Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Question

I have a Colt .38 army special with dates on the gun from 1884-1905. Can anyone tell me anything about it or how much it may be worth?

Answer 1

Only a quaified appraiser can tell you the value of an anitque gun. There are many factors that go into setting a value for it such as what its condition is and whether it is something of interest to collectors.

Answer 2

Unless the barrel is marked: .38 Colt Spl or .38 S&W SPL, don't try to chamber a .38 S&W SPL cartridge in the cylinders. You are liable to damage the gun and perhaps yourself.

Your Army Special was originally chambered for .38 Long Colt, the cartridge the .38 S&W Special improved upon and replaced. Colt didn't like the idea of putting S&W's brand on their barrels so they introduced their own version of the cartridge a year or two later and called it the .38 Colt Special. The only difference is that the Colt cartridge was loaded with a different bullet weight and design from the S&W cartridge. IIRC, the .38 Colt Special was loaded with a 150 Flatpoint bullet rather than the 158 round-nose bullet of the .38 S&W SPL.

I don't remember the date, but Colt didn't give up and mark their revolvers ".38 S&W SPL ctg" until sometime in the mid-1930's.

If you will post a partial serial number, as in 123xxx, someone might be able to help you pinpoint the year of manufacture.

Doc