. I'm sure he'd like to help ID the provenance of your gun.

Ben Cartwright SASS

 

[Rockrivr1]

Very nice pickup and collection!

 

[majspud]

The HoneyDew had a stay of execution today. The 50 yard 'anything goes' range was flooded 30 feet from the berm. Went to the 25 yard paper target range and it was 3/4 flooded, but I managed to sneak a corner and shoot at 30 feet. It was 44 degrees, overcast, and a light breeze.

Shot three types of loads:

1. Liberty 50gr hollow point; 1500fps
2. Hornady 110gr, hollow point with FTX center, 1010fps
3. Federal 158gr cast lead round nose, 770fps

I also have a couple boxes of Italian "Perfecta" 158gr FMJ/SWC which I did not bring.

The Liberty was the lightest recoil, very comfortable to shoot. For a snub-nose, the Colt not a light piece at 21 ounces (S/W Victory @34 oz., M06 Colt Police Positive Special @26 oz., M03 Colt .32acp @24 oz., & M95 Nagant @24 oz.). It feels heavy for a 'small' revolver, but all the better for recoil. The Hornady recoil was painful as my little finger has to wrap under the grip, and my wedding ring cut deeply into my finger. I was surprised how moderate the recoil of the Federal 158gr cast loads were.

B3 target has 12 rounds of Liberty and 12 rounds Hornady, rapid fire, double action. Left and right was pretty good. Some stringing as I was in rapid fire mode. The other junk target I found at the range has 30 rounds of the Federal. Good group on that and a good compromise load. I don't know what the Police used as a load, but I suspect it was the Federal cast round.

Not sure which load I'll use as a carry round, but definitely not the Hornady.

t

 

[majspud]

PP and PPk weigh 23.3 and 20.8 oz., respectively.

t

 

[majspud]

dupe

 

[majspud]

Found a link to calculate the ft/lbs of kinetic energy of bullets, if anyone is interested in computing their loads. You need your muzzle velocity and the grain weight of your bullet.

http://www.ballistics101.com/muzzle_energy_calc.php

.38 special:

50gr/1500fps Liberty = 250 ft/lbs
158gr/770fps Federal = 208 ft/lbs
158gr/1010fps Hornady = 358 ft/lbs

Other common rounds per link. Simple ballistics here; no examples take into consideration deforming HP/SD ammo.

WWB .45acp: 230gr/830fps = 352 ft/lbs
WWB 9mm: 115gr/1190fps = 362 ft/lbs
8mm Mauser: 198gr/2600fps = 2972 ft/lbs
.30/06: 150gr/2700fps = 2428 ft/lbs
M1 carbine: 110gr/1990fps = 967 ft/lbs
.32acp: 71gr/990fps = 129 ft/lbs
Liberty 9mm: 50gr/2000fps = 444 ft/lbs
Liberty .45acp +P: 78gr/1900fps = 625 ft/lbs

t

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I have been looking for a Detective Special BPD marked. You are a lucky man!

The markings look like Boston. The downside is that Binghamton NY, Bloomfield NJ, Brownsville TX, all used BPD, but not all used the rack numbers. Of course the only way to tell is a factory letter ($75) I letter all my BPD guns, have somewhere around 30-35 or so of them, not sure exactly.

I have two Official Police models marked exactly the same way and they are Boston. Don't depend on having purchased it here to say it is Boston. I have Boston guns I got form East Miami, North Carolina, Utah, Washington State, Arizona and elsewhere. Guns do tend to travel.

 

[majspud]

Does being an official marked PD piece add any value to the revolver?

Requested my letter; 3-4 month wait. Was the same for S/W. Do they really get that many requests, or is there only one guy doing this?

Neither of the Colt snubbies are B.P.D.?

t

 

[majspud]

Just for fun. A 33 oz baseball bat (14437.5gr) at an average MLB swing speed of 75mph (110fps) = a kinetic energy of 388ft/lbs.

Don't ask me why; just a weird thought.

t

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

At Smith there is one guy and a helper doing it, I know both of them, at Colt there are 3, I know one of them. Yes they get alot of letters.

All the guns in my collection are BPD marked and letter to Boston.

As to value, the answer is it depends on the buyer. Many, I would say a majority of collectors feel that the markings deface the gun and hurt the value. However to specialty collectors it can enhance the value. I collect Boston like several other people, some collect NY or Baltimore (Baltimore PD used "BALTO" or "BALTIMORE" not BPD).
As I say I tend to pay top price, if I have to. My Colt Woodsmans, from 1938 I overpaid but they are ultra rare, only 10 ever made for Boston and only one other still known to exist. The Officer's Model Target revolvers, the 3rd picture are sequentially serial numbered from 1932 and I have never heard of another one, again Boston had only 11 of them ever made for them.

 

[majspud]

My mark is so discreet I didn't see it until I came home. Patina has blended it in perfectly.

t

 

[jason19711971]

Sweet looking for a Police Positive for my collection.

 

[majspud]

I don't have a Boston badge, but here's a menagerie with my old Duxbury badge from 15 years ago, some coins, and a pocket watch from the early 40's

t

 

[majspud]

Shot 20 rounds of the Liberty; 6 into the HoneyDew melon, and 14 into a target. 1 round at 25 feet was enough to blow half the back of the melon off; the other 5 destroyed it. I had my i5 set up to video it, but I pushed the wrong button the video never started.

The target was at 40 feet; shot a little low, but all 14 on the splatter target. I had a lot of trouble picking up the sights; I put some white paint on the leading edge when I got home. I've also ordered two boxes of Winchester Super X silver tips; 110gr JHP/970fps/225ft/lbs to try.

t

 

[majspud]

Put a box of Winchester Super X 110gr JHP through it today. 49 degrees, sun/clouds, 40 feet, rapid fire, Weaver stance.

Grip is really too small for me, and the gun moves. After three rounds, no matter how tight I hold it, my hand climbs up the grip to the webbing of my thumb and forefinger. If I was going to shoot it constantly, I'd put a set of Pachmyrs on it.

Nice mild load as Winchester advertised. Just a nasty looking bullet; 970fps and 230ft/lbs kinetic energy.

I think the best accuracy was with the 158gr cast Federal loads at 770fps - probably what was used in the revolver back in the day.

t

 

[Mountain]

I'd load some WC's and call it a day . Not too bad for a lively round, anyway. I swear I would be 10X more accurate throwing a snubbie at my target rather than trying to shoot it.

 

[mac1911]

Youngest CR is my CZ82 I think it's a 82 or 84 yr production

 

[KBCraig]

My youngest was my first licensed C&R purchase: a minty-new Polish Radom M44 carbine, made in 1950 and purchased in 2001. It's still my only Mosin, and the quality of manufacture is excellent.

 

[majspud]

It's official: a Boston police issued revolver.

t

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

It's official: a Boston police issued revolver.

t

Very Nice!! I have been looking for one for myself!

I have a couple Bankers Specials but no 2" Detective Specials

Jeff