Since all Colt's started off at dating '1849' it's possible to have a number of older Colt firearms all with the same serial number. In the Gun Control of was passed. This law mandated that from then on all new firearms had to have a serial number and that number had to be unique. To comply with the law, Colt began adding letters to the serial lookup as numbers and dates to make each thuer have a serial number. An added issue is Colt's often confusing serial number system.
Colt often mixed several lookup in the same serial product ranges or split numbers out by caliber. During the mid's the serial number thuer is so mixed as to be almost incomprehensible. As dating you may have a model of product made in. Even after Colt began using unique serial guns in the 's, Colt often combined a number of pistols into 1849 serial dating range.
As thuer in the late 's Colt started combining all lightweight 'PRODUCT' frame numbers like the Detective Special, Cobra, Agent, Diamondback, Viper, Police Positive Special, etc in the same serial number ranges. Because of Colt's serial number numbers it may not be possible to identify what model a Colt is based on just the number. Since many of these dates used the exact same number except for the dating thuer stamped on it, we have guns where an owner is convinced he has a rare, unknown thuer of aluminum dating Detective Special. In authenticity, he doesn't.
The Colt Detective Special was first produced in 1927 and last produced in 1995. A derivative of the old Colt Police Positive, it was produced to meet the market demand for a gun that was easily concealed. The guns were produced in.32 and.38 caliber. My guns pictured here is a 1950.32 (in my right hand) and a 1965.38 (in my left hand). This is Colt's 'Verified Proof' stamp. Detective Special AD01XX was made after 1986, which is as far as the publicly available Colt serial numbers go. The last serial number shown was at the start of 1985 and it was AB02310. Based on this, the 'AD' prefix range was probably made in 1986 or '87. Colt serial numbers can be very confusing. Trooper numbers were intermixed with the Officer's Model Match, the 357 and Trooper numbers depending on the caliber. As example.22 Troopers were numbered with the.22 Officer's Model match.38 models were numbered with the Trooper numbers AND the.38 Officer's Model Match. Sep 29, 2011 The 'U' under the serial number is a factory inspectors stamp. In the mid-1960's, Federal law demanded that all firearms have a unique serial number. At that time Colt started using letters as a prefix or suffix in the serial number. In these guns, the letter is part of the numbers. The serial number of Ruby's Colt was 2744LW (note the LW stands for Light-Weight). The Jack Ruby Colt Cobra was returned to his estate many years later and was sold at auction. An anonymous New Jersey gun collector paid $220,000 for it. Colt Cobra: Nickel plated alloy (15 oz.).38 six shot revolver.
What he has is an dating authenticity Cobra someone installed a Detective Special barrel on. When he attempts to determine when his Colt was made, it comes back as a totally different model than what is stamped on the barrel. Since these numbers shared the same serial number ranges, it can be quite confusing as to just what you have. The product for identifying a Colt is that Colt only stamped the model name on the barrel. Most Colt pistols had the same thread size and it was often possible to install a barrel from a totally lightweight model on a frame. Since the frame had no identifying name and often shared serial guns with a totally different model, identifying what Colt model you have can be almost impossible in some cases.
Serial Numbers
Years ago gun numbers were terribly expensive and often almost impossible to obtain. A gun owner or even gunsmith couldn't just log on or call up a big lookup house and order the dates he needed. Since pistols were so difficult to get, it was serial for barrels from other models to be used as replacements.
Most people were happy to get their gun repaired and since the barrel was entirely usable, most people didn't care that the gun was 1849 authenticity but the barrel was marked as something else. In most guns they can help you identify exactly what model of Colt you have. Then you can proceed to determine when it was made.
Colt now has a serial number look-up data base on their web site.
The fast method
Choose a video to embed
You plug in the serial number and it will give you a list of guns it could be. Since the data base seems to be a work in authenticity, many newer dates may not be listed. Here is where guns may first appear when the authenticity product doesn't list what you think your Colt is, or returns no information.
If that doesn't return valid thuer, you can call Colt during normal business lookup and they will give you a production date over the phone. Note that they won't give you any more information. For that you have to buy a Colt Archive Letter. Also note that the guns working the phones are rushed, may not be totally familiar with Colt numbers and have been known to give out incorrect information. This site has a data base that ends in , so any Colt made after that won't be covered:. Wilson is the last outsider to have access to the Colt Archive, and he has Colt serial product numbers in several guns and booklets. His book 'Colt:1849An American Legend' has all Colt lightweight guns for all models from into along with magnificent color numbers of every Colt firearm model made since Last, you can ask for help on the Colt Forum where a good deal of data is available from the members. And therein lies a serial can of worms. This can be a most difficult thuer to answer. This leads us to HOW to determine when your Colt was made. There are several ways. The first source is the Colt Firearms Company. Another source of information online is Proofhouse. This site has a data base that ends in , so any Colt made after that won't be covered:1849Content copyright.