Gold & Silver Forum - Old School Score

The family had to do a bit of shopping this afternoon, so I had my checkbook with me. Lucky for me, that I did. After stocking up on pet food (for seven dogs and six cats), we stopped a local strip mall with a book store and a gun shop. While the ladies perused the books, I headed over to the gun store.

For a nice Sunday afternoon, the store was pretty empty. It made for easy browsing. At the end of the revolver display case, I saw a well-used revolver. It made quite a contrast to the Ruger LCR that was on display at the other end. The LCR, by the way, was a display-only gun; they were taking orders but had no other LCR stock. But back to the old revolver.

It was obvious it was a Colt and the tag said it was an Official Police. A closer look through the glass showed it was not a safe queen; it had the wear to prove it was both holstered and shot. The price tag was $360, which amused me since the LCR price tag was $150 higher. I also saw a new Glock 22 RTF2 for $580. I thought people paid more for quality steel than for quality polymers. The only plastic on the Colt was the Coltwood grips. This was an old school gun. I was hooked and decided to look it over.

Mechanically it was sound. The metal was in good shape, but the finish was well worn. The machining evident on the Colt really struck me; this was a well-fit gun. The metal work on the hammer and trigger just are not seen today. Literally, they are not made like that anymore. I checked it over, and it passed the "used revolver" tests. Now I was really hooked. Decent Colt samples are seldom seen here, and ones under $400 are really rare. I think the finish wear and the fact that this one was a consignment gun explained the price.

I then thanked the shop clerk for his time, wandered over to see my wife in the book store, and arranged to bring it home.

The Proof House web site says it is from 1947, which means the grips are likely original. Here it is.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...lPolice002.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...lPolice001.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...lPolice003.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...lPolice004.jpg

Time to take it shooting. :)

I really am not a Glock person; I shoot revolvers much better than I shoot the Glock. The only semi-autos I really like are 1911s, Ruger Mark IIs, and S&W M41s. The common theme is trigger feel; the Glock trigger does not work for me at all. Just too spongy for me to be fast and accurate. It is my failing, not the gun's. My last range session on Saturday had me shooting a Maxwell House coffee can (plastic, not the metal of my childhood) around the range as fast I could with my DAO-only Ruger SP-101 after my daughter was done with her Ruger Mark II. This practice is interesting because the range and angles change with each shot, and the target usually gets farther away with each shot. Makes for some mighty interesting shooting. This Colt will be good for this range exercise as well. Plus there is no issue chasing brass around the property.