Very Rare Colt Detective Special - OSS Issued W/ Factory Letter

Description

3/20/26 - This is a very rare and highly desirable Colt Detective Special revolver that was issued to the Office of Strategic Services in 1943. One of only 1,004 Colt Detective Specials that were issued to the O.S.S. during World War II. According to the included Colt Factory Letter, it was shipped to an Ordnance Officer in Rosslyn, VA on January 28, 1943 in a 257 gun shipment. This indicates it was issued to the OSS. The gun is matching and has retained roughly 90% of its original finish. There is high edge wear on the cylinder, muzzle wear, and some very minor thinning on the back strap. Fitted with slightly worn period-correct wood grips. Excellent bore with strong rifling. 

------------

The Office of Strategic Services was an intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branches of the United States Armed Forces. The OSS was dissolved a month after the end of the war. Intelligence tasks were shortly later resumed and carried over by its successors, the Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), the intermediary precursor to the independent Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Firearms associated with the O.S.S. have become especially popular in the last five years.