Congrats compadre. Muy Buena pistola. I cut my teeth on one. Well, on the Sam Browne holster rig that my dad carried one in. He use to hang the rig on the end of my crib when he came home from work as a Chief LEO in the city. He was the only on qwirh a magnum at the time. The other 2 guys had some old leae cutting Colt Police Poaitive .38s. Actually it was the first handgun I ever fired. I use to sneak it off to onwe od rhe ranges when I was in Jr High. He hardluy ever carried it cause of the weight of the rig & gun. He had a Colt .25 that he usually always had with him. So, the 3.5" Mod 28 put in more with me till I left for college. I used all the .38 spl. and mag ammo I found in drawers & ashtrys in the house cause he put fresh ammo in it often.
Never did get the gun outta all the Chief's that came after he retired. One LEO used it for years after that. Saw the gun in his holster when he came by my office at the juvenile department. Recognized it right away. The gun had been blue and was sent to be nickled when I was in high school. When it came back, I sneaked it off and found that it was outa timea. The cylinder would jump over the bolt stop and misfire. Checked rhe cylinder, bolt stop and ratchet for probems. Looked like the cylinder & extractor were all beat up by the firing pin and it would not extract well. Had to file fit all the parts there and found that the bolt stop spring was outta place. Easy fix on that model. It was a 4 screw frame. The screw in front of the trigger guard just had to be backed out and the spring repositioned. After that, it worked fine. I had to tell my dad I had fixed it cause he used it to quality every year. From the dents on the cylinder, it appared that he had tried to use it. He had tried and gave up on it. He did not want to carry it anyway. He had requrested a Chief's Special .38 snub, but the city would not pay for it.
Well, he was kinda pizzed that I had been sneaking it off, especially being department issue. But glad it worked at least. He was given a Colt Trooper Mk III in .22 LR cal. when he retired cause he did not get the old 28 and I got him the Trooper III in .357 a few years later. I have them both now, but I would have given the department any new gun they wanted for the old Mod 28. It might still be in the gun locker there.
Yeah, I get all nostalgic when someone mentions a 28. I had a couple of nice 6" blue ones, that I no longer have. Hsrd to find a 4" one at all around here. Much less an early 3.5" one like his. it was so smoooooth. Even the 66, 686, and 629 that I have date back to the 80s and 90s. They are nowhere near that smooooooth.