The Colt Diamondback is a revolver manufactured by

Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and is now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the s ...

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, in calibers of

.22 LR The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smooth ...

and

.38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & ...

. Inspired by the successful

Colt Python The Colt Python is a .357 Magnum caliber revolver manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut.Dougherty, Martin ''Small Arms: From the Civil War to the Present Day'', New York City: Fall River Press, 2005, page 48. It w ...

, the Diamondback was manufactured from 1966 to 1988 and was available in barrel lengths of 2½, 4, and 6 inches.

Description

Colt introduced the

double-action Double action (or double-action) refers to one of two systems in firearms where the trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. *Double-action only (DAO) firearms trigger: The trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. There is no single-action f ...

Diamondback as a deluxe model in 1966. It has a wide serrated target hammer, ventilated rib, fully adjustable target quality sights, and full-length barrel underlug. It is a 6-shot revolver with a swing-out cylinder and was available in blue or nickel finishes. Visually, the Diamondback resembles a scaled-down version of the

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

, though the action was not tuned as finely as the Python, nor did it receive the Python's Royal Blue finish. While the Python is built on Colt's "I frame," the Diamondback is built on the smaller "D frame," as used in the Detective Special. The Diamondback was dropped from production in 1988. Because of the light recoil of

.22 caliber .22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm). Cartridges in this caliber include the very widely used .22 Long Rifle and .223 Remington / 5.56×45mm NATO. .22 inch is also a popular ...

ammunition, the .22 version of the Diamondback can be used as a training gun for novice shooters. It had gained popularity with gun enthusiasts due to the inexpensive price of .22 caliber ammunition and since it has been discontinued, for its rarity.

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

collected the Colt Diamondback among other guns. In addition, the Diamondback was marketed to law enforcement agencies who did not allow the use of the .357 Magnum cartridge.

In film

* Steve McQueen used a 2.5" .38 Colt Diamondback in the 1968 movie ''

Bullitt ''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...

''. * John Wayne used a 4" Colt Diamondback in the 1975 movie '' Brannigan''.

References

External links

Ballistics By The Inch tests including the Colt Diamondback.
{{Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt revolvers Revolvers of the United States .22 LR revolvers .38 Special firearms Police weapons