Feeding The Oldster
My ammo menu for checking our Police Positive Special’s range performance was somewhat limited. I wanted to at least make an attempt to stay within the bullet weight parameters of what was in vogue when the gun was made. I also wanted to do so at standard-pressure “stress levels.” I use Plus-P stuff frequently but I usually avoid shooting it in small frame guns this old. If it would’ve been a modern D-Frame, say a later Detective Special, I might have given the high-test stuff a spin. But why beat up a classic like this?
My three loads were Winchester 158-gr. Cowboy lead RNFP, Black Hills 148-gr. Match Wadcutter and Remington 130-gr. FMJ. I figured the Winchester stuff would be a pretty close approximation of most pre-war “service loads,” while the Black Hills stuff would be a good bet for demonstrating the little Colt’s accuracy potential. The Remington FMJs? These are pretty much a dupe of the service ball load used by pilots packing (usually) S&W K-Frames like the Victory Model in WWII. What I like about them is they’re “bulk-pack practice” cheap and pretty accurate in most guns. Plus, they’re “FMJ clean.” Most 4″ guns I’ve used them in generally produce velocities a bit over 900 fps — what I got with the Police Positive Special.
The 158-gr. Winchester stuff produced a 6-shot 2.5″ group at 25 yards while the Black Hills Wadcutters crowded 5 shots into a spectacular cluster at just under 1.5″. The Remington 130-gr. was almost on a par with the Winchester 158s.
Normally I’m the first guy to piss and moan about tiny, fixed U-notch-rear/blade-front vintage sighting arrangements like this one, but I’m gonna keep my mouth shut here — good bifocals and a nice group or three will do that! Whatever long-ago Colt craftsman regulated these sights knew what he was doing.