Colt Police Positive Special
Introduced to the firearms market in 1908, The Colt Police Positive Special is a small frame, double-action revolver with a six round cylinder, primarily chambered for the .38 Special cartridge, designed and manufactured by the Colt's Manufacturing Company. The Police Positive Special was intended primarily for sale to law enforcement agencies and enjoys the distinction of being Colt’s most widely produced revolver design with over 750,000 built
The Police Positive Special was an iterative improvement of Colt's earlier Police Positive model, the only differences being a slightly lengthened cylinder and elongated and strengthened frame to allow the chambering of the longer, more powerful .32-20 Winchester and .38 Special cartridges.[2] In the early 20th century the Colt Positive and Positive Special teamed with Colt's other admired model, the Official Police, to capture the lion's share of the law enforcement firearms market.[3] Very popular with law enforcement officers due to its light weight, the Positive Special went through a number of series or “issues”. The first issue ran from introduction to 1927 and had the early 1900-era distinctive Colt black hard rubber grips. The second issue introduced wooden grips which were smooth in the early years, later giving way to a checkered style, also the smooth top strap was replaced with a serrated one. The Third issue began in 1947, and the Fourth issue in 1977 introduced a Colt Python-style shrouded ejector-rod housing. Production of the Police Positive Special ended in 1995
