Last week I was asked to examine a weapon used in a self-inflicted gunshot death.
The weapon used was kinda unusual in that it was a Blued Colt Single-Action Army with 5 1/2" bbl chambered to .45 Colt caliber. (not that old & in good shape)
Woman used it to shoot herself in the chest whilst sitting in a chair nekkid.
Entry wound under her left boob, exit thru the back leaving a hole about 1/2" as expected from a low velocity round. Flopped around a bit but expired in her chair.
Ammo was PMC factory load utilizing a cast lead RN with a flat point. ( Cowboy Action load?)
Bullet went on thru the stuffed chair and found laying on floor. Weighed it @ 248.0grs
Since I had seen Colt revolvers fire without the cylinder properly indexed (lined up w/bore), I looked @ primer & saw an off-center indent on primer.
Shur nuff, the bullet showed it had entered the forcing cone off centre with one side of the bullet showing it had scraped the forcing cone before being forced into alignment w/the bore.
I'm starting to think this is a common flaw w/Colt revolvers....my gun collecting cousin had mentioned it to me many years ago...
I have a like new Colt Detective Special that was virtually new when I inherited it from my paw-in-law....I can cycle all the way thru the 6-shot cylinder in DA mode & never get it to shoot!
Seems the shooter better not have a well-trained DA trigger finger or he wont be able to fire a shot DA.
This same "Defective Special" wont index (properly lock the cylinder in place) if it is cocked slowly....bad ju-ju....
I have an old (admittedly maybe worn) Colt Police Positive Special that's the same way....
Anyone else notice Colt revolvers having this issue?
My Colts & others I have shot seem plenty accurate but, this design apparently is prone to problems????
Readily admit to being partial to S&W revolvers but curious if anyone else has noticed this???
The little Colt Det Spec has disqualified itself as a self-defense carry piece....cant rely on it to go off DA & that's fer shur the way I'd be shooting it if I needed it fast.
DA shooting doesn't bother me a bit (kinda like it & can do it very effectively)...what bothers me is a revolver I can't rely on to go "bang" when I pull it's trigger.
Seeking imput from anyone else that's had experience w/DA Colt revolvers.
Wallace
1 comment:
Huh, I've heard about problems, but never experienced them and I've shot a lot of rounds through various Colts. Timing is an issue on ANY revolver, and I wonder if any of those 'problem' guns were taken to a gunsmith???
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