A little less than 10 years ago US Armament Corp was sub-contracted by Colt to repop the 1903 and 1908 Pocket Hammerless/General Officer's pistols, in .32ACP and .380. As you might expect, they were expensive, and dried up fairly quickly.
Well, I just got an email that they've got a bunch of blued .380s for sale now...
I mean, it's expensive for a 380...but class and panache are priceless
Last edited by Evil_Ed; 11-24-2022 at 04:42 PM.
Why man why?
So I love the idea, but does anyone know if there is an integral firing pin safety? The drop safety things scares me on such a smooth gun.
Unless they added one to this run, I wouldn’t expect to see one since the original did not have one.Originally Posted by DrkBlue
They claim to have revised the sear geometry to make them drop safe compared to the originals. Not sure if I believe it or not. Tempted if they ever have the parkerized versions or silencer threaded models back in stock (though at the price point it's a definite stupid want).
no one sees what's written on the spine of his own autobiography.
One of my first very runs as a freshly minted EMT back in the 70's, I am not likely to forget that one.
https://www.odmp.org/officer/5095-se...clay-frederick
Clay Frederick was carrying an M1903 in a vertical shoulder holster, off duty, he slipped on a flight of stone steps and fell, the M1903 discharged and the fmj bullet entered his torso just above the diaphram and transited his abdomen lodging just above his pelvis on the other side. He died two days later after surgery. Officers who I worked a lot of wrecks, shootings, stabbings with in that department later told me that they though the internal hammer/firing pin mechanism simply slipped its engagement surface on impact, inertia maybe, and it all happened at a weird angle.
They are cool guns but if I had one it would ride with an empty chamber....if it was EVER carried.
Last edited by fatdog; 11-24-2022 at 10:23 PM.
In Lead We Trust makes threaded barrels for both 32acp and 380 variants of the 1903/1908No need to wait for the factory ones!
I have one for my 1920-ish 1903 in 32; took a little fitting to get it to fit. When I told the guys about my issues they asked for the barrel back to see what they would need to alter in future runs and refinished it for me. Apparently they had been basing theirs on the new made guns (at the time) and didn't have a whole lot of earlier guns to compare them to...at least that's my suspicion.
Anyway. Now to find mags...InterArms in TX used to have a pile of them, sadly I missed that boat for 380 mags...
Edit - I don't remember the serial number cutoff, or dates tbh...but at some point in the early 1920s Colt redid the hammer to add a safety/half cock notch. I want to say the serial cutoff for the 32acp was in the 300k-s? I could be wildly wrong; a quick google isn't giving me the info I'm looking for but I'm sure it's out there. Anyway...not that it made it that much safer to carry, but it's the primary reason I don't carry my 1903 - the serial pre-dates the half cock notch and I've read too many stories of people getting killed by their own gun (albeit because they weren't using a holster and it fell out of their waistband, or it fell out of their ill-fitting holster, etc)
Or like the story above...if the gun never left the holster and it went off because he fell on it, oof
Last edited by Evil_Ed; 11-25-2022 at 07:41 AM.
Thank you for the heads up on the barrels. Very cool!In Lead We Trust makes threaded barrels for both 32acp and 380 variants of the 1903/1908
I have one for my 1920-ish 1903 in 32; took a little fitting to get it to fit. When I told the guys about my issues they asked for the barrel back to see what they would need to alter in future runs and refinished it for me. Apparently they had been basing theirs on the new made guns (at the time) and didn't have a whole lot of earlier guns to compare them to...at least that's my suspicion.
Anyway. Now to find mags...InterArms in TX used to have a pile of them, sadly I missed that boat for 380 mags...
Edit - I don't remember the serial number cutoff, or dates tbh...but at some point in the early 1920s Colt redid the hammer to add a safety/half cock notch. I want to say the serial cutoff for the 32acp was in the 300k-s? I could be wildly wrong; a quick google isn't giving me the info I'm looking for but I'm sure it's out there. Anyway...not that it made it that much safer to carry, but it's the primary reason I don't carry my 1903 - the serial pre-dates the half cock notch and I've read too many stories of people getting killed by their own gun (albeit because they weren't using a holster and it fell out of their waistband, or it fell out of their ill-fitting holster, etc)
Or like the story above...if the gun never left the holster and it went off because he fell on it, oof
FWIW I just checked the newer of our two (.32 s/n 352xxx manufactured 1920) and no half cock midway through the 300,000's. If I recall correctly, US Armament tested across the various Colt production runs and says none of the variants are drop safe. That's where their revised geometry is supposed to come in. Then again I've seen folks claim it has more to do with age weakened springs and the original geometry being no safer or unsafer than a Series 70 and earlier 1911. Either way I don't trust the Model M's with one in the chamber. Which is a crying shame. Still one of my favorite handguns. Improve the sights and fix the drop safety and I still might carry one.
no one sees what's written on the spine of his own autobiography.
I was just thinking that the threaded OSS model was cool.
@Joe in PNG
Your time has come.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
This is your cool 380. Why they no longer make it is a mystery to me.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
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