Colt Official Police .38, Glahn silver-inlaid
Official wording
Colt, Official Police Revolver, cal. .38, Silver Inlaid and Engraved by Wilbur A. Glahn, S/N 583469.
What this entry requires
- ATF REQUIRESYour firearm is this edition: “Silver Inlaid and Engraved by Wilbur A. Glahn”
- ATF REQUIRESYour serial number is one ATF listsATF: “S/N 583469”
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1933.
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
United StatesBasis: outside reference ²- Manufacturer
- Colt's Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co.Basis: the ATF wording
- Type
- PistolBasis: the ATF wording
- Action
- OtherBasis: outside reference ³
- Caliber
- .38Basis: the ATF wording
- Made
- S/N 583469 · c. 1933production; ATF states no dateBasis: outside reference ¹
- Service
- Commercial
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section II · PDF p. 7 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: High · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. oldcolt.com ↗, years: Official Police: 580000 in 1933, 586000 in 1934
- 2. Wikipedia, “Colt Official Police” ↗, country: infobox origin United States
- 3. Wikipedia, “Colt Official Police” ↗, action: ATF names an Official Police revolver; infobox action Double-action
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- 2 changes · see below
Correction history
- Data-trust reviewEditorial confidence: Low → High. Re-rated after supporting references were added or re-checked.
- Data-trust reviewYears: 1928–1940 → 1933. S/N 583469 ships in 1933
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Colt Official Police 38 Revolver-NMAH-AHB2015q021272.jpg” by The Smithsonian Institution, Public domain. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “Colt Official Police”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Colt Official Police is a medium frame, double-action revolver with a six-round cylinder, primarily chambered for the .38 Special cartridge, and manufactured by the Colt's Manufacturing Company. Released in 1908 as the Colt Army Special, the revolver was renamed the "Colt's Official Police" in 1927 in order to better market to law enforcement agencies. It became one of the bestselling police firearms of all time, eventually coming to exemplify typical law enforcement officer weaponry in the 1950s. The Official Police was also used by various U.S. and allied military forces during World War II.