Colt, Detective Special, WW2 US Army, Counter Intelligence Corps, .38 Special

Description:
This Rare WW2 Colt Detective Special, .38 Special, was ordered by the US Army for the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). It was shipped to the Chief, Counter Intelligence Corps in February 24, 1943.  (Colt Archive Letter is Included) Of the 5005 guns ordered for US Army espionage and intelligence agencies, this gun is one of approximately 1000 for the CIC. All Detective Specials ordered by the Army during WW2 were special ordered with a square butt. Early in the production of these special agency guns an ordinance bomb mark was placed above the cylinder release latch. This mark was soon ordered to be replaced by a small punch mark in the same location or under the barrel so the gun would not be identified as a military gun during covert operations.
This square butt, ordinance marked, 2”, .38 Special, was nickel plated, likely shortly after the war when many surplus guns were sporterized or plated. Some finish wear, see backstrap. The gun is in excellent operating condition, indexing and locking up tight, bore is fine, grips appear to be replacements.
5005 were ordered for the various intelligence and espionage organizations.  Of those 1005 were for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), 2587 for Military Intelligence (MI), 133 for the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) and the remainder 1548 were shipped to the combination of MI/CIC. It’s estimated that less than 1000 total were for the CIC.

 

Curio/Relic: Yes

Price: $1,850.00
Shipping: $50.00