Colt 1903

[mec]

Neat little pistol from the Pre-1911 period when semi autos were beginning to take shape. They were the General Officer Pistol for quite a while but before that, Mark Twain had one

There are quite a few of them in circulation as well as the 380 that came along in 1908.
The limited edition from Colt/US Armament is still available from a few sources. It is made from original blueprints and except for a stainless barrel, apparently identical to the historic pattern
The one above wears replica grips from Triple K and also available from Numrich apparently from a different mfg. Spare magazine also from Triple K. Triple K sent the grips but when I ordered the screw/bushings they apparently had non and I got a set from Numrich a couple of months before TK finally came through.

Most reviews complain about the small sights and heavy trigger. The trigger smooths out a bit with use and the thing is a bit more shootable than frequently credited. Still, My .32 Walther PP is a bit faster out of the shute, has a favorable DA/SA trigger pull and good sights."Points" better too.

The "works" and take down carry over to the FN/Colt 25 autos from 1905-08. Disassembly and Re mounting are fairly easy.

Colt and other gun makers had not yet been informed that their products were actually "Semi-Auto and that the 25 and 32 autos were semi-rimmed.


With a Colt Police Positive from the same era. The .32 ball ammunition is widely available and uses a 71-73 grain bullet at velocities ranging from the high 800s to 1100 + for some European rounds. S&B 73 grain ball does mid 1,000 fps from the Colt and Walther.

 

[JN01]

Nice family portrait.

 

[ROD KLOMP]

I now have my Dads Colt 1903 32 acp, it's in perfect condition, great little semi auto, and quality made, the new ones that are out there now are pretty cool also...

 

[BigBlue 94]

I like the medallion grips. Mine has a very heavy bluing on it and those would really pop! But mine is also 112 years old, with original grips. I don't even touch it with bare hands. Pics don't do it justice

 

[mec]

Remarkably sharp checkering for century-old gutta percha. I like the old "plastic"/Gp grips myself but a prime reason for the swap was also wanting to keep my palms from coloring the walnuts more than they already had.

 

[mec]

I got mine at Able Ammo. They still show the Nickel an parkerized variations available with blue and bright blue gone. Bud's gun shop had the a couple of months ago but show sold out now. I'm pretty sure they won't be making any more though the mfg said they would definitely be making the 1908/.380, ("Definitely" means "maybe" in industry-speak.)

This would be a "Definitely not" and more's the shame

 

[Tallball]

Mine was refinished at some point and is worthless except as a shooter, but it sure is a nice shooter.

Colt 1903

• Tallball
• Jan 7, 2018
• 1

 

[mec]

Mine was refinished at some point and is worthless except as a shooter, but it sure is a nice shooter.

Colt 1903

• Tallball
• Jan 7, 2018
• 1

From here, the lettering appears sharp making it appear to be a very skillful job. If that makes it uncollectable and therefore, a shooter, GOOD! A major improvement. The old pre 1911s reason for being is to allow us to experience the same sumptuous, carnal sensations as Mark Twain, Alphonse Capone and George Patton.

 

[Tallball]

IIRC, some idiot had scratched his initials on the slide and magazine. A professional gunsmith got the initials off the slide (they're still on the magazine) and refinished it. Someone also put new grips on it. The description didn't say why all of that work was done to it and then it was sold. I won it for a $330 bid, IIRC. If someone paid to have all of that work done, I'm kind of doubtful they got their money back out of it.

 

[mec]

Back in the 70s, Skeeter Skelton wrote an article , "Francisco Bustamante, I Hate You" He had gone to Mexico seeking out collectable guns and found one of the top-break Smith And Wessons in pristine condition except a previous owner had inscribed his name across the frame.

 

[bannockburn]

Tallball

Your Colt Model 1903 looks great and would love to have one like that in my collection, especially at that price that you got it for!

I had one very briefly some years ago. It was in mint condition, nickel plated, and had factory pearl grips on it. Sold it to my brother as he has a penchant for pristine pocket autos and this one is the nicest one in his collection.

 

[CapnMac]

Now, I really want a 1903, and will probably not find one in my stocking for xmas []

 

[Tallball]

My daughter was about eight years old when I got it. She was learning to shoot handguns, but was getting tired of 22's. I thought a nice heavy 32acp would be a good learning tool. It was! The recoil is practically nonexistent, and she really enjoyed shooting it. The side benefit was that dear old Dad got a pretty cool toy for himself.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Mine shoots real nice, though I've only had it out once. Some day I'll get some good pics for y'all to tell me it's been reblued or not. That'll determine if it gets shot more lol

 

[Patocazador]

Mine is fairly nice on one side but one of the previous owners tried to scratch off the serial #. He didn't succeed or else I would have a hard time explaining it.

 

[Kookla]

Back in the 70s, Skeeter Skelton wrote an article , "Francisco Bustamante, I Hate You" He had gone to Mexico seeking out collectable guns and found one of the top-break Smith And Wessons in pristine condition except a previous owner had inscribed his name across the frame.

Crudely with a nail no less. Love that story.

 

[Patocazador]

Crudely with a nail no less. Love that story.

I have a friend whose son bought 2 Sauer drillings and gave him one. In order to safeguard it against theft, he used a Dremel to engrave his name and driver's license # on the barrel assembly and the receiver.
It worked because thieves broke into his house and stole the other guns they could find but left that one on his bed.

 

[Sistema1927]

I have a Savage 99 in .300 Savage that is almost perfect except for the fact that a former owner engraved his SSN inside the receiver. Fortunately you can't see it with the action closed.

 

[HisSoldier]

I have both the .32 and .380, just because JMB is a favorite individual to me. It's been said that the gunsmiths who can do a complete detail disassembly are the one's born with an extra arm and hand. But they've said similar things about other guns I didn't have too much trouble with, so maybe not true. Someone made a very good photo sequence on it I saw somewhere a while back.

 

[HisSoldier]

Mine was refinished at some point and is worthless except as a shooter, but it sure is a nice shooter.

That's an exceptional 1903 from what the photo shows, easily worth $330 +++

 

[AlexanderA]

I like the old "plastic"/Gp grips myself but a prime reason for the swap was also wanting to keep my palms from coloring the walnuts more than they already had.

That "U.S.PROPERTY" mark on the frame appears to be genuine. That makes your pistol a WW2-era so-called "General Officer's Pistol" and it's quite valuable in that condition ($2,000+). The fact that it's blued rather than Parkerized makes it even more valuable. (The vast majority of the .32 General Officer's Pistols were Parkerized, whereas the vast majority of the .380 ones were blued. I have a Parkerized .32 and a blued .380, and I have been looking for ones in the opposite finish for years.) I have seen obviously faked "U.S.PROPERTY" marks in the wrong font, the wrong size, the wrong location, etc. Yours looks OK.

My Parkerized .32 was actually issued to a Brigadier General (I have his name) circa 1965, during Vietnam. I don't have a record of issue of the .380, but it's speculated that it was issued to the OSS or similar agency during WW2. (The .380's were apparently issued before the .32's.)

There are published books with serial numbers and records of issue. If I were you I would certainly research the background of the pistol.

Walnut grips with Colt medallions were original with these pistols. The pistols were issued with a specific belt, holster, and magazine pocket. (Russet leather during WW2, black leather starting in the 1950's.) These accoutrements are even rarer than the pistols. Also, the WW2-era magazines are noticeably different from the earlier magazines. These (original) magazines are $100 and up if you can find them.

 

[Monac]

I wish someone would reproduce that Colt Police Positive 38 in the first post, but chamber for 38 Special Wadcutters instead of 38 S&W. But a revolver like that would probably sell in much smaller numbers and cost much more to make than the reproduction of the Colt 1903 automatic.

Oh, well, who ever thought there would be a high quality reproduction of the 1903. That's a fine thing.

And it never occurred to me that Mark Twain spanned the era from the S&W Model 1 to the Colt 1903.

 

[mec]

Twain remarked that his Smith #1 fired a bullet the size of a homeopathic -all five constituting an adult dose. He said that the only problem was that you could not hit anything with it. Not being able to find the (available) .22 short black powder loads made for this and others, I did a pull and replace on some .22 shorts and also shot some cci mini caps through one. The black powder loads were very puny but you actually could hit a fairly large target out to 15 yards.

The Police Positives actually came in two (at least) varieties. The ones chambered for 38 special and 32-20 had longer cylinders and shot standard length. The one in the picture is a 32 Long made in 1938. I have another short-cylinder one in great condition in 38 S&W from 1925. Both great shooters and still perfectly timed.

 

[Monac]

There were 3 different sized Police Positives:

1) The original Police Positive, which was a 6 shot 32 Long (Long Colt at first, then 32 S&W Long, aka 32 Colt New Police),

2) the Police Positive 38, which was a 6 shot 38 S&W (aka 38 Colt New Police),

3) and the Police Positive Special, which was a 6 shot 38 Special (aka 38 Colt Special).

Confusingly, Colt made all of them at the same time, at least for a while before WWII, and offered all of them in 32 S&W Long at some time or other (although the 32 Long version of the Police Positive Special may have been called the Courier, but maybe that had an alloy frame; small frame Colts are bewildering.)

There were also target versions in 22LR and 22WRF, and the snubby versions all had different names (the Pocket Positive, the Bankers Special, and the Detective Special, unless it was a Special with an alloy frame, in which case it was a Cobra). It's enough to drive a man to Ruger.

I think the gun in your picture is a 32 Long on the Police Positive 38 (not Special) frame. That's a nice variation; a little more heft to steady the hand, but not as much weight and bulk as a Special. And the one in the picture is a beauty, which I should have said.

 

[AlexanderA]

Oh, well, who ever thought there would be a high quality reproduction of the 1903. That's a fine thing.

I have seen the reproductions and they're easy to tell apart from the originals. Whether they're "high quality" or not is an open question.