don't have a 1903 Colt pocket auto, so no, I haven't tried it, but I have a friend in California who DOES have one. It didn't work for him. The 380 rounds fit so tightly in the .32 mag they wouldn't feed. But in all fairness, they DID go in. And he WAS able to squeeze the 380 rounds up into firing position, albeit with considerable force being required. With his pistol, it would not have worked without some tuning. But....
With a bit of minor, and judicious filing, and deburring....yes it would have worked.
So here I am looking like an idiot with my only defense being this; I think the writer should have mentioned that not all guns will accept the swap without a little work.
At Les's shop, we ordered only one kind of 9mm/38 Super slide; with a .395 breechface cutout. The 38 Super, with its semi rim, measured .405 and I had to open up every one that was going on a Super with a small file. Took about ten minutes, but the supers would NOT enter the 9mm slide without some work on the slide. The difference was only ten thousands, but that was enough.
My Cartridges of the world lists the 32 at .354 and the 380 at .374. Twenty thousands is quite a difference.
Apologies are now in order. Sarge, I am sorry that I insinuated that you were telling a fib when you said you converted a 32 to a 380. It is possible and if you say you did it, then you did it!
As I said in an earlier post, I have looked stupid in the past and probably will again.... But I learn. Now, I'm gonna go and find myself a 1903 and a 1908 Colt pocket auto, and start swapping barrels and mags. And if it doesn't work, I'll be back.
And LysanderXIII, Im not from Missouri, I'm from Iowa...That's even worse: