Source for Colt 1903 .32 ACP magazines - range report

[sigp220.45]

I've been carrying my faithful Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP for a while now.

I only had the original magazine that came with it. For Christmas my lovely bride got me one from here, for $36:

US Armament Parts {part_name}

These are the guys making the new 1903s for Colt.

If you've shopped for vintage 1903 mags, you know the price for them starts at about a hundred bones, and goes up from there.

I'm pretty impressed with this magazine. Its the loaded one on the left.



It is well made. The only difference is it appears to be a mirror image of the original, as far as the dimples that hold the baseplate and the markings on the bottom.







I put 100 rounds through it. I had a few issues at first, but then realized it was my fault. If I didn't count the rounds going in, there was just enough room to try to shove in a ninth round. The effort to do this would cause the dreaded "rimlock" - where the semi-rim of the top round would get behind the rim of the next round and cause a severe lockup.

Load eight rounds and stop - then all is well.

Based on my vast sample of exactly one, this seems to be a great source for reasonably priced 1903 magazines.

 

[jmace57]

I am glad to hear about this. I had tried the Triple-K in the past for spares. Interestingly enough, it seemed to be the GUN that determined whether they would work or not. I had (at one time) 12 1903 Colts and in 6, the Triple-Ks worked and in 6 they did not.

I had considered buying one of these made for the "new" 1903, but was a bit hesitant. Thanks for the range report!

 

[Hair Trigger]

I was lucky and got three magazines with the 1903 my stepdad gave to me. I had no idea that originals were that expensive.

 

[les.b]

Sigp220.45:

Thanks for the tip!! I am going to order one for my little baby...never get tired of showing her off:



Yeah, I know, you guys have probably all seen her and her little sister!!

Now that you gave your sigp220.45 away, you might have to start calling yourself "colt1903"!!! Just kidding, that was a great thing you did, sig!

I'll keep you apprised of how this works out for me.

Edit: Well, it looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow at work on a real computer, tried to order from my iPad, and it keeps telling me my shopping cart is empty, even though I've been clicking on the item....

Edit #2: Well, maybe you guys bought all of them up!! I went back and tried putting a holster in my cart...no problem. Took it out, put a new barrel in the cart, no problem.... Took it out, tried putting a magazine in the cart, says that my cart is empty!!! I'll call them tomorrow, and let everyone know what I find.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Hair Trigger]

Wow! never seen the 1908 Vest Pocket .25 before, although I've read about it. To put it next to the 1903 (of which I am very familiar) to show the comparative size, I never imagined it to be that small. Thanks for the picture.

 

[Charlie Foxtrott]

I bought a half dozen of the US Armament mags for my 1903s.

They work just fine in my three 1903 hammerless guns.

 

[rog8732]

I found an oddity with 3 Triple K mags I have in .380. Only one of the three functioned correctly in a 1917 1903 hammerless, (refered to as 1908 hammerless when in .380). About par for the course as found by many before me.

The odd thing is, all three run 100 % perfect when loaded with .32 ammo, fired through a .32 slide, barrell, etc as a conversion on the .380 frame.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

When I was about 15 (ca. 1971) I bought a spare mag for dad's 1903 to give him for Christmas. It was an outrageous $4 at Zane's Gun Rack in Columbus, Ohio. (Zane was never known for low pricing.) It was an early "two-tone" mag still wrapped in paper. If I knew then ...!

Ivan

 

[les.b]

As I noted in my above post, After I decided to get one of these magazines as a spare for my Colt 1903, I was not able to order from my iPad, when logging on to their web site. When I got to work, I had the same problem with my work computer. Yesterday, I sent an email outlining my problem, and they responded within ten minutes (although I didn't know until last night, because I didn't check my mail).

Today, I called the person, Debbie Sarmir, who had responded. She is their customer service person, and she tells me that they do in fact still have magazines, and that she believes that she has fixed the problem that was causing the computer to indicate that they were out of stock, and kick out potential purchasers.

You can also order by calling her at (717) 721-4570.....which is what I did, since I was on the phone with her anyway.

Might note that they also have new made barrels, which might be something nice to know, since some of the older models may have been used with corrosive ammunition, and have less than pristine bores. Also, they have spring replacement kits, and newly made stocks, complete with the colt escutcheon, although it seems to be in gold, which I am not sure is historically correct, since all of my Colts from that era have the nickle silver style escutcheon.

I just dug my 1903 out of the deepest recesses of my safe to fiddle with for a few days before my new magazine arrives, so that I'll be able to add my test results to those of sigp220.45.

Thanks again to Mr. Sig, for the heads up on this cool item, which seems like a pretty good deal.

PS....Edit, 5:00 PM, EST.... I had never photographed the original magazine that came with my 1903, here it is:



Plus, since today was a balmy 59 degrees, I took my 1903 out and limbered her up in preparation for trying the new magazine when it gets here!! Shot into 1 1/2" at 7 yards. Not bad. 71 year old eyes looking over 92 year old sights. Who woulda thunk it??

Every time I handle this little gem, it reinforces my belief that John Moses Browning was a genius. I have quite a number of guns that he designed, and all of them exhibit traits that reflect his gift.

Best Regards, Les

 

[les.b]

sigp220.45:

Well, just a quick update, just two days ago, on January 25th, I ordered my new Colt 1903 .32 magazine, and it arrived today, January 27. Thanks again for the information about this item.

Two days ago it was 59 degrees, and today it is 30, but I couldn't wait to test out my new magazine. Only fired 8 rounds through it, but just as with the issue magazine, this one appears to be a very well crafted item. As was pointed out, the markings on the floor plate are a mirror image of the original, perhaps to discourage the unscrupulous from trying to pass these off as original collector items. But it is a perfect fit in the pistol, and has that silky feel that the original has when being slipped into the gun. The cartridges fit in exactly the same fashion as in the original magazine, and the spring tension appears to be the same, which is a factor in reliable feeding.

As I mentioned, I only ran a magazine full through today, but there were no problems, nor do I expect any in the future. I am grateful to you for alerting us to this hard to find item. The price is very decent, at $36.00, plus $6.45 for priority USPS Priority shipping with tracking. As I pointed out, 48 hours after I ordered, I was holding the item in my hand.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, they also have a complete spring kit available for only $25.00. This is a great deal, and I can't imagine why I didn't include one with my magazine order, even though my gun runs perfectly, it would be a comfort to have a complete set of springs in the parts cabinet drawers in case of breakage or weakening in the future. I plan to order a set soon, while they are still available, and perhaps even another spare magazine, now that I see how well this one works with my little Colt!.

Best Regards, Les

 

[kip595]

I picked up 2 of the new ones from U.S. myself recently and have been quite pleased with them so far. Going to try and do a side by side comparison with some originals here shortly and see if I can spot any big differences.

Strangely, for my .380 (which U.S. doesn't make yet, although there are still rumors of a future release *fingers crossed*), all I have are aftermarkets, 1 of unknown origin it came with, one unmarked knock-off I think was made in Mexico I found in a pawn shop and risked ten bucks on, and one Triple K. It might just be the gun (only have the 1 .380 and consider myself lucky to have it), but it feeds each of those flawlessly with every brand of FMJ I've tried, Hornady XTP, and several standard velocity JHPs I've run over the years. Man, I do love that little shooter.

Hope to post some new pics soon of the whole gang of Colt Pockets, magazines and all.

 

[sigp220.45]

sigp220.45:

Well, just a quick update, just two days ago, on January 25th, I ordered my new Colt 1903 .32 magazine, and it arrived today, January 27. Thanks again for the information about this item.

Two days ago it was 59 degrees, and today it is 30, but I couldn't wait to test out my new magazine. Only fired 8 rounds through it, but just as with the issue magazine, this one appears to be a very well crafted item. As was pointed out, the markings on the floor plate are a mirror image of the original, perhaps to discourage the unscrupulous from trying to pass these off as original collector items. But it is a perfect fit in the pistol, and has that silky feel that the original has when being slipped into the gun. The cartridges fit in exactly the same fashion as in the original magazine, and the spring tension appears to be the same, which is a factor in reliable feeding.

As I mentioned, I only ran a magazine full through today, but there were no problems, nor do I expect any in the future. I am grateful to you for alerting us to this hard to find item. The price is very decent, at $36.00, plus $6.45 for priority USPS Priority shipping with tracking. As I pointed out, 48 hours after I ordered, I was holding the item in my hand.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, they also have a complete spring kit available for only $25.00. This is a great deal, and I can't imagine why I didn't include one with my magazine order, even though my gun runs perfectly, it would be a comfort to have a complete set of springs in the parts cabinet drawers in case of breakage or weakening in the future. I plan to order a set soon, while they are still available, and perhaps even another spare magazine, now that I see how well this one works with my little Colt!.

Best Regards, Les

Good to hear, Les.

They also have new barrels, but they are only for the Type IIIs and later, without the barrel bushing. Mine has the bushing, but despite a kinda dark bore it shoots pretty well.

 

[tops]

I ordered 3 of the mags. One for my brother and 2 for me. They came today and the shipping for 3 was the same as for 1.
Loading 1 in the barrel and 8 in the mag. My brother shot his 27 times and I shot 9 each.
They worked great. Never a bobble or a mislick. It was money well spent.
Thanks to SIGP220.45 for the information. Larry