Colt Officer Model Target, Pre-WW II
 

Picked this up today. Serial number is 657XXX. 38 Special. 6" barrel. Date of Birth 1941/1942. One of the last Pre-war OM's. Serial number is part of the Official Police Range from that time period. Which, according to R.L. Wilson, is correct. Haven't shot it it. It's in very good shape. Sorry about the photos. I'm rushed. Paid $500.00 for it. Very clean, shiny bore, great lock-up ect.Just for giggles here it is compared to my S&W K-38. Yes I know it has rubber grips on it. I didn't have the time or inclination to dig out the Magna grips that came with it.

Very nice Checkman! I'd love to hear how it shoots! I recently purchased an Official Police from the same era and have been really impressed with it.

Speaking of which, mine is currently wearing a set of Pachmyer grips and I'm in the market for a correct set of replacements. Any ideas where I can turn up a pair? Numrich just has reproductions.

Thanks Nyles. I plan on shooting it along with the K-38 to see how they do. As far as finding correct grips you might try the Colt forum

http://www.coltforum.com/forums/forum.php

or gunbroker

http://www.gunbroker.com/

Those at least would be a good palce to start. The Colt Forum members could probably point you in the right direction if nothing else. I belong to that forum and I've always found them to be very helpful.

Thanks man. You have any use for a set of Pachmyer grips for an E frame? Once I find a set of replacements you can have it for the cost of postage.

How much would the postage be? Any ideas?

Well I picked up a Colt Trooper 4" (.38 Special Heavy Barrel) yesterday. I was looking for either a . 38 Special Trooper, Official Police or a pre-1972 Detective Special. I found this Trooper yesterday. I haggeled with the owner a little bit and he dropped the price to $375.00. It helped that I could pay in cash. I went in with my Surefire flashlight and a jeweler loop. I had him take the grips off and checked it as completely as I could. The previous owner (or owners) had taken very good care of it. The serial number gives it a DOB sometime in 1960.

According to the store owner it is one of several revolvers that he is selling for a widow. Her husband passed away a few months ago. She had given him some leeway in the prices. It's been taken very good care of. I've been wanting a clean little Trooper for awhile so this wasn't an impulse buy. Also I spent yesterday shopping and I found one worn out OP and two Post-1972 Detective Specials for sale (I already own a post-72 DS).

The Trooper was at the end of the day and a pleasent surprise. It had what I believe are Herrett grips on it. I think they're Herretts, but I couldn't find any identifying marks. I took them off and put them on my OM Target. They just seem to fit better on the OM. I then installed the duty grips that were on the OM onto the Trooper. They also just "look" right on the Trooper in my opinion.

I've gotten into buying the older 38 revolvers - both S&W and Colt. Not as many people want them, I tend to find examples that are in better shape and the prices are usually lower than they are on the .357 magnums.

Anyway a couple photos. Of the Trooper and laying next to the Officer Model.

I now own
Detective Special (post-72)
Lawman MK III snubbie
.38 Special Trooper - 4"
Officer Model Target - 6"

Very nice. I recently picked up a trooper in 38 special as well. I inherited a colt python from my uncle many years ago, and I was interested/excited to compare them. I can now consider myself a big fan of old colt revolvers as well!

Yes the Colt DA revolvers have really grown on me. Now that I know what to look for (mechanics,forcing cone, hammer bushing ect) I also have a better chance of getting one that's in good shape. And they're not as fragile as the Internet Lore would have you believe.

Very nice Checkman! I'd love to see a picture of all your vintage Colts and S&Ws together.

Sure I can do that. Sometime over the next couple days I'll take a couple higher quality photos and post them.