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Talk:Colt Detective Special
Additional Variants
Screen Used
Other Images
Discussion
Jack Webb and Dragnet
Jack Webb did not use a Detective Special in Dragnet. He used a 5 shot S&W snub nosed revolver.
Jack Webb did use a Colt DS when the show was first on in the 1950's. --Jcordell 21:22, 11 April 2012 (CDT)
Second Generation
Was there ever a commercially available second generation Detective Special? And if so, what features differentiate it from the other generation models? -Anonymous
- Is this a 2nd gen? In the last shot, it looks like it says "Colt .38 DS-II." You can also see the first few digits of the serial number, which, according to this, would make it 2nd gen. --Funkychinaman 20:15, 11 April 2012 (CDT)
Colt brought the DS back for a few short years in the mid-90's. They made no engineering changes to it and it went under in the late 90's when Colt stopped making revolvers - with the exception of the SA's and Pythons from their custom shop. --Jcordell 21:24, 11 April 2012 (CDT)
Depends
The subject of Colt Detective Special generations depends on which collector you're talking to.
Some say the 1st Gen ran from the late 20's (when it was introduced) until the early thirties when Colt changed the grips design. Giving it more flare and rounding it at the bottom. They consider that the 2nd Gen and then they count the changes (mostly cosmetic) made after WWII to be the 3rd Gen. The 4th Gen is the totally redesigned frame (heavy barrel, full lug protecting the ejector rod along with the shorter grip frame, wrap around wood grips and a ramped front sight) to be the 4th Gen or the Post-1971 Model. The changes made after WWII were a mix of cosmetic and engineering. For awhile Colt replaced the wooden grips with plastic grips which the company called "Colt wood". Eventually the wood grips returned. The checkering on the trigger face and cylinder latch were dropped. The ejector rod was lengthened almost to the end of the barrel to aid with more efficent ejection of empties and the front site was flattened towards the rear (doing away with the half circle design) and serrated to cut down on glare. That's one classification system.
There are some who call all the Colt DS models up until 1971/72 to be the "First Issue" and everything after 1971/72 to be "Second Issue". Pretty broad, but simple.
Then, finally, we have the classification system that we here at imfdb have choosen to go with. All Colt DS revolver made up to and through WW II are considered 1st Generation. Believe it or not Colt made a small number of Detective Specials during the war. Supposedly for use by O.S.S. agents. The Second Generation is the Post-WWII Detective Special up until 1971/72.
None of them are wrong or right. Just different. --Jcordell 19:19, 29 September 2011 (CDT)
77 Sunset Strip Revolver
- The revolver you say was used in 77 Sunset Strip is a Bankers Special. The cylinder is shorter than that in the Detective Special. The Bankers Special (rare and valuable now) was made in .38 Colt (not .38 Special) and .22 Long Rifle. As I was informed, the Bankers Special was used by Zimbalist because, as he was not a large guy, the smaller revolver made him look larger.
I believe it was actually a Colt Pocket Positive with a modified front sight. --Jcordell 21:57, 6 September 2011 (CDT)
Division
Should we divide the entries on the page into different categories for first and third generation models? -Anonymous
- It being in the table format, an additional section could be added to note what gen is used. Most table formats already have it before year. --Predator20 18:54, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
A Question
What exactly is a 2nd generation Detective Special and how does it differ from the 1st and 3rd generation models?--Jackbel 11:48, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
An Answer
- Colt changed the grip between the 2nd and 1st generations. Notice that the 2nd Gen has a rounded and shorter grip and they also changed the angle of the grip somewhat. Notice on the 1st generation that it's more severe. More like the old Bisley grip design found on the Colt SAA Bisley model.
The 3rd generation changed the grips. The grips themselves are longer on the 3rd gen and of a different design. Also the 3rd generation added a underlug to protect the ejector rod and instead of the half moon front sight they changed to a ramp front sight.
There are other differences I believe but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head. --Jcordell 15:26, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Intro text
"First offered in 1927, the Colt Detective Special is a 6-shot double-action Snubnose revolver manufactured by Colt until 1986. Chambered originally in .32, the most common versions use the .38 Special cartridge. It features a swing-out cylinder, fixed blade front sight and notch-style rear sights and a full length ejector rod."
Additional info on the differences between the First, Second and Third generations needed. Something on the .44 model would be nice, too. Still has a long way to go before it can be put onto the page. I based it mostly on http://www.snubnose.info/docs/detective_special.htm --Milkovich 14:59, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
ID possible CDSs at Hennessy?
Can someone look over these pics and maybe help ID these? I think they're Colt revolvers: Hennessy#Colt_revolvers. Thanks! REPLICAwrittendowntheside (talk) 13:58, 21 October 2012 (EDT)
- I can say without much doubt that they are .38 specials, that ought to narrow it down a bit. --Sangheili1155 (talk) 14:41, 21 October 2012 (EDT)
Too Many Images?
Much as I like seeing them, I think there might be a tad too many images of Detective Specials here that don't seem to be used or otherwise correlate to any other pages on the site, particularly the "Fitz"s, of which there are quite a few images that look rather similar to each other. If I'm wrong and there is some special reason for all the images, cool - But again, just seems like a lot of pics of variants of this gun for the sake of it as all. StanTheMan (talk) 15:22, 18 February 2016 (EST)