Colt 1903 Pocket 32

[pwl44m]

Did a little Horsetrading yesterday. I had a 75 Chevy PU that I have been trying to sell on Craigs List. I put in the ad that I would trade for Guns or related items.
A Guy calls and says He has a Chest Freezer full of Reloading stuff that He inherited from His Uncle I told Him to bring it and We could hash it out. Nothing special - a Mec Grabber for 12 ga in nice shape, an RCBS Rock Chucker New Old in the box, 15 sets of dies (none of which I will use) , about 16 pounds of new powder (mostly Shotgun), a lot Brass in diff calibers,about 3000 primers (rifle,pistol and Shotgun) some old and some new, basically everything U need to reload. That wasn't quite enough to make the deal so He brings out this Colt. It's a nice little Gun but nothing special.
My aim was to trade for items that I could move and get what I was asking for the Truck and maybe a little more. It will take a little work but I think I can pull it off. I will try to get a list together and offer some stuff here if Anyone is interested. All the Dies are RCBS save for 2 which are older Pacific. Some of the dies look to have never been used.
Enough of that, on with the Pistol, here are a couple pics for Your veiwing Pleasure (if U like Guns that is). As You can see by this and My past aquisitions I am not particular about "what" it is as much as "that" it is. The Mindset of a Gun Nut don't Ya know.
Perry

[mergus]

I think you done good! To me, that pistol is in the perfect condition, complete, non cracked grips, with a patina that would encourage continued usage of the gun.

Mergus

Committed Colt fanatic and fan of old guns.....

[damienph]

Sounds like a deal to me. I love those 1903s. I really regret trading mine away.

[2ndovc]

My dad has a couple of those. Great little pistols.

Sounds like a fun trade. I once traded an old boat for a Walther PPK.

jb

[pwl44m]

My dad has a couple of those. Great little pistols.

Sounds like a fun trade. I once traded an old boat for a Walther PPK.

jb

I've got an Old Boat ! Wanna Trade ?

[Pitchy]

Very nice Perry.

[2571]

My Hammerless was made in 1908. I cary it as a SD gun occasionally. Reliable as all getout.

[awp101]

I love those 1903s. I really regret trading mine away.

I feel your pain! I had several at one time and let them slip away.

I suppose I should be on the lookout for an affordable one again...

[bdhold]

great-looking pistol

[damienph]

I love those 1903s. I really regret trading mine away.

I feel your pain! I had several at one time and let them slip away.

I suppose I should be on the lookout for an affordable one again...

What's really painful is I had the Colt, a CZ50 (no import marks) and an Armi Galesi (also no import marks). At the time I wasn't really all that enthused over .32ACP so I decided to trade two and keep one. I kept the Galesi because it has a spare magazine and an issue leather holster. As it turns out, it is also the least desirable and valuable of the three.

It is fairly accurate but I wish that I would have kept the Colt instead, or even the CZ50.

1954 Armi Galesi Model 9 - 7.65 Browning/.32ACP

[oklahoma red]

Good afternoon to you all,

Nice find Perry!!
I inhereted one about 12 years ago from my Father in law.
(He took it in trade for a water pump job on a 37 Plymouth, in 1946.)
There's lots of information on the internet to determine what variation it is, age etc.
Have to agree with what has been said here about the weapons being reliable. The craftsmanship on the little pistols is excellent.
They are sweet to shoot, and really are nice as a carry weapon. (I do think people had bigger pockets back then though )

Happy shootin to ya,
OkR

[ollogger]

sounds like a great trade, and a nice pistol to boot, I like them kind of deals

OK is there any 300 H&H things in that box of goodies


ollogger

[pwl44m]

So Who all made these or rather how many vriations ? I've done a little checking on GB and I see one that says Browning patent on the left side, Mine just says patented. Now I will have to get some ammo. I used to give all that I came accross to My Brother. I think I might have 1 box somewhere.
Does anyone have handy reference as to when it was made, ser # 272715. Blue Book doesn't list these. Seems to be a few of them around. And some that a few wishhed they had kept.
Ollogger- nuthin 300 H&H but there is some 375 H&H brass and dies.
While I have some ears, there is a bag of Lead Boolits marked "miked at 460" what would those be?
I will see about separating this stuff and get some pics up. There is a Cute little lead pot with a Cute little dipper.
Perry

[damienph]

there is a bag of Lead Boolits marked "miked at 460" what would those be

I would think that they would be for .45-70 or similar since they are typically sized .458" or .459"

[spaceman spiff]

Cool



Color me green



spaceman

[oklahoma red]

Good evening to ya all,

Perry, by the information I have, #272715 was produced in 1918, a year before mine (its around the #318XXX). There were 4 varations, your is the second. The real "hotdog" model was the military version, they can sell for well over $1000.00 in the right condition.

As an aside, haven't found a aftermarket magazine worth buying for the pistol. Only the real thing will function in my pistol.

Happy shootin to ya Perry.
OkR

[oklahoma red]

Sorry Perry, I mis-spoke, yours is the third variation (made from 1910 to 1926).

This webpage has a lot of information about your pistol, including a downloadable PDF of the owners manual.

http://www.coltautos.com/ModelMci.htm


Happy shootin to ya,
OkR

[MrMurphy]

The Colt/FN 1903 and 1908 are some of the most 'cloned' pistols in the world, they're a simple design easy to mass produce.

A lot of little Belgian and Spanish companies made copies from WW1 to WW2. They also served in a lot of armies.