Helping a buddy out: Colt 1903

[Faulkner]

A buddy called me this afternoon and asked me if I knew anything about Colt Pocket Pistols. I told him "yeah, I have several in my collection."

"Good," he said, "can I bring this one over for you to look at?"

"Sure, bring it over," I told him.

He shows up about 30 minutes later and hands me a disassembled Colt 1903 wrapped in a shop rag.

"Faulkner," he says, "I took it apart but I'll be danged if I can get it back together. I know I'm not holding my mouth right or something but even with watching YouTube I can't get it."

I walked into the kitchen and laid it on the table, unwrapped it from the rag, and quickly reassembled it. With him standing there with his mouth agape, I slowly disassembled it and laid out the parts on the rag, then I slowly reassembled it with him watching closely. I disassembled it again reassembled it.

I think any firearm is easier to put back together if you were the one to take it apart. I pulled out a chair for him and said, "here, now you try."

He disassembled it correctly and laid out the parts, then he slowly reassembled it and everything fell into place. The twisting of the barrel can confuse some people, but in his case I think he was struggling with the guide rod and spring and binding things up. Once he did it right it was like the light bulb came on and he was good to go.

He said he bought it from an uncle who'd had it for at least 40 years, not sure where it came from before that. Very nice Colt 1903 in 32 ACP that was made in 1924, excellent condition for a 97 year old with matching two-tone magazine.

 

[dmthomp32]

Good looking 1903! Very nice. Also I can appreciate the story with the assembly and disassembly as someone who struggled with that once before with a 1903. Twisting barrel! Although it was nothing to assemble compared to the Ruger mkiii standard I just purchased! That thing requires alignment between the moon, Venus and Jupiter to reassemble and should only be attempted every ten years!!


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[Faulkner]

Good looking 1903! Very nice. Also I can appreciate the story with the assembly and disassembly as someone who struggled with that once before with a 1903. Twisting barrel! Although it was nothing to assemble compared to the Ruger mkiii standard I just purchased! That thing requires alignment between the moon, Venus and Jupiter to reassemble and should only be attempted every ten years!!


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I've had Ruger MK series pistols since my first MKII in 1982 so I don't really find them difficult. Even so, I did install a Majestic Arms SPEED STRIP kit for my MKIII 22/45. Makes a MKIII nearly as simple to disassemble and reassemble as a MKIV.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Ruger MKII pistols are a challenge for a novice. Not sure what a Colt 1903 is like but I would like to try my hand at it. Unfortunately I don't own one to practice on. If the dang 32 APC wasn't so hard to reload I'd have one. 9x19 is about my limit and I begrudgingly reload that.

Some people just own all of the interesting firearms. Glad you could help a friend out.

 

[jimmyj]

A fellow "Coastie" bought one in .380acp to the armory to strip and clean. We assumed it was like a Model 1911 and detailed stripped and lub it. afterwards we test fired it on the range and discovered that when you pulled the trigger for the first shot it kept firing until the magazine was empty.

 

[M29since14]

…afterwards we test fired it on the range and discovered that when you pulled the trigger for the first shot it kept firing until the magazine was empty.

I bought a used Commander that did that. Taught me the lesson to always test an unknown autoloader with only two rounds. The Commander was the victim of a kitchen table trigger job. I replaced the sear and sear spring and the gun worked fine. I still own it.

That's a very nice looking 1903. Always wanted one of those but one has never found me. Glad to know you got your friend up to speed before any damage was done.

 

[LVSteve]

I once field stripped a MAS 49/56 for a gun store. When I got the guts out one of the people nodded sagely and said, "Just as I thought, there are parts missing". Apparently, truly simple designs left him baffled.

 

[Hair Trigger]

A buddy called me this afternoon and asked me if I knew anything about Colt Pocket Pistols. I told him "yeah, I have several in my collection."

"Good," he said, "can I bring this one over for you to look at?"

"Sure, bring it over," I told him.

He shows up about 30 minutes later and hands me a disassembled Colt 1903 wrapped in a shop rag.

"Faulkner," he says, "I took it apart but I'll be danged if I can get it back together. I know I'm not holding my mouth right or something but even with watching YouTube I can't get it."

I walked into the kitchen and laid it on the table, unwrapped it from the rag, and quickly reassembled it. With him standing there with his mouth agape, I slowly disassembled it and laid out the parts on the rag, then I slowly reassembled it with him watching closely. I disassembled it again reassembled it.

I think any firearm is easier to put back together if you were the one to take it apart. I pulled out a chair for him and said, "here, now you try."

He disassembled it correctly and laid out the parts, then he slowly reassembled it and everything fell into place. The twisting of the barrel can confuse some people, but in his case I think he was struggling with the guide rod and spring and binding things up. Once he did it right it was like the light bulb came on and he was good to go.

He said he bought it from an uncle who'd had it for at least 40 years, not sure where it came from before that. Very nice Colt 1903 in 32 ACP that was made in 1924, excellent condition for a 97 year old with matching two-tone magazine.

Wow, that's nice; the bluing is as perfect as if it were new, amazing for a gun that age. My 1944 version doesn't even look that good.

 

[Llance]

A fellow "Coastie" bought one in .380acp to the armory to strip and clean. We assumed it was like a Model 1911 and detailed stripped and lub it. afterwards we test fired it on the range and discovered that when you pulled the trigger for the first shot it kept firing until the magazine was empty.

Jimmy if you think that's exciting you'd love my Ruby. Long story but i'll shorten it.

A local farmer who knows I work on firearms brought me the Ruby to have the more than ugly wooden grips replaced. No big deal as I have some slabs of American Black Walnut and cutting them for the Ruby was easy as eating butter brickle ice cream. Cut shaped and installed the grips and he was happier than a pig in a field of Chantrels. Beautifull wood and steel assembled in a weeks time. Three months later the farmer was dead from an auto accident.

Three or four weeks later his son found the gun in a sock drawer and took it outside to shoot. He set up a target, loaded the pistol and set it on safe and then set it down on a table to go inside the house for his glasses and ear muffs. He came back out, picked up the pistol and forgetting he'd put it on safe squeezed the trigger pointing the pistol down range. It cycled twice without a second squeeze then jammed. I got a call right away as I know both the farmer and his son and his son knew I'd installed the grips. Yes, I fired the gun after I finished my work and it functioned properly.

He brought the gun to my house and after coming to the basement where I do my work on guns proceeded to show me how it did what it did. The only problem was the pistol was loaded and pointed at my mid-section. I pushed it away with my left hand and for my trouble received a hole in the palm of my hand between my #3 index finger and the little finger, the bullet passing through the joint of my little finger.

That resulted in my taking the gun from him and putting it in my safe telling him it was now mine. Only later, after my heart returned to it's normal rate of function, did I discover that in that split second two bullets passed through my hand.

I'm not a bleeder so after we calmed down and put a bandage on my hand we had a discussion about how not to point a gun at anyone unless you intend to kill them. Had it gone off while still pointed at my mid-section I'd have lost my left kidney and likely some other internals I can't afford to lose.

Oddly, I keep the Ruby handy for when I'm watching TV and someone thinks they need my things more than I do. And today it's loaded with hollow point bullets not FMJ's he had loaded it with. Another brush with death in a life filled with them.

 

[Gunhacker]

Wow, that's a really nice Pocket Hammerless.

I've never had the courage to go beyond a simple field strip cleaning on mine, having heard the disassembly/reassembly horror stories. I have no one to bail me out if I end up with a bag of parts like your friend.

This is mine in its cigar box hideout that I made for it:

 

[reddog81]

Nice looking gun.

The field strip and reassembly is pretty basic. A detailed strip down and reassembly is about a 9 out of 10.

 

[6518John]

. . . I pushed it away with my left hand and for my trouble received a hole in the palm of my hand between my #3 index finger and the little finger, the bullet passing through the joint of my little finger.

That resulted in my taking the gun from him and putting it in my safe telling him it was now mine. Only later, after my heart returned to it's normal rate of function, did I discover that in that split second two bullets passed through my hand.

I'm not a bleeder so after we calmed down and put a bandage on my hand. . .

Do I understand your post to say you were shot twice through the hand, and that you simply bandaged the two wounds, and did not go to the hospital or see a physician?

 

[BE Mike]

Those 1903's are a great looking and small pistol, but there are quite a few instances of them discharging after being dropped. One such incident was a gun writer, who died from such an AD.

 

[Grayfox]

I'm quite fond of the Colt Pocket Hammerless myself. I've got a 1903 and a 1908. Wonderful little guns.
Mine ain't as pretty as the one you posted. But they shoot just fine.

 

[huthike]

Love the Colt pocket guns. Half the fun of old semi auto's is figuring out how to disassemble and reassemble them. Fascinating to study the design and workmanship.

 

[Gene L]

I field strip old guns but that's as far as I go. I see no reason to dismantle a pistol completely unless they're rusty on the outside, in which case I won't buy the gun.

 

[walter o]

thrir is a u-tube on how to completely strip a 1903-08.DON"T take one completely down unless you have access to the video ,and it is still a choir
ask me how i know.

 

[Gunhacker]

thrir is a u-tube on how to completely strip a 1903-08.DON"T take one completely down unless you have access to the video ,and it is still a choir
ask me how i know.

Is this by chance the video that you mentioned?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBTjxz7DxDA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBTjxz7DxDA[/ame]

 

[.357magger]

Colt Model M's are AWESOME.

Almost as dear to me as 1911s.

Sleek, chic, and accurate to boot. One of my favorites, they're a lot of fun to shoot,
and Mrs Magger has one too.

Below are 1924 Model M in 380, and the Mrs 1917 Model M in 32. ONLY pistol she's ever directly asked for one of her own.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Jimmy if you think that's exciting you'd love my Ruby. Long story but i'll shorten it.

A local farmer who knows I work on firearms brought me the Ruby to have the more than ugly wooden grips replaced. No big deal as I have some slabs of American Black Walnut and cutting them for the Ruby was easy as eating butter brickle ice cream. Cut shaped and installed the grips and he was happier than a pig in a field of Chantrels. Beautifull wood and steel assembled in a weeks time. Three months later the farmer was dead from an auto accident.

Three or four weeks later his son found the gun in a sock drawer and took it outside to shoot. He set up a target, loaded the pistol and set it on safe and then set it down on a table to go inside the house for his glasses and ear muffs. He came back out, picked up the pistol and forgetting he'd put it on safe squeezed the trigger pointing the pistol down range. It cycled twice without a second squeeze then jammed. I got a call right away as I know both the farmer and his son and his son knew I'd installed the grips. Yes, I fired the gun after I finished my work and it functioned properly.

He brought the gun to my house and after coming to the basement where I do my work on guns proceeded to show me how it did what it did. The only problem was the pistol was loaded and pointed at my mid-section. I pushed it away with my left hand and for my trouble received a hole in the palm of my hand between my #3 index finger and the little finger, the bullet passing through the joint of my little finger.

That resulted in my taking the gun from him and putting it in my safe telling him it was now mine. Only later, after my heart returned to it's normal rate of function, did I discover that in that split second two bullets passed through my hand.

I'm not a bleeder so after we calmed down and put a bandage on my hand we had a discussion about how not to point a gun at anyone unless you intend to kill them. Had it gone off while still pointed at my mid-section I'd have lost my left kidney and likely some other internals I can't afford to lose.

Oddly, I keep the Ruby handy for when I'm watching TV and someone thinks they need my things more than I do. And today it's loaded with hollow point bullets not FMJ's he had loaded it with. Another brush with death in a life filled with them.

What is a Ruby?