I purchased a colt revolver, it is serial #133209. Someone put a dectectve special snub nose barrell on it?

Question

The barrell now reads .38 special ctg. but it is not a .38 special gun. I do not have the paperwork anymore for this gun and do not know if the correct ammo is 38 Short Colt or 38 S&W. I thought it was 38 S&W but the man at the gun store looked at my gun and said it was the 38 Short Colt. I bought a box and went to an indoor shooting range. As I was about 20 rounds through the box, the cylinder started locking up on some of the rounds and I could not pull the trigger back. Was it because of the wrong ammo. Should it have been 38 S&W. Did I hurt my gun? I closed up the box after 20 rounds and went home. I looked at the gun and it looks ok and it dry fires fine. Can anyone help me out in identifiying what type of Colt revolver I really have and what should be fired out of it? Also, can you advise if I hurt my gun shooting 20 rounds through it? When you look at 38 Short Colt and 38 S&W in the store and compare the two rounds they look almost identical. The serial number is 133209 on the frame and it looks like a lower case "d" is stamped under it. On the cylinder part serial number is also 133209 stamped on it, however no letter is stamped below. I am assuming that it had a longer barrell on it at one time and a gunsmith put the snub nose detective special barrell on it. The gun looks pretty old but there is no year of make stamped on it. Any help with my problem would be greatly appreciated.

Update:

BTW, I called Colts customer service and they said they could not help me with the serial number, they did say the lower case "d" under the serial number is probably the inspector's mark. The .38 special round will not fit this gun. The push rod for ejecting the cartridges sticks past the barrell aprox 1 cm. Therefore, I know the .38 special is wrong. When I bought the gun, they said the barrell was replaced.

Mav · Accepted Answer

38 S&W is a slightly larger round than 38 sc. See if a 38 S&W round will go into your cylinder without forcing it. If it does that is the proper round for your gun. The 38 sc will be loose fitting in the same cylinder. I have a colt police positive that takes 38 S&W. The ammo should not have made the cylinder bind. A good cleaning and light oiling to moving parts should get you going again. By the way remove the grips when you clean the revolver,as all kinds of crap gets in there. When you put them back on don`t tighten them too tight or they will break. Just snug is all you need. Happy shooting,you have a nice gun there.    Additional info: My revolvers serial is 38443 with the D under it. Have you tried a 38 spl cartridge in your cylinder? If that chambers easily that is the proper round for your gun. If it was chambered for 38 S&W the 38 spl round will not go all the way in. Actually the complete round is longer than the 38 S&W cylinder. Hope this helps.

H · Answer

.38 special ctg. simply translates to:  .38 Special Cartridge.  Sounds like your snubby is chambered for the very common .38 Special ammo.  It is not likely that any one changed barrels on your revolver (as this is no easy task).  What is a more interesting question is which generation Detective Special revolver do you own?  None of the Dick Specials are rated for +P ammo (the one exception being that last one made and designated the 'Magnum Carry' and chambered for .357 Magnum).  

The Detective Special came in .32 Police, .38 Police and .38 Special.  The first two were 1st. generation only and the term 'police' was Colt's way of saying .32 & .38 Specials (but 'slightly hotter!').  The only proviso I can offer you is to never use .38 +P or .38 +P+ ammo.  But without more info. I can only discern that your Dick Special is a .38 Special as marked on the barrel.  Can you post a pic?  I like to collect Colt double action revolvers and am curious as to whether yours is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th. generation.  

Not pull the trigger back?  Sounds like your revolver locked-up.  Have it deep cleaned and lubed if you don't know how to do it yourself, and you should  be okay.  

H

debellis · Answer

basically, it is the adaptation. Many revolvers that are made exceptionally to be snub nostril haven't any visable hammer. it is so the gun can be carried hid and now no longer seize on garb whilst drawn. in spite of the certainty that, that may no longer authentic of all snub nostril revolvers. some have the targeted physique as that kind whilst that is made with a protracted barrel. final analysis, the term "snub nostril" or "snubbie" comfortably means that it has a short barrel.

Jeff · Answer

If special cases fit your chambers it's"probably" a special.  

Have a gunsmith verify chamber dimensions and check the gap dimension between forcing cone and cylinder face

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I purchased a colt revolver, it is serial #133209. Someone put a dectectve special snub nose barrell on it?

4 Answers