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Colt Police Positive
The Colt Police Positive is a small-frame, double-action revolver featuring a six-round cylinder, chambered for either .32 or .38 caliber. A .22 caliber model was also offered. Designed primarily for sale to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies, the Police Positive was introduced into the firearms market by Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1905.
The Colt Police Positive was an improvement of Colt's earlier "New Police" revolver, upgraded with an internal hammer block safety. Colt named this new security device the "Positive Lock", and its nomenclature ended up being incorporated as a partial namesake for the new revolver. The cylinder of the Police Positive rotated in the clockwise direction, the opposite of firearms maker Smith & Wesson's competing models. Ever a canny competitor in the firearms industry, Colt missed no opportunity to score points over its arch rival, and began a marketing campaign which accentuated this detail. In its advertising Colt proclaimed that "All Colt cylinders TURN TO THE RIGHT", and suggested that the Colt design forced the cylinder crane up against the frame, resulting in tighter lockup with less play and better chamber to barrel alignment, thus markedly increasing accuracy. The Police Positive was very successful; along with the Colt Official Police it dominated the law enforcement firearms market in the early 1900s. The Positive was itself incrementally modified in 1908, forming the basis for Colt's Police Positive Special model.
John Schrank used a Police Positive in his attempted assassination of former president Theodore Roosevelt, who was campaigning on a third-party ticket.
In the book "Casino Royale", James Bond keeps a .38-caliber Police Positive with a sawn off barrel under his pillow.
A nickel Police Positive with pearl grips and .32 calibre was used by Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey in Death Wish. American gangster Al Capone also used a Police Positive, a nickel .38 Police Positive with walnut grips and a 4-inch barrel, manufactured in 1929; in June 2011 a private collector sold it at Christie's for the sum of £67,250/$109,080/€75,656.
The Police Positive was made of carbon steel, and was finished with either a polished blued finish or nickel-plated.
The First issue of the Police Positive ran from the revolver's introduction in 1907 until 1927. Sporting Colt's standard hard rubber grips, it was offered with barrel lengths of 2.5 (available only in .32 caliber), 4, 5, and 6 inches, and was chambered for the .32 Long Colt (it would also accept the .32 Short Colt), .32 Colt New Police, and .38 Colt New Police cartridges. Checkered Walnut grips became standard after 1923.
The Second issue began in 1928 and ran until 1947, adding a somewhat heavier frame as well as a serrated topstrap to reduce sight glare, while retaining the wooden grips. Both of Colt's “New Police” rounds were actually slight redesigns of existing S&W cartridges, the .32 S&W Long and .38 S&W with the bullet noses flattened, as Colt resisted providing its main competitor with any free advertising.
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Colt Police Positive
The Colt Police Positive is a small-frame, double-action revolver featuring a six-round cylinder, chambered for either .32 or .38 caliber. A .22 caliber model was also offered. Designed primarily for sale to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies, the Police Positive was introduced into the firearms market by Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1905.
The Colt Police Positive was an improvement of Colt's earlier "New Police" revolver, upgraded with an internal hammer block safety. Colt named this new security device the "Positive Lock", and its nomenclature ended up being incorporated as a partial namesake for the new revolver. The cylinder of the Police Positive rotated in the clockwise direction, the opposite of firearms maker Smith & Wesson's competing models. Ever a canny competitor in the firearms industry, Colt missed no opportunity to score points over its arch rival, and began a marketing campaign which accentuated this detail. In its advertising Colt proclaimed that "All Colt cylinders TURN TO THE RIGHT", and suggested that the Colt design forced the cylinder crane up against the frame, resulting in tighter lockup with less play and better chamber to barrel alignment, thus markedly increasing accuracy. The Police Positive was very successful; along with the Colt Official Police it dominated the law enforcement firearms market in the early 1900s. The Positive was itself incrementally modified in 1908, forming the basis for Colt's Police Positive Special model.
John Schrank used a Police Positive in his attempted assassination of former president Theodore Roosevelt, who was campaigning on a third-party ticket.
In the book "Casino Royale", James Bond keeps a .38-caliber Police Positive with a sawn off barrel under his pillow.
A nickel Police Positive with pearl grips and .32 calibre was used by Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey in Death Wish. American gangster Al Capone also used a Police Positive, a nickel .38 Police Positive with walnut grips and a 4-inch barrel, manufactured in 1929; in June 2011 a private collector sold it at Christie's for the sum of £67,250/$109,080/€75,656.
The Police Positive was made of carbon steel, and was finished with either a polished blued finish or nickel-plated.
The First issue of the Police Positive ran from the revolver's introduction in 1907 until 1927. Sporting Colt's standard hard rubber grips, it was offered with barrel lengths of 2.5 (available only in .32 caliber), 4, 5, and 6 inches, and was chambered for the .32 Long Colt (it would also accept the .32 Short Colt), .32 Colt New Police, and .38 Colt New Police cartridges. Checkered Walnut grips became standard after 1923.
The Second issue began in 1928 and ran until 1947, adding a somewhat heavier frame as well as a serrated topstrap to reduce sight glare, while retaining the wooden grips. Both of Colt's “New Police” rounds were actually slight redesigns of existing S&W cartridges, the .32 S&W Long and .38 S&W with the bullet noses flattened, as Colt resisted providing its main competitor with any free advertising.