Colt Pre WWII
i can not seem to find the value of this old colt. i posted on this website with pictures and was told it looks to be an official police Pre WWII. but i dont find anything in my blue book refering to colt official police. where is a good place to look for the value of an old colt. for pictures check other posting- old colt revolver.
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You failed to follow the instructions in the previous post on how to post photos. Plus, cell phone photos are too poor for evaluation.
The Blue Book of Gun Values has sections for different types of Colt firearms. Look under REVOLVERS: DOUBLE ACTION, SWING OUT CYLINDER.
As the serial number has been removed from the bottom of the grip frame, your revolver has no value. Possession is illegal, punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison.
Neal
EDIT: The enlarged photo, with Herschel's input, is enough to convince me that the bottom of the grip frame hasn't been altered. Still, rufe-snow's value estimate of "minimal", based on the poor condition, sounds like the best answer to the original question.0 -
quote:Originally posted by nmyers
You failed to follow the instructions in the previous post on how to post photos. Plus, cell phone photos are too poor for evaluation.
The Blue Book of Gun Values has sections for different types of Colt firearms. Look under REVOLVERS: DOUBLE ACTION, SWING OUT CYLINDER.
As the serial number has been removed from the bottom of the grip frame, your revolver has no value. Possession is illegal, punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison.
Neal
Don't forget the $250,000 fine.0 -
This is a photo I got off the net of a Official Police in .22 caliber. It's the same vintage as yours, although in Very Good original condition.
Compare it to yours. Even if yours had a serial number, considering its condition it would be a $50/$150 truck gun to throw under the seat.
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there is a serial number on the frame under where the cylinder flips out and again on the removable part of the frame to get to the workings of the trigger ect. is this still illegal? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by skyball777
there is a serial number on the frame under where the cylinder flips out and again on the removable part of the frame to get to the workings of the trigger ect. is this still illegal?
Although that might be the serial number? The serial number on the butt is the legal one, as far as the feds are concerned. Being that it has obviously been removed, could cause you much trouble and grief. Any time they run across guns with defaced or missing serial numbers they immediately assume it has been stolen and/or used for felonious purposes.
EDIT #1, Hershel makes a valid point in his post. I'm not sure when Colt changed the serial number location? Looking at the photos of the revolvers butt, it gave me the impression that it had been filed on. That along with it being a 1930's vintage Official Police caused me believe that it had been removed.
EDIT #2, This is a photo of the butt from the original post.0 -
I may be getting in trouble attempting to "run with the big dogs" here as I am not a Colt expert but I question some of the things said above. First, I just looked at the bottom of the grip frame of my Colt .357 Model from 1954 and on the bottom of the grip frame of a similar vintage Detective Special. Neither of them had a serial number on the grip frame and did have serial numbers in the location described by skyball777. I have earlier Colt revolvers with serial numbers on the bottom of the grip frame and don't know when they stopped putting it there. The grips look correct (original) to me for that vintage Official Police. One of my Colt books gives a date of manufacture of an Official Police Model in .22LR cal. with serial number 11851 as being 1938. The Official Police in .22LR cal is much less common than those in .38 Special. Your gun would be more valuable due to it's caliber than a similar condition gun in .38 Special.
Additional Information: Upon further research I think I may qualify to "run with the big dogs". Here are three other Colt revolvers I found that did not have the sn on the bottom of the grip.
Official Police #521551, date of mfg 1927
Officers Model #462089, date of mfg 1920
Officers Model #529834, date of mfg 1926
Dates of manufacture are from Colt, An American Legend by R. L. Wilson0 -
quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
Any time they run across guns with defaced or missing serial numbers they immediately assume it has been stolen and/or used for felonious purposes.
Which is an accurate assumption. What other possible reason would one remove/deface a serial number for?0 -
thank you for all the input and help on the matter, i will look closer at the suspected "filed" area but i showed the picture because i also noticed other revolvers online with serial numbers there and thought it may help with dating the gun. i think it will be hard to tell if it is removed or never there because the gun is in very poor shape and seems that someone at sometime removed rust from the gun. out of all the stamping on the top of the barrell the only three letters i could make out were USA. 0 -
The confusion about serial numbers on the butt is due to S & W pistols having their serial numbers on the butt. Colt did in the early years but from my observation of pistols today, I would say they discontinued that in the 1920's or earlier. Have no fear. Your pistol never had a serial number on the butt. Rust may have been crudely removed from the metal on the bottom of the grip but I am confident there never was a serial number there.
Colt revolvers from the 1930's were well made and fitted guns. If the bore is good and it functions well it might be a good candidate for rebluing.0
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