David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. 107

Colt Police Positive Target .22 LR, a favorite revolver of William B. Ruger, Jr.



Spent the better part of a day cleaning guns with Bill Ruger, Jr. This Colt Police Positive Target was one of his favorites. Removing checkered walnut scales reveals V-leaf mainspring, a hallmark of Colt double actions; upper leaf drives hammer, lower leaf rebounds trigger. Differential in pressure——in conjunction with Colt geometry----allows for a uniformly smooth DA stroke.



Long cylinder flutes on Police Positive Target trace to Colt Lightning Model 1877. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson mastered the aesthetic as well as function of double action revolvers, taking accuracy seriously in both single action and double action fire. Colt thumbpiece is pulled rearward to unlock cylinder. Recoil acts to keep cylinder latched. Note checkering on thumbpiece.



Old style front sight sight base is a product of drop forging the barrel, as opposed to starting from round stock. Thin tapered barrel requires disciplined follow through for accuracy, predates use of bull barrel to dampen movement.



Ivory bead from sight. Elevation adjustment is made at front sight. Screw in front of base cams insert up to lower Point of Impact, down to raise POI. Rear sight adjusts windage only



Checkering knurled into backstrap of Colt Police Positive Target .22 Long Rifle.



Checkered trigger, Colt Police Positive Target .22LR. Obviously intended for single action target work, knurled surface is not the impediment to double action accuracy some critics suppose. Detailed finishing includes precise polish, fit of sideplate, and flange on sideplate to restrict cylinder play during swingout.

Nice photos and description of some of the details. I have a fondness to the rampant pony stamp on revolvers. Only have a few but none that old. It was good to see that one. Reminds me of the old black & white detective movies of the 30s and 40s.

What a lovely example of American design and execution! Thanks for showing us what a firearm CAN be, and often used to be.

When I was a kid in the late 1940s and the 1950s our state game warden used to carry a Police Positive Special in .22 WRF, what we called a ".22 Special." He was deadly with it in spite of the fixed sights; killed skunks in barns, coyotes in milking sheds, and sick or injured animals of all kinds from all kinds of distances. He was especially hard on sheep-killing dogs. It always amuses me to read questions about the killing power of the .22 WRM, a MUCH more potent round, on coyotes. Will it kill 'em? Well, that really depends on where you HIT 'em....

Everybody knew how this guy could and would shoot, so the local tough guys gave him a wide berth, even on Friday and Saturday nights. You never heard the term "fish cop" when he was in hearing distance!! His backup firearm was a Remington Model 11 auto 12 guage shotgun with a riot barrel that he had added a Cutts Compensator to. It looked like a baby BAR.

That is a great looking Colt, we are also fans of the brand here!

Don't own a Colt, but those are great pics, thanks for posting them!

I just got off the horn with an old silhouette partner and fellow All-American, Jerry Moran. A a maestro of the Colt Python and good friend of Bill Ruger, Jr., Jerry Moran knows about this gun. According to Jerry, essential elements of the Police Positive----and Colt Python----trace to 1897. A full discussion of the Ruger double actions we shoot today would be impossible without reference to the Smith & Wessons and Colts of 100 years ago.
David Bradshaw

As usual,, great stuff here. I've been gone to SHOT all week, and I'm catching up. Thanks David & Lee!

David, I both own and regularly shoot a Colt Police Positive, .22 LR with the complete King Conversion from 1941. King was way ahead of Colt with their upgrades and additions. Cockeyed hammer, upgraded rear sight, vent rib on the barrel marked King Super Target with a mirror embedded just behind the front sight. My .38 Special is a Colt Officers Match/Heavy Barrel with all of the same King upgrades and original Roper thumb rest, checkered walnut grips.
Both guns are true works of art in the world of handgun shooting. The .38 Special is from 1939. Both guns are lettered from the Cody Museum. Brass Frame/Lee E

BRASS FRAME said:

David, I both own and regularly shoot a Colt Police Positive, .22 LR with the complete King Conversion from 1941. King was way ahead of Colt with their upgrades and additions. Cockeyed hammer, upgraded rear sight, vent rib on the barrel marked King Super Target with a mirror embedded just behind the front sight. My .38 Special is a Colt Officers Match/Heavy Barrel with all of the same King upgrades and original Roper thumb rest, checkered walnut grips.
Both guns are true works of art in the world of handgun shooting. The .38 Special is from 1939. Both guns are lettered from the Cody Museum. Brass Frame/Lee E

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*****

Lee E.... Always a badge of refinement among handgunners, the Officers Model Match in .38 Special and .22 Long Rifle remained an instrument of marksmanship throughout my teenage years. Never in my lifetime has a premier Colt double action been cheap. In college I bought a used and brilliantly accurate S&W K-22 for fifty skins; no one would have separated themselves from an Officers Model Match in the early 1960's for $50.

Long have I harbored a sense that John Moses Browning looked at the double actions of Colt and Smith & Wesson, to decide the field covered. Perhaps he had no inclination fro design a wheelgun, yet his inquisitive mind and X-ray vision held great respect for reliable mechanisms. Browning may have thought the Colt and Smith & Wesson reached the apex of double action development. If so, he was correct in the age of drop forging. The Redhawk's solid frame construction submits very well to lost wax casting. Whereas, the sideplate frame submits well to drop forging.
David Bradshaw

David, Thank You for your reply and positive comments about the old Colt double actions. Do you have any experience or knowledge about the Colt King Conversions that were added to the Officers Match and Police Positive guns that I own?
I would like to know more about the King Company. Brass Frame/Lee

BRASS FRAME said:

David, Thank You for your reply and positive comments about the old Colt double actions. Do you have any experience or knowledge about the Colt King Conversions that were added to the Officers Match and Police Positive guns that I own?
I would like to know more about the King Company. Brass Frame/Lee

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Lee.... never handled a King conversion. Viewed in photos only. Bullseye competition was very popular prior to World War II, continuing widespread for some time after. Sport drives refinement and specialization. Lessons of combat, postwar restlessness, an awakening of the magnum sixgun, and Bill Ruger's intent to supply blue collar shooters with potent, durable sixguns helped inspire new disciplines of handgun marksmanship.
David Bradshaw

A buddy has Officer's model match examples in both .22 & .38. I have shot both, and they are delightful shooters. I have to make do with my 1952 K-22 and am still looking for a good 5-screw K-38.

In my attempt to research the King Conversions to Colt firearms, I have learned that Colt actually sent guns directly to King in CA. for their updated features. These include a vented rib, King rear and front sights, a cockeyed hammer and a special trigger along with a wonderful trigger pull. I have original Roper grips on my .38 and a local grip maker by the name of Keith Brown, made a wonderful set of burl, turkish walnut grips for me with a thumb rest. Brass Frame/Lee