Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless: History, Tabletop Range Review. Should I Modernize It?

A high-condition original like that? God no!
There are tons of mechanically sound-but cosmetically challenged -1903s out there that can be "modernized" and refinished. Heck, you could probably sell that one, buy a rougher example and the price differential would largely pay for the 'smithing.......

Nice shooting, btw.

Also, my experience with the Pocket Hammerless Colts is that the .380s tend to be extremely ammo-sensitive and jam-prone. If you are seriously considering having one customized for CCW duty, ya stick with the .32.

The are all just my opinions, but here's what I think:

A) Is 32 ACP just a novelty now? I can see how that could be argued, but right now, I prefer it to 380 ACP as a replacement for 25 ACP-class guns. It allows for a very slightly flatter gun in a category where width can be critical, and I feel it has milder recoil, which encourages accuracy and training, and training also enhances accuracy. But I would not argue with somebody who prefers 380 ACP because of its greater kinetic energy.

B) Should you modernize your Colt? If that is the original finish, NO. It seems to be in excellent original condition. That does not make it rare, but there are never going to be any more Colt originals. I have no problem with modernizing guns with very worn finishes, or with poor quality re-finishes, but I would rather not see high-finish original guns reworked. And a beat-up Colt is probably still somewhat cheaper than one of the new-production 1903's that came out a few years ago.

BTW, that looks like an ex-Hungarian Army holster. They came in after Communism collapsed, and were one of the nicest Warsaw Pact pocket-pistol sized holsters. Very nice soft thick leather.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

A high-condition original like that? God no!
There are tons of mechanically sound-but cosmetically challenged -1903s out there that can be "modernized" and refinished. Heck, you could probably sell that one, buy a rougher example and the price differential would largely pay for the 'smithing.......

Nice shooting, btw.

Also, my experience with the Pocket Hammerless Colts is that the .380s tend to be extremely ammo-sensitive and jam-prone. If you are seriously considering having one customized for CCW duty, ya stick with the .32.

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I agree with NIGHTLORD40K. And he is right about the 380 Colt 1908's, IMO. They had enough problems that the Shanghai Municipal Police came up with their own fix for them in the 1930's, and the US Army got Colt to take back and re-work a bunch of General Officer 380's during WWII. Colt added an "M" prefix (suffix?) to the fixed ones, thereby confusing collectors until researchers like Donald Simmons got it straightened out. The civilian ones are always going to be iffy until fixed by a gunsmith who knows what he's doing.

I think NIGHTLORD40K might be a tad optimistic about what could be gotten for Mr.Revolverguy's 1903 and the cost of a low-finsh 1903 plus gunsmithing, but I just don't know prices and costs any more, so I cannot say he is wrong, either.

Doing anything other than shooting and loving that pistol is crazy.

Aside from sights.. How are they modernizing it?

Love my 1903s and fear they are like potato chips.

All I'd do with that gun is feed it.

I am one who actually prefers the 32acp as an SD choice even over my .380 and 9mm Parabellum handguns. It's soft shooting and very controllable.

It’s your gun and if it would truly make you happy to “ruin” a pretty 1903 by permanently modifying it, you shouldn’t let others concerns get in your way. That said, you could hunt out an uglier shooter version or maybe a replica as has been suggested as a replacement victim. Someone somewhere would still groan if you modify even a beat up original, but that would be an easier pill for the present and future gun collecting community to swallow. And a modern repro? Who could complain.

Aside from considerations about reducing its value or destroying history, the concept is definitely cool. .32ACP with good ammunition falls within the acceptable performance window, so why not?

I have one. They are lovely pistols to shoot. It was the first autoloader my daughter shot when she was a little girl and decided she was ready to move up from 22's.

Mine was refinished and had new stocks put on it, so it is worth very little.If it were in nice original condition I would try to keep it from getting scratched up, so my kids could get some $$ for it after I croak.

Mine is reliable and accurate. Even with the tiny sights I would not feel unarmed with it.

If I had one in nice original condition and wanted modern sights put on it because I shot it all the time... why not? You only live once. My kids will get plenty from my estate as it is.

For carry, no. IMHO it is not a good carry pistol. It is extraordinarily large and heavy for 6-7 rounds of 32acp. I don't recall if they're considered to be safe to carry with a round in the chamber. I like to shoot old single-action autopistols, but I don't carry them. It seems like a good possibility that someone who ruins its value with carry-oriented mods will eventually realize it's not really a good carry option.

I'm a collector, so you know what I'm going to say...

If you do anything to that gun it will be worth a third of what it's worth right now. These guns aren't rare, but one's in high condition are...and bring a pretty penny.

LEAVE IT ALONE!

Tallball said:

For carry, no. IMHO it is not a good carry pistol. It is extraordinarily large and heavy for 6-7 rounds of 32acp. I don't recall if they're considered to be safe to carry with a round in the chamber. I like to shoot old single-action autopistols, but I don't carry them. It seems like a good possibility that someone who ruins its value with carry-oriented mods will eventually realize it's not really a good carry option.

Colt 1903

• Tallball
• Jan 7, 2018
• 1

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They are not drop safe, so no.

Mr.Revolverguy said:

I have a real dilemma should I send this to Novak to be modernized? I have seen one that they did and honestly it was what actually drew my interest.

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If you consider it an heirloom, maybe it would be better to ask the person(s) who will inherit it.

Here are mine.

The top one is a Model 1908 in .380 (blued), and the bottom one is a Model 1903 in .32 (Parkerized). Both are bona fide U.S.-issued General Officers' Pistols. They were made during the WW2 era.

Almost all the government-issued .380's were blued, and almost all the .32's were Parkerized. Ones in the opposite finishes are rare indeed; I've been looking for some, without success, for years.

What makes these valuable is the specific "U.S. Property" marking. Note the font, the size of the lettering, the location, etc. I've seen clearly bogus markings at gun shows.

As for provenance, I have the name of the general to whom the .32 was issued, in 1965. So these could have been held in inventory, unissued, for more than 20 years. The .380 has no records of issuance. Probably issued to some clandestine group (or not issued at all).

Mine is a lot uglier than yours and very very nice to shoot. It’s also been 100% reliable with everything I’ve put through it.

If you want to customize one, buy an ugly or already refinished example. Yours is a collector piece.

“Modernizing” sounds like a contradiction to me. You essentially turn it into a different gun, stripping away what makes it classic to begin with.
.32 is a pleasure to shoot. So definitely not a novelty.

rust collector said:

Beautiful gun. Mine was cosmetically challenged, and the slide stop was sketchy, but the design was beautiful and it ran fine. Tiny sights were the norm of that time. Newer designs are generally uglier, but easier to maintain and modify to suit.

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I apologize for being nitpicky, but when you say slide stop, what do you mean? Colt 1903's do not have a slide stop the way I think of a slide stop, which is like a Colt 1911's slide hold-open. The FN 1903 has a such a thing, but that's a different kettle of fish.

If you mean the way the safety catch holds the slide open for inspection and quick cleaning, I agree, I wish Colt had put the point at where the catch holds the slide open at the disassembly point. I have never understood why they didn't.

BTW, I agree with the points you make about 1903's and modern guns in general.

I also have one, and I'll differ on the mods if you actually want to carry it, for me the heel mag release is a throw back from before the 1911 when the first really good pistol was designed, in a firefight the faster mag change might make that pistol equal in value to your life.
I know some say heel releases are better, but I can't understand that viewpoint at all.

I also see the point that you could buy a 1903 with a poor finish and do the mods to it for your carry piece. A parkerized 1903 is far prettier than a blued gun with rusted bluing, and the parkerizing hides a multitude of sins.

Absolutely freaking NOT! Leave it be.

Mine is from 1905... Ive had folks tell me its original but im still skeptical since the finish is so nice.