[pred66]

I had just picked up this 1903,,,32 acp,

According to the books it was made sometime after 1910, It would be concidered a type lll, No barrel bushing,,,, It is in the 145xxx serial range, But when I called Colt, they said it was made in 1909,,, Who do I believe?
I know that someone when and parkerized/ phosphate finished it,
It shoud be blue,, I took it out to the range this past weekend and put 100 rounds through it and it was flawless, I fired it fast, slow, loose, and firm grip, Yet it did not faulter,,, On the other hand, try as I might, And I am not the best shot in the world, I could not get it to group better than 3" at 45-50 feet,,, Is that the wear and tear on the old guy?
Thanks for any info,
I like this lil pistol, It fits neatly in the overhead of my truck, The 1911s I own are too thick to fit there.
Peter.

 

[greco]

For the type of sights and type of gun this is, that is pretty good accuracy. I just love those old guns. Yes, they were reliable as hell.

 

[RickB]

I find the sights to be OK, for deliberate shooting. They are difficult to use with any speed. 3" at 50 sounds about par, when you think about what the gun is for. The bore on my .32 is pretty bad, and it keyholes, but the accuracy is still decent.

 

[Airedale]

Mine is in the 223xxx range. According to the colt auto site, it's a type III made in 1917.

I can hardly see the sights but can ring my pasture steel plate at 25 yds as fast as I can pull the trigger.

It's fun to shoot. The .32 is a bit small for defense (IMO) but it would make a great pistol for carry in a suit. I'd like to find an IWB holster for it but haven't found one yet-go figure

Dave

 

[2005xse]

1903 Barrel

I found a new '03 .32 barrel here: http://e-gunparts.com/productschem.asp?chrMasterModel=0660zPOCKET 32 HAMMERLESS I'm not sure if it is a NOS or reproduction but it looks good to me!!! I haven't been able to shoot it yet as I sent it off to Bill Adair in Texas to have it completely refinished because it didn't have hardly any blueing left. Anyway, just thought I would pass that info along, it may help your barrel/accuracy problems a little.

 

[RickB]

I had just picked up this 1903,,,32 acp,

According to the books it was made sometime after 1910, It would be concidered a type lll, No barrel bushing,,,, It is in the 145xxx serial range, But when I called Colt, they said it was made in 1909,,, Who do I believe?
Peter.

My gun is numbered just below 48,000, and was made in 1906. It seems unlikely that if it took three years to make that many, that they would then make twice that many in the next three years. A reference I have says, "Production of second model pistols ceased in either Sept. or Oct. of 1910 . . . final number was 105,050"