Introducing Colt Revolver Frames

Colt Revolver Frame Sizes

My last article introduced Smith & Wesson revolver frame sizes. In the world of revolvers, the two big names are Smith & Wesson and Colt. Among revolver fans, there are S&W lovers and Colt lovers. It’s a Ford vs. Chevy kind of thing. I personally like Smiths, but I’m still going to do some writeups on Colts. For example, I couldn’t properly write about S&W magnums without touching on the Colt Python. To compare these, it is useful to appreciate the development of Colt frames.

With that in mind, it is purposeful to write a quick note on the topic. For various reasons, many historical, this subject isn’t as straightforward as it is with Smiths, so I will keep the discussion very brief.

History and development of frame sizes

Colt has been manufacturing pistols since 1855 but only introduced letter classifications after World War II. Before then, they named the frames after the calibers of pistols, or after the pistol that first built on the frame.

Before the Great Depression, most Colt police pistols were .32 S&W. During the First World War, Colt made pistols in heavier calibers like .41, .44-40, .455 Webley (for the Brit and Canadian armies) and .45 ACP (for General Pershing’s army). At one point, General Pershing wanted every US rifleman to have a sidearm. Colt’s competition, the S&W 1917, was manufactured in .45 ACP.

Figure 1 shows two beautiful New Service pistols. The big Colts were all built on the large frame of the New Service, but this model and class of frame were discontinued in 1946.

In some ways, there are fewer Colt frames to consider for the purpose of this discussion. In the interest of brevity, the following list is by no means exhaustive:

.32 Frame (discontinued after WWII)

Colt D-Frame (small frame, developed from the .38 Frame, and roughly equivalent to the S&W J-Frame). Pistols using this frame include:

• Police Positive Special (see Figure 2)
• Police Positive Target
• Diamondback (Baby Python – see Figure 5 bottom)
• Cobra
• Detective Special (see Figure 3)
• Wide range of snubby pistols

These have 6-shot cylinders chambered in .38 Special as opposed to S&W J-Frames, which are usually 5-shot. They are slightly bigger, though not obtrusively so.

Colt E-Frame (midsize equivalent to S&W’s K-Frame)

• Colt Official Police (competitive with S &W Model 10 M&P – See Figure 4)
• Colt Officer’s Model (an Official Police variant)
• Colt Border Patrol Model (OP variant with heavy barrel in .38 Special)
• Colt Commando
• Colt Marshal (snubby)
• Colt Trooper in .38 Special

Colt needed something to compete with S&W’s .357 Magnum series, which was built on their larger N-frame. Colt had discontinued its large frame. So, they heat-treated the metal of the E-Frame to strengthen it for hotter loads. Colt was then able to make the Official Police and Trooper in .357 Magnum, but with a lighter I-Frame (a strengthened E-Frame) than the S&W .357 N-Frames.
The Colt I-Frames began to eat into the S&W .357 Magnum N-Frame market, so S&W modified the S&W Model 10 .38 Special K-Frame. The modification was the S&W Model 13 .357 Magnum in K-Frame. This model was taken up by the FBI. Another effort to compete in that space was the K-Frame S&W model 19 with more choice in barrel length, and a shrouded ejector rod (a feature I particularly like, frequently absent in the Colts).

Colt I-Frame (E-Frame heat-treated for extra strength, to support hot loads)

• Official Police .357 Magnum
• Colt Trooper .357 Magnum

Finally, Colt designed their apex magnum, the Colt Python .357 Magnum in I frame.

• Colt Python .357 Magnum (see Figure 5 top)

All of these pistols were hand-fitted, but manufacturing costs were climbing. In an effort to cut costs, Colt changed its manufacturing processes and introduced a new kind of steel. The result was the J-Frame series (not to be confused with S&W’s J-Frames):

Colt J-Frame Mark III Series (Midsize, not to be confused with S&W J-Frame)

• Trooper Mark III
• Lawman Mark III
• Metropolitan Police Mark III
• Officer’s Match Model Mark III
• Official Police Mark III
• Border Patrol Mark III

The Mark IIIs, while good pistols, were considered “economy” models. Colt discontinued the Mark IIIs and went to the V-Frames, which were not very successful either. Colt introduced the Anaconda in a large MM-Frame to compete better with S&W’s large-frame .44s. It remains an outlier without the reputation of the Model 29 (How can you compete with Dirty Harry?).
People tend to view the earlier Colts as the finest pieces, with the smoothest actions. They are found with prices to match their reputation.

Conclusion

There many more nuances to the range of Colt models. After all, it’s a venerable name with a storied history. This introduction has been a thumbnail sketch to give the reader some insight into the development of the Colt line. It should also provide some nuance regarding the differences between the Colt Python and the S&W .357 Magnum line, which we’ll explore in future articles. In essence, the Python fires hot loads off a medium frame, while the Smiths fire the same loads off a large frame.

About the Author

You may reach Cameron at: [email protected]

Cameron Curtis has spent thirty years in the financial markets as a trader and risk manager. He was on the trade floor when Saddam’s tanks rolled into Kuwait, when the air wars opened over Baghdad and Belgrade, and when the financial crisis swallowed the world. He’s studied military affairs and warfare all his adult life. His popular Breed series of military adventure thrillers are admired for combining deep expertise with propulsive action. The premises are realistic, the stories adrenaline-fueled and emotionally engaging.

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