HELP PLEASE: 1945 First Gen. Colt Detective Special .38

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

zerotonothing

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Messages
1,016
Reaction score
0
Location
Blanchard, USA
Picked this up in a trade a few days ago and know nothing about its worth. I'm most certainly not looking to sell it, as I've kinda fallen in love with it.

The serial is 48****. Dates it as begin made in 1945; and one of only 1,000 made that year. Barrel rifling is pristine, mirror finish. I would say that the blue finish is at 90%+. Original checkered wood grips w/ a minor scratch.

Just kinda wondering what the dollar value is on a firearm like this might be, really for insurance purposes. I found a lot of info on the gun, just not alot out there in terms of determining value.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to reply to the thread or send me a PM.

Here are a couple pics......

View attachment IMAG0668-1.jpg
View attachment IMAG0671-1.jpg
 

flatwins

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
8,739
Reaction score
33
Location
Broken Arrow
DS's tend to vary a bit in value. Seems like the ones on Gunbroker are often priced too high ($600 +). I like them and and one time had one in each of the calibers available at the time (.38 Special, .32 New Police, and .38 New Police). The one I have in .38 NP (aka .38 S&W) is the only one I've ever seen in that caliber.

I'm no Colt expert by any means and can't speak for high-production years vs. low production years but I'd say a realistic value of a DS such as yours is $475-$525.
 

Honeybee

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
3,459
Reaction score
7
Location
Sapulpa
Condition is everything for the value in a vintage Colt.
if it is a shooter then maybe $475 to $600

Now if you come across a Python then let me know.
 

Buzzdraw

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
3,271
Reaction score
176
Location
NE Oklahoma
DS's are a fine firearm.

The grips look considerably more worn than the blue/overall metal condition. Wonder if grips are replacements? Lots of variation in grip frame dimensions of old Colts, so any replacement may not be a perfect fit.

Pic's not crisp enough to tell if DS has been reblued. Reblue would knock down value a bunch. Older roll marks are normally not very deep and likely will show evidence of a reblue.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom