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Agent redux...

Colt Super
FriendRob has an Agent S/N 239XX.

It does not have an "LW" after the serial number on the frame where the crane is mounted.

It has custom grips on it, which I would rather not remove, since I'm sorta ham handed and don't want to screw anything up.

It is an alloy frame.

AGENT
.38 SPECIAL CTG.

is roll marked on the snubby barrel and it has a ramped front sight and a shrouded ejector rod.

Would one of you please tell me when it was manufactured ???

Thank you.

Doug
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • Colt Super
    Please help me out folks.

    Thank you.

    Doug
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  • carbine100
    you can always call 1-800-962-COLT, best I could do on a quick search.
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  • wpage
    Here is a link for look ups for colts
    http://www.google.com/search?q=colt+serial+number+lookup&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
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  • Colt Super
    Thanks, Alan.

    Doug
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  • Colt Super
    And Woody.

    D.
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  • Colt Super
    Alan -

    Linkee no workee.

    Doug
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  • JudgeColt
    When someone says they have something that does not exist, it always presents a problem. Is the poster mistaken, misinformed, misguided, or am I?

    There are no Colt alloy-frame revolvers without either a prefix or suffix. What I think is happening is that the poster is missing the "LW" stamped so low on the crane that the poster is missing it. Once the alloy-framed guns got to five digits in the serial number, it was necessary to stamp the "LW" separately from the numeral serial number and the placement of the "LW" varied depending on who was striking the number stamps. Some are almost into the joint and can easily be missed.

    The other issue is that the root serial number stated is a 1953 serial number. (The Agent came out in 1956, not in 1962 as the "Book of Colt Fire Arms" mistates.) That means either there is a mistake in the number quoted, or the revolver is a Cobra with a later Agent barrel. Does the gun have the very short Agent butt frame? (The stock panels measure about 2.75-inch from the apex at the top of the panel to the bottom of the panel.) A gun of this vintage should have the short full frame used up until 1966 (you should see metal when looking at the butt on a stock Agent, not wood), not the even shorter abbreviated butt frame used on all Post-1965 D-frame Colts where the stock panels overlap the abbreviated butt.

    Pictures would help.

    If you cannot remove stocks with fear of damage, should you be handling firearms, or driving? [:D]
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  • Colt Super
    My chauffeur does all my driving.

    I also mis-stated the S/N it is actually 1239XX. The "1" is very lightly struck, so I thought it was just a scratch or blem.

    HPIM0259.jpg

    HPIM0261.jpg

    HPIM0262.jpg

    There is no S/N on the butt.

    I can see no "LW" anywhere on the revolver, even inspecting it with a magnifying glass. Very hard to get a pic, because of the finish. Those are the best I can do.

    Is this yet another gun I'm in contact with which doesn't exist ??[8D]

    Thanks again.

    Doug
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  • JudgeColt
    You did not picture the gun in profile so it is hard to judge the butt profile, but I am going to speculate that the gun is one of the very late abbreviated-butt Agents with the matte finish made from 1983 to 1986, after the published serial number charts ended in 1978. There are supplemental charts that go up to 1985, during a time when the prefixes on D-frames were S, HA, P, W and AA. Whatever is the first figure on the fuzzy serial number does not look like a "1" to me, but rather some "stutter-struck" something, perhaps a W. No Colt D-frames have any serial number on the butt.

    Even if it is a "1" that is "stutter-struck," that would put the serial number range in 1956, the first year for the Agent, and those Agents had the full frame, unshrouded barrel and polished blue finish, none of which appear to be present on this gun.

    It is not unheard of to have suffixes left off of serial number stampings, but I suspect this Agent was made long after the "LW" suffix had been abandoned.

    The serial number might be a mystery, but I am fairly certain that this Agent is one of the last ones with the Matte finish, perhaps even a parts cleanup after 1986. The serial number remains a mystery that I cannot explain without more information, and maybe not even then.

    Your witness.
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  • Colt Super
    Thanks, Judge for the time you have spent on this for me.

    I'm not going to pursue this DOM issue with Colt, unless my Friend wants to spend the money.

    Do you know the cost ??

    Thanks, again.

    Doug
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