 Although the Detective Special proved to be an instant success when first introduced, lackluster sales saw the elimination of the Detective Special from the product line in 1995.John Henry Fitzgerald, an employee of Colt Firearms from 1918 to 1944, first came up the Fitz Special snubnosed revolver concept around the mid 1920s, when he modified a .38 Special Colt Police Positive Special revolver, by shortening the barrel to two inches, shortening the ejector rod, bobbing the hammer spur, rounding the butt, and removing the front half of the trigger guard.Reshaping the hammer and the butt allows the gun to be drawn quickly with little risk of the weapon snagging on clothing.