I recently got a Police Positive in .38 Sp., and it shoots good, locks up real tight, etc. I have one small problem, my hand is too big for the gun. Do I need to get thicker grips, or should I just look to get rid of the gun?

If you find different grips, let us know.  I've been looking for some for a couple of years, and I remember reading a post from someone else here that was too.  The wooden grips on my Police Positive are so thick that I can't imagine them being too small for someone.  I'm looking for something smaller, but I'm not (yet) willing to sanddown the grips I've got.z

go on auctionarms.com, there are usually a few different pairs up for sale. The one guy has pearl grips for $150. I have fairly thick grips on it now, and I can still reach around the front of the frame(the peice in front of the revolving cylinder).

IIRC, the Positive is the same frame as the Detective Special...which was nothing more than a snubbed Positive...should find plenty of grips out there for them.

The major problem in fitting grips to the Police Positive is there's actually several versions of the firearm.  It was made from turn of the century to the late 1990's off and on.  The result is all polpos grips are not created equal.

The grip frame itself went from a square butt design, to a round butt, to a shorter round butt.  They are basically the same as the other "D" frames of their contemporaries, as Colt wasn't about to make a special frame.  

Pachmayer makes grips for all but the oldest guns.  These fill your hand quite well.  If your frame is a later one (rounded butt, and sometimes you can only tell with the grips off because Colt made square butt grips for the round butt frame).  You're choices are more.  The Colt Diamondback is basically a Police Positive with adjustible sights, vet rib and barrel under-lug.  While the grips aren't huge compared to a S&W "N" frame, they are much bigger than the stock polpos/detective special grips.  

If you have stock grips that seem to fit oddly, like way too thin at the top, and just barely OK at the bottom, another option is a Tyler-T grip adapter.  This fills in the space behind the trigger guard and really makes a big difference in the grip.  They feel odd at first, but once you get used to it, it's not bad.  

If your frame is the short grip type (or even the long one that's round), you can use a Barami Hip grip.  The intention of the Barami is to give you a holsterless carry opiton, but it fills the hand quite nicely, without giveing you a too-fat grip.  It's stock profile, except on the top right there is a built up area that as a "finger" that extends out, creating a sort of clip to be used to hook on your trousers.  OK, my descriptions really doens't do it justice, as they are recongnized by many experts as worthwile to use, and I've used on for the last three years on my Dettective Special with great results.  Anyway the built-up area provides a better grip, and it's a VERY comfortable grip.  

In the '50's there were many aftermarket grips available in all shapes and sizes.  While there may be some looking involved, they usually are dirt cheap because they are "too retro" if you know what I mean.

Any idea when your's was made?  If you wish, you can IM me the serial number and I can look up when it was made.  What kinda frame does it have?  Once we know that, we can narrow down the choices some.

No matter what, the Police Positive has been around so long that this is certainly not the frist time someone has had this problem.  There has also been a solution already made for you, you just need to figure out what it is.

Ross

I put Pachmayer grops on my Police Positive. My grips were way too small for my hands. I found mine at a local gunshow.

I know it should seem really easy to find the grips, but mine was one of the first runs made between 1904 and 1915. it is sqaure, but I switched the grips off one of my friend's detectives and they did not fit all that well. My situation got worse in the last few days, I had it in a locker type thing on a shelf and the locker fell, and the back of the grips chipped off, now there are peices missing along the backs of the grips.

Quoted: I know it should seem really easy to find the grips, but mine was one of the first runs made between 1904 and 1915.

Ajax Grips in TX should be able to help you. They run ads in SGN all the time.

The grips on the first issue really blew!  There's small wonder they feel wierd, as they always have to me as well.  

I'll give another vote for Ajax.  I don't know what they carry for your exact model, but they have plenty and they are great to do business with.

Ross

Thanks, I knew grips nearly one hundred years old would not last much longer, they have a few to select from, so I can probably find one to fit my hands.