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dahermit · June 23, 2013, 02:48 PM

Have an old Colt P.P. in .38 Special that I bought a couple of months ago for the main purpose of studying the action.

After studying the action, I have concluded that it is not very friendly to gun tinkerers. Comparing it to the S&W's, the action seems to be more complicated than the Smith & Wesson's that I am accustomed to working on. A smith seems to have parts that are more separate units, whereas the Colt seems to have just about every function inter-related.

Also, the Colt does not seem to offer as much opportunity for improvement as the S&W does... save for putting a bend in the mainspring.

Admittedly, I have not acquired the Kuhnhausen book on the double-action Colt. But, at this point, S&W's seem a whole lot more user friendly.

An aside: The gun was shooting about 6 inches to the left when I got it and discovered the front sight was a few degrees short of vertical. The gunsmith removed the barrel and took a few thousands off and set the barrel back one turn. However, now I cannot see any light between the end of the barrel and the cylinder. I can fit a .002 feeler in there but I think that the gap is a little too tight. Does anyone know what the specs are for the gap?

Any comments welcome.

June 23, 2013, 02:48 PM	#1
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Posts: 6,501	Colt .38 Police Positive Have an old Colt P.P. in .38 Special that I bought a couple of months ago for the main purpose of studying the action. After studying the action, I have concluded that it is not very friendly to gun tinkerers. Comparing it to the S&W's, the action seems to be more complicated than the Smith & Wesson's that I am accustomed to working on. A smith seems to have parts that are more separate units, whereas the Colt seems to have just about every function inter-related. Also, the Colt does not seem to offer as much opportunity for improvement as the S&W does... save for putting a bend in the mainspring. Admittedly, I have not acquired the Kuhnhausen book on the double-action Colt. But, at this point, S&W's seem a whole lot more user friendly. An aside: The gun was shooting about 6 inches to the left when I got it and discovered the front sight was a few degrees short of vertical. The gunsmith removed the barrel and took a few thousands off and set the barrel back one turn. However, now I cannot see any light between the end of the barrel and the cylinder. I can fit a .002 feeler in there but I think that the gap is a little too tight. Does anyone know what the specs are for the gap? Any comments welcome.