For the last few decades, the most popular handguns on the market are polymer framed striker fired handguns. Whether it is made by Glock, Sig, CZ, or many others, the options are various, but the basic platform has been unchanged for a generation, save for a few minor improvements here and there. But in the previous century, the default handguns were not simply a type of pistol but two in particular: the Smith & Wesson M&P and the Colt Official Police. These pedestrian .38 Special double-action revolvers were the go-to handguns for law enforcement and the shooting public for the better part of a century and went on to become icons on an era immortalized on the streets and on the silver screen. But which revolver is the better of the two?

In two previous installments, we explored the history and usage of the Smith & Wesson M&P and the Colt Official Police. The M&P, better known now as the Model 10, is still very much with us. But the Colt Official Police was discontinued in 1969. Based on that, the M&P must be a better handgun, right? So continues the epic rivalry between Colt and Smith & Wesson played out by the companies and their respective enthusiasts. But the debate is not just academic. There are plenty of good used Model 10s and Official Police revolvers out there and they are waiting to be shot and, perhaps, serve once again. Let’s take a look at the Smith & Wesson and the Colt Official Police from a shooting perspective.

Quirks and Features

In the broad strokes, the Colt Official Police and Smith & Wesson M&P revolvers are equivalent. If you squint, it might even be hard to tell the difference. The base models are both double action/single action revolvers that can be fired by either cocking the exposed hammer and pressing the trigger, or alternatively pressing the trigger to cycle the cylinder and fire in one stroke. Both feature swing-out cylinders that swing to the left side of the frame and both have an ejector rod that can be hit to knock out the empty cases all at once. Both were chambered in different cartridges at different points, but the most popular chambering is in .38 Special. Both revolvers had subvariants with adjustable sights, but the typical fare with these service revolvers are fixed sights, with a notch in the top strap of the frame and a half-moon or ramped front sight.

Smith & Wesson M&P: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

The M&P revolver came issued with checkered walnut grips and a polished blued finish, although it was also available in a nickel finish. It currently comes only with a 4-inch bull barrel, a variant that emerged in 1963. But historically, barrel lengths from 2 to 6 inches were made. Early M&Ps are distinguished by a high arching hammer, a half-moon front sight, tapered barrel, and a partial underlug that retains and locks the ejector rod in place. Later, the sights were improved to a square notch rear and a ramped front sight.

My particular M&P is a Model 1905 made in 1918. It is a 4th Change model that denotes the inclusion of a hammer block safety in addition to the original rebounding hammer/slide arrangement. This revolver has a great bore and 5 inch barrel. It is an archetypical pre-war M&P whose base design, with minor refinements, continues on today.

Colt Official Police: An Unchanging Archetype

Colt enthusiasts will have found me out with a cursory look at the photography. I don’t have an Official Police. My particular revolver is a Colt Army Special dated to 1926, a year before Colt changed the name. Aside from the name change, Colt gave the OP checkered grips and a serrated trigger. But mechanically and functionally, this Army Special is the same revolver except with a smooth trigger and plain slick-sided walnut stocks.

The Army Special has a slightly smaller hammer and a square notch rear sight and a half-moon front sight mounted. This revolver wears a six inch barrel, although four and five inch barreled models were available and more typical. The revolver has an exposed ejector rod with no underlug and Colt’s trademark clamshell cylinder release that has to be pulled back to free the cylinder to swing out. The Smith & Wesson is just the opposite, with a push release. All of these features would remain unchanged throughout its production run.

On the Inside: Disassembly and Safety Features

Like most revolvers of their era, the M&P and Official Police have a side plate that comes off for disassembly and maintenance. The Colt Official Police’ side plate is on the left side of the pistol and is retained by two screws. This elderly M&P’s side plate is on the right and retained by four screws, although that number was later reduced to three.

The forward most screw on the Smith’s side plate retains the cylinder. The Colt has a separate screw on the right side that retains a captive pin. Unscrewing it partially lifts the pin and allows the cylinder to roll out from the frame. The cylinder on the Smith does not have to come out to access the internals as the side plate rolls right off. Since the cylinder release on both guns are on the left side, it is easier to access the internals of the Colt by removing the cylinder and sliding out the cylinder release as you go about removing the side plate.

Internally, the Colt uses a V-spring to power the hammer and a rebound lever that simultaneously brings the hammer back after the trigger is released and powers the hand to turn the cylinder. The M&P had a similar arrangement early on, but it was simplified in this model to the modern coil spring powered rebound slide and leaf mainspring to do the same work of rebounding the hammer, although the hand is physically attached to the hammer. This system follows through on all modern Smith & Wesson revolvers. Modern Colts use the same respective arrangement, although the V-Spring has been changed to a U-spring.

Visually, it is easy to see that the Colt Official Police locks its cylinder from the rear via the cylinder release stud. The Smith & Wesson locks up at the rear in the same way but also has a detente in the underlug that locks up the ejector rod, where as the OP’s ejector is exposed.

Timing Issues

Colt revolvers are known for going out of time, that is, for the cylinder to not line up correctly with the barrel on the moment of firing. There are several factors that can cause timing issues in any revolver such as weight of the cylinder and owner abuse, as well as incomplete lockup of the cylinder. The Colt OP is fully supported in the rear, but not the front. It also has a heavier cylinder than the M&P. But much of that lore about Colts going out of time more readily has to do with the fact that Colts are timed differently than Smith & Wessons and their clones.

Smith & Wesson revolvers have a cylinder whose bolt stop locks the cylinder in place just before the hammer is fully cocked. Early Colts reach full lockup when the trigger is pulled. If the bolt stop is not fully engaged, the hand pushes the cylinder the rest of the way when the trigger is pulled.

It is not unusual to find old Colts that have some slop in the cylinder if you are checking the timing in the usual manner by cocking the hammer slowly and seeing when the bolt stop engages in the leads of the cylinder. That is alarming in Smith & Wesson handguns, but the true litmus test is when the trigger is pulled. In the case of my Army Special, it locks up tight as a drum when the trigger is pulled. Tighter, in fact, than the slight wiggle on my M&P.

Shooting Impressions

My first handgun was a bull barreled Model 10, so I am partial to the K-frame M&P lineup. I have also heard of the Colt being the slightly inferior weaker sister and we know that the Colt is no longer made. But when handling and shooting them side by side, it was easy to understand why the Colt Official Police was initially the favored handgun and why the Smith & Wesson would eventually overtake Colt in the handgun market.

Handling

Although the M&P and Colt Official Police are seen as interchangeable in a way. For example, the FBI in the 1940s issued the OP as standard issue but agents could instead carry and qualify with the M&P. Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers were, until the end, comparable from an issuance standpoint. But as shooting irons, they are unequal.

The Official Police is built on Colt’s I frame that was originally meant for a .41 caliber cartridge. That same frame would later be used for the Colt Python. The cylinder, cylinder frame, and grip frame are larger than the M&P. The slick grips of my Army Special fill my larger hands with little room to bump the trigger guard under recoil. The M&P’s bag-style grip leaves a little less to hang onto and a little more room between the fingers and trigger guard.

I shot both handguns using standard pressure .38 Special loads including Federal 158 grain lead round nosed ammunition as well as my own 148 grain wadcutter handloads. Both produced moderate recoil and no discomfort out of these all-steel handguns, but the sights of Colt barely moved whereas the M&P jumped a bit more and it took a bit of time for me to find the front sight. I also fired a handful of Federal 158 grain +P lead hollow-points through the Colt. Recoil and blast were more noticeable but still quite tame. The .38 Special cartridge remains the best selling revolver round out there. Aside from the countless revolvers made for it, recoil is mild for a centerfire pistol round and power is fair. The Federal +P load clocked out of the Colt at nearly 1,000 feet per second for just under 350-foot pounds of energy, putting it above some standard pressure 9mm Luger rounds. The old school lead round nosed standard pressure load clocked in at 810 feet per second out of the Colt and 778 feet per second out of the Smith. Those velocities fall into the .380 ACP ballpark, but with a much heavier round that carries more momentum and penetration potential.

Accuracy

When it comes to handgun shooting, accuracy comes down to a number of variables. The most important of them is the shooter. But the shooter can have a harder time on a handgun that is more difficult to use. How the shooter shoots is another factor.

The Colt Official Police excelled early on because it featured higher profile and wider sights over the M&P. It was also renowned for having a crisp single-action trigger pull. In the era where training was calculated by how tight of a group one had compared to how fast you can get hits on target, single action shooting was the preferred method to establish who the best shots were. The Army Special platform was so popular that the Officer’s Match model, a heavy-barreled adjustable sight version, was introduced. Those guns dominated police qualification shoots and national matches up to Camp Perry. The M&P, as made before World War II, has a lousy sighting system by comparison. It has a half-moon front sight that is barely visible in the shallow V-notch rear. With the hammer down, the sights are almost nonexistent. These differences did play out on the range, although it was less of a factor than I thought it would be. Both handguns are capable shooters and how well I shot each usually lay in how much coffee I had while on the range.

Although the Colt is a heavier revolver, the M&P is steady in the hand with an excellent balance. The sights are its biggest limiting factor as I had to point the pistol at the target, hope to catch the tip of the front sight and pull the trigger. Thankfully, the Smith & Wesson trigger is a familiar one for me. The double-action pull breaks on my Lyman scale at 9 lbs. 6 oz. It starts out light, gets heavier, and the trigger rolls lightly to the break suddenly. The single action pull breaks at 4 lbs. 3 oz. with no mush or movement. On the whole, nomatter what I did my groups with the M&P shooting semi-rapidly in double action were roughly the same as slow firing in single action. I could put six rounds into a 5-inch cluster at 15 yards readily.

Even though Colt improved the sights further with the name change, my old Army Special has sights that are superior to the M&P. They are taller, wider, and easier to pick up. They echo the kind of sights that would show up on the M&P after World War II, but Colt appeared to get the sights right out of the gate. I am accustomed to new-age Colt snake guns, so I was expecting the characteristic stacking trigger pull in double action. That is when the trigger gets heavier the further you pull it. While I did experience that, the Army Special’s smooth glassy pull counteracted it and I had trouble distinguishing it from the M&P. Technically, the Colt has a slightly better trigger in double action– 9 lbs. 1 oz. But the famed single action trigger was a little heavier at 4 lbs. 8 oz.

Although I could shoot the Colt more quickly, the group sizes with it in double action were little different than the M&P. But in single action, I could more than spot a difference. It was not difficult to put six rounds into a two-inch hole at 15 yards. The results were even better with the Federal +P loads I used, which gave me a clean 1 1/2-inch group. Both handguns gave serviceable accuracy, but it was clear that Colt had an edge early on. But that difference would have moved to parity in the last few decades of the Official Police’s run.

Accessories

Whether you are thinking about a newer production model or elderly relics like the ones I have, you are not completely in the dark when it comes to holsters and speed loaders. Although both came out decades before the first speed loaders, the Colt and Smith will take them. The M&P will take any K-frame .38/.357 speed loader like the Safariland Comp II or HKS Model 10. With the Army Special or Official Police, look for a loader designed for the Colt Python and shoot away speedily. Both also happily take Bianchi Speed Strips, if you are looking for a more discreet way to carry extra ammo.

The M&P and Model 10 will fit conventional K-frame holsters, although most holster like those from 1791 GunLeather are geared toward 4-inch barreled models or shorter. Mine rides in a Hunter snap-off belt holster. Hunter also offers solutions for the Colt Official Police, as does Craft Holsters, and custom and semi-custom leather outfits like Simply Rugged and El Paso Saddlery.

Ammunition Recommendations

To +P or not to +P, that is the question. It is hard to escape the conversation about using older .38 Special revolvers with higher pressure +P ammunition. .38 Special +P ammunition emerged in the 1970s to improve on the performance of the old 158 grain round nosed lead ammunition with new hollow-point offerings that were loaded to higher pressure for more velocity. Most modern defensive loads for .38 Special today are +P rated. Some experts caution against using +P ammunition at all in old revolvers, while others suggest limited use is okay for personal defense, while you use standard pressure loads for practice.

There are hints of truth to this advice. Modern .38 Special +P ammunition is loaded to 18,500 psi, compared to the 17,000-psi standard for regular .38 Special ammunition. We can infer that +P ammunition will wear out a modern revolver a bit faster than standard ammo, although it may take thousands of rounds to come to that, if it happens at all. But +P ammunition is nothing new. Ballisticians have been tweaking with .38 Special ammunition since it first debuted.

The .38 Special was originally a black powder cartridge when it came out in 1898, but by 1902 the round was being loaded with smokeless ammo at the same pressure. But black powder pressures behave differently from smokeless, which burns more slowly. With this in mind, those early collectable M&Ps should be shot with black powder. In 1930, the first .38 Special Hi Speed ammunition hit the market. These rounds boasted velocities of 1,000-1,100 feet per second. Otherwise known as the .38-44, Smith & Wesson developed the round and used their large N-frame revolver to handle it as the M&P was too small. The Colt Official Police lacks the black powder baggage and is heavier built. Colt announced their existing revolver can handle the Hi Speed ammo. Smith & Wesson began heat treating their cylinders for added durability in 1918 and went on to a series of small engineering changes over the years. The Model 10 went on to take the lead in the law enforcement market in the 1960s and was widely issued with +P ammunition as standard.

Personally, I would not hesitate to use +P ammunition in a Colt Official Police or a Smith & Wesson Model 10. But I am generally reluctant to use +P in my old M&P as it was made at around the time Smith started heat treating their cylinders. In any event, what you get out of +P ammunition will vary. Most +P ammo loaded today are optimized for short, barreled revolvers and there are still quite a few good standard pressure loads out there to play it safe. Consider the old school Federal or Winchester 148 grain wadcutter or new school rounds like the Buffalo Bore 158 grain lead hollow point and Hornady 110 grain FTX load. All of these are proven performers and are standard pressure rated.

Colt vs. Smith: Which to Pick?

Before my exposure to Colt I-frame revolvers, I was firmly in the Smith & Wesson M&P camp. Later production M&Ps and Model 10s are ideally sized, have excellent triggers, and have crisp sights. Working with the early generation M&P seen here has shown me just how far the design has come. Without a doubt, even these early M&Ps are great shooters and paved the way for the .38 Special cartridge. But it is clear why the Colt Official Police and Army Special revolvers had the advantage. But over time, the M&P got better, and the Colt company became the victim of the macroeconomics of government contracts and the lack-thereof. But that is not an indictment of quality. If you find an M&P or Official Police in good working order, both are a worthwhile buy.

For more wheelgun content, check out the following reads:

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For another take on the Colt vs. Smith debate, see Frank Borek’s article at Guns.com.