Hi Guys -

I was wandering a local gun store the other day and passed by their case where the pre-war / collectible handguns were displayed. I spotted a wheel gun that for for reasons that I can't explain, just screamed out "Take me home and fix me up!"

It was an old, tired Colt Official Police, 4" in .38 Special. The serial number indicates 1944 production. This date of manufacture surprised me, as I assumed that everything Colt made during the war went to military output. It's definitely uncared for on the exterior, but with a squeaky clean bore and chambers and a perfectly timed, smooth action. I brought it home, needless to say. I think I'll have a go at restoring the exterior and maybe if it turns out nicely, make it part of a cased revolver/autopistol pair, teamed up with a retro LW Commander.

It does have one curious marking. On the butt, it is hand stamped "GE1546". I wonder what it means?

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shop.HarrisonCustom.com
www.HarrisonCustom.com

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

During the war, the gov't issued firearms to many of the contractors who were doing critical manufacturing for the war effort. They were issued to the security guards at those plants. I've seen and handled some S&W M&P (pre model 10) revo's that were so issued. I would hazard a guess that your find might be a similar piece sent to GE.

Can't wait to see finished pics!

John,
You might call Kathy Graga up at Colt's customer service, she has been a wealth of help and knowledge to me over the years! She apparently is one of the few components at Colt that has NOT forsaken the consumer. In many cases she has been able to look up serial numbers for me to give an exact date of production, and has given me other info that I needed, but could not justify paying for and ordering a factory letter, up to and includidng who the arm was shipped to (General Electric??). She might also be able to give some indication or advice on who to contact about the apparent "rack number" on your particular pistol. Bast regards--John

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"There is a true glory and a true honor, the glory of duty done, the honor of integrity and principle."--Gen. Robert Edward Lee

I can't wait to see the before and after pictures.

And John, please feel free to take the space below to tell everyone that you are not going to start working on old Colt revolvers.

Otherwise, the requests are going to pour in ... with me at the top.

ML

Thanks for thinking this through for me.

Mushinto is right - I am not doing anything other than 1911 work.

And at the rate that I get my personal projects done, this may take a while!

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shop.HarrisonCustom.com
www.HarrisonCustom.com

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

Well, you know what they say: 'Good things are worth waiting for.'

Meantime, here's hoping this one 'morphs' its way into a Fitz Special.

-AC

Art....I KNEW I liked you for some reason!! A Fitz....you're a man after my own heart!!!--John

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"There is a true glory and a true honor, the glory of duty done, the honor of integrity and principle."--Gen. Robert Edward Lee

Hi JR...If our dialogue here on LTW is any indication, it does seem we have more in common than meets the 'eyebulb.'

Always great to 'meet' a(nother) kindred spirit!

Cheers!
ArtCrafter

hi , how about a picture , as for the GE , perhaps it was a security guard gun during WW2 , there was alot of top secret work at GE in the war years, just a thought, robbt