Colt 1903 with no markings

[rdmercer]

I have a Colt 1903 semi-auto in 32 cal which was purchased at an estate sale. It is one of three that I have but this has no markings on either side of the slide/barrel housing but the frame has a serial number on it. There is no patent information, nothing that says Colt, there is nothing. What do I have in regards to this gun, and is it actually even a Colt? I am thinking it might be a "lunch box" special where as it was discarded in the assembly line barrel before the roll marking procedure and taken home by a worker. It happened with the Remington Rand 1911s during WW2.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I have a Colt 1903 semi-auto in 32 cal which was purchased at an estate sale. It is one of three that I have but this has no markings on either side of the slide/barrel housing but the frame has a serial number on it. There is no patent information, nothing that says Colt, there is nothing. What do I have in regards to this gun, and is it actually even a Colt? I am thinking it might be a "lunch box" special where as it was discarded in the assembly line barrel before the roll marking procedure and taken home by a worker. It happened with the Remington Rand 1911s during WW2.

Need pics bro!
Assuming its not just a refinished slide that has had all the markings buffed away, I would get a factory letter for the serial number. If Colt has a record of it being shipped, then that would rule out a knockoff or "lunch pail" frame anyway. If they have no shipping record, then it most likely was pilfered from the plant or may be a Spanish, Belgian, or Chinese copy of an '03.

 

[reddog81]

Probably just a refinished slide that was aggressively polished. But we can only guess without some pictures.

 

[bannockburn]

rdnercer

Another vote for an overly polished slide which removed all of the slide markings. Let us know what you find if you contact Colt with the serial number.

 

[JONWILL]

I am with the others. The metal on the slide isn't super hard. Probably got rusted and someone went to some sandpaper and a wire brush to clean it up.

 

[rdmercer]

Sorry, but I never learned how to get pictures on here. That has been my excuse for years now.

 

[bannockburn]

rdmercer

It's easy to post photos here. I use imgur and all you have to do is set up an account with them (it's free), download your photos, click on a photo, select how you want it to appear (I use the BBCode for message boards and forums), and drag it over to THR. Probably takes less than a half a minute to post your photo.



Closest thing I have to a small Colt auto.

 

[Tallball]

If you have pictures stored on your computer, you can load them directly onto the media section of this webpage. Then you can post those pictures on threads easily whenever you feel like it.

 

[CapnMac]

If you have the image on your computer, it's easy (if slightly counter intuitive.)
You need to go to the More Options button.
Which will then offer you the Upload a File button.
Point that at the image you want.
Most of the time you want the Full Image button.
Viz:

Now, a noted above, if you have your photos "hosted" (e.g. stored on a separate site). Then you want to follow the destructions there. Or, you can (typically) right-click, and select Copy Image Location. Clicking on the icon with the mountains above (Image) will pop open a box asking for a url. Yo can use CTRL+V to paste, or right-click in the windo and select Paste, to insert the image.
Viz,


Or, at least you can on a laptop or desktop; from a phone is a completely different matter.

 

[bannockburn]

CapnMac

From my phone I send the photo to my email account on my computer, download it, and then send it over to imgur. Again, it doesn't take all that much time to do.