I'm truly confused now. A woman at Colt (not in Archives though) insisted that it must be a "Police Positive Special" made in 1952.
Left side of barrel:
OFFICERS MODEL 38
HEAVY BARREL
Top of barrel:
COLT'S PTFA MFG CO HARTFORD, CT U.S.A.
PAT'D AUG. 5, 1884, JULY 4, 1905, OCT. 5, 1926
i shot it yesterday and it has the best trigger I've ever touched. Lockup is tighter than any other revolver I ever handled.
Here are some pics:
And just for fun, here's my small family of Colts. The 1903 belonged to my grandfather. He carried it patrolling the coast of Maine during WWII.