This Police Positive Special was made in 1916, so the “Coltwood” plastic grips are a later replacement. The 6-inch barrel gave it a nicely balanced look and feel.

The first solid-frame, swing-out-cylinder revolver was patented in Europe. Colt--the world’s premier revolver maker--did not want to fall behind the loop and assigned chief engineer Carl Ehbets the task of developing such a revolver.

In 1888 Ehbets patented a mechanism whereby the cylinder was locked in position by a sliding latch on the frame that was connected to a pin that entered a recess in the ratchet at the rear of the cylinder, locking it in place. Pulling the latch to the rear allowed the cylinder to be swung open and pushing the ejector rod extracted the spent cartridges. All Colt swing-out-cylinder revolvers produced since then use the same basic system.

In 1889 and 1892, the U.S. Navy and Army adopted revolvers chambered for the .38 Long Colt cartridge (see Shooting Times May 2005). 1907 saw the introduction of the Colt Police Positive revolver chambered for the .32 Colt, .32 New Police, and .38 New Police.

Constructed on the medium-sized “D” frame, it was seen as suitable for both holster and concealed carry. The “Positive” in the name refers to the Colt Positive Lock hammer-block safety, which interposes a steel bar between the hammer and the frame that prevents the hammer from going completely forward unless the trigger is pulled through a complete stroke.

The competing S&W M&P revolver was smaller and lighter than Colt’s revolvers, and so Colt responded with the Police Positive Special, which used the medium frame mated to a cylinder lengthened 0.25 inch in order to handle the longer .38 S&W Special cartridge (a.k.a. “.38 Colt Special”).

Available with 4-, 5-, and 6-inch barrels, the Police Positive Special was of compact dimensions and moderate weight (25 ounces with 6-inch barrel), and it was an immediate hit with American police. It was adopted by many agencies as it was thought to be the perfect size for both uniformed and plainclothes officers even when fitted with the 4-inch barrel. According to a 1916 Colt publication, the St. Louis, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Chicago police departments all approved the Police Positive Special revolver as their issue sidearm. It was especially popular with Canadian and Latin American police forces and was used by the Ontario Provincial Police well into the 1980s.

At the time of the Police Positive’s introduction, the American civilian revolver market was still dominated by .32-caliber revolvers, and the .38 Spl. cartridge did not catch on with civilians until well into the 1920s. In addition, there was a specialized segment of the revolver market that Colt had been addressing for many decades. Colt had long offered revolvers chambered for the popular .32-20, .38-40, and .44-40 Winchester cartridges. The convenience of a common cartridge for one’s long arm and sidearm had obvious advantages, and the popularity of such rifle/revolver combinations grew quickly with American shooters. At the time, rifles firing the .32-20, and the later .25-20 WCF, were the most popular “varmint guns” because they provided accuracy and sufficient killing power with low levels of penetration, noise, and pelt damage. For those reasons, rifles and handguns firing these cartridges were very popular with varmint hunters, trappers, and farmers.