| Detective Special | |
|---|---|
 A Colt Detective Special, Fourth Series (1992–1996), with rubber grips and a shrouded ejector rod | |
| Type | Revolver |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Colt |
| Produced | First Series: 1927–1946 Second Series: 1947–1972 Third Series: 1973–1986 Fourth Series: 1992–1996 |
| Variants | Fitz Special Banker's Special Commando Special SF-VI/DS-II Colt Magnum Carry |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 21 oz (600 g) |
| Length | 6+3⁄4 in (17 cm) (2-inch barrel), 7+3⁄4 in (20 cm) (3-inch barrel) |
| Barrel length | 2 in (5.1 cm), 3 in (7.6 cm) |
| Cartridge | .32 New Police .38 New Police .38 Special |
| Action | Double-action |
| Feed system | 6-round cylinder |
| Sights | Fixed open sights |
The Colt Detective Special is a six-shot, carbon steel framed, 2-inch (5.1 cm) or 3-inch (7.6 cm) barreled, double-action revolver, and the first example of a class of firearms known as "snubnose revolvers". Made by Colt's Manufacturing Company, this model revolver, as the name "Detective Special" suggests, was intended to be a concealed weapon used by plainclothes police detectives.
Introduced in 1927,[1] the Detective Special was the first short-barreled revolver produced with a modern swing-out frame. It was designed from the outset to be chambered for higher-powered cartridges such as the .38 Special, considered to be a powerful caliber for a concealable pocket revolver of the day. The Detective Special uses a slightly smaller frame than the Colt Official Police or Smith & Wesson Model 10 (K-Frame) revolvers, but is larger than the five-shot Smith & Wesson Model 36/Model 38/Model 42 (J-frame) revolvers.[2]
Although the Detective Special proved to be an instant success when first introduced,[3] lackluster sales saw the elimination of the Detective Special from the product line in 1996.[4]
- ^ Association, National Rifle. An Official Journal Of The NRA | This Old Gun: Colt Detective Special. Retrieved 2024-09-06 – via www.americanrifleman.org.
- ^ Ayoob, Massad (15 March 2010). "The Colt Detective Special". Massad Ayoob's Greatest Handguns of the World. Iola, wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. pp. 55–63. ISBN 978-1-4402-1458-5.[permanent dead link]
- ^ https://gatdaily.com/gun-review-colt-detective-special-revolver-38-spl/ Archived 2020-09-22 at the Wayback Machine Gun Review: Colt Detective Special revolver in .38 Spl
- ^ Colt Detective Special Question - The Firing Line Forums. The Firing Line Forums RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2022, from https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=299075