Colt Collectors??

[JJ_BPK]

I have a close friend that is attempting to auction his pistol on GunBroker,, it's his 1st gun sale.

He received a Colt Diamondback 38, blued, 4 inch via a family hand-me-down about 15 yrs ago. Not being a collector, he has used it as his truck gun.

I didn't discover what he carried until this last spring and quickly told him to put the Colt away and get something else to throw under the seat.

It's now on gunbroker and he is getting questions about the grips. They look like stock period correct grips,, but there is no Colt emblem. By my recon it probably was built in 1976, at the end of production. Serial D83299.

Are there any Colt collectors around??

Did Colt issue the Diamondback grips without the emblems??

I am a S&W type so other than looking at my Blue Book???

Thanks

[bobby efurd]

JJ, I am not a collector. I purchased a new Colt Detective Special in the mid 70's. I just looked at it and it has the same grips. I would safely say they are the real deal.
Bobby

[JJ_BPK]

Makes sense as the prior owner was of small stature, along with this answer off the S&W fora:

Those grips are the type that Colt used on their two inch snubbies like the Cobra and Detective Special in the later years. The Diamondback came with a larger target style grip that resembled the Python grip. I believe someone swapped the larger target style for a set of the more compact grips. The original grips for the gun had the Colt emblem inset. They look like Colt grips but are not the style shipped on the four inch Diamondback. The Diamond back is a D frame so it can use the same grips as the Cobra or Detective Special. The original target style grips often appear on the evilbay auction site for big bucks.

Thanks Bob

[swpa19]

There are currently at least two other Diamondbacks on GB. They both feature the colt medallion.

http://v2.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=179213035

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=181629761