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Colt 1903 Pocket Pistol 32 ACP magazine???

21K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  gus3836 
#1 ·
I have the Colt 1903 Pocket Pistol 32 ACP made in 1904 with the 7 round magazine. I need another magazine and am looking at the Triple K magazine #16. It appears to be an 8 round magazine. Will it fit my gun and allow the gun to operate reliably? I am not a fan of Triple K but I can not find a original Colt magazine. The magazine must be in good shape if it is original as I shoot this gun.

Any help is appreciated.

LDBennett
 
#2 ·
For odd-ball old guns where modern production or OEM stock isn't available, the Triple K's aren't all that bad.

I don't know how well their Colt 1903 mag works, but their H&R .32ACP Self-Loader mag works great in my gun. Since the 1903 Colt uses a butt type retention, I'd be incline to believe that the 8rd will work. ...they may have just trimmed the follower to allow another round. (many mags can be modded to hold one more round, the Beretta 21A Bobcat 25acp followers can be trimmed to hold an extra cartridge)

I have read though that some people do have issues with Triple K mags. With some guns, some are too thick/wide, or the retention hole isn't the right size or in the right spot.
 
#3 ·
Put me down as one with "the retention hole is the wrong size in the wrong spot" people.



So while it locks in, it does not lock in HIGH ENOUGH, and will not feed a round.



Yes, this is a Jr, not a 1903, but there ain't no way in hell I'd buy ANOTHER Triple K magazine.
 
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#5 ·
LDBennett, if you have a Colt 1903 in 32 ACP, it taks an 8 round magazine. The 380 ACP version, which Colt began making in 1908, takes a 7 round magazine.

There are two different types of Colt 1903 32 ACP magazine: before and after Colt added a magazine safety to the gun. (I stole the following picture off the Internet, from a site we are not allowed to link to).



You need a magazine like the one that looks nickel plated in this phote (second from the right). The other magazines are the later type, with an extension to work the mag safety. I do NOT know about the interchangeability of these types off the top of my head - sorry.

You can find Colt factory magazines around, on the gun auction websites and on Ebay, but people bid them up quite high nowadays. I don't know about aftermarket magazines; I like Hoosier Gun Works for that kind of thing, but I don't know what they have for Colt 1903's.
 
#12 ·
Electronic device

Hello, I'm curious as I have my fathers 32 Colt ACP patented April 20 1897. Dec.22.1903 serial #263399 this is all original but the magazine does not look like any of the above. Mine has 3 long slots with a round hole on top and bottom with 32 Cal inscribed on the bottom.
 
#6 ·
Lanrezac:

Yes indeed, my mag looks like the nickel plated one in the picture. The gun was made in 1904 so it of course would not have the mag safety. I'd pay $50 for a spare mag but not twice that until the one I have develops a problem. I don't get to gun shows anymore so I guess I'll have to look on EBAY or other auction sites.

Just to be clear the first mags for 32ACP as I understand it were seven rounders not eight. That came later. As a 1904 version (gun released to the public the year before) I would think the eight rounders would not have been available for my gun. Whether they fit or not who knows. The mouth of the later mags for 32ACP with a mag safety is very different from mine and probably will not work in my gun (???).

LDBennett
 
#7 ·
At one time I owned three 1903s. One had a magazine disconnect (it is NOT a safety). I interchanged magazines freely between the three of them. They worked.

I picked up a little bit of info somewhere, but don't know if it is true. 1903 is a 32. 1908 is a 380. Somewhere in the early years, someone noticed that the 380 magazine would work with 32s, so they quit making separate magazines and used the 380 for both guns. Problem is, the 380 mag is slightly wider than the 32 mag. Not a problem for newer production - they just made the mag well on the 32s slightly larger. But for an older 32, the newer magazines were too thick to go in.

I know that the one I had, made in 1917, would not accept a magazine sold as "1903 32", but it fit my 1908s. Might have just been mismarked.

Just something else to consider.
 
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#8 ·
I just know if I buy a new Triple K magazine I'll be disappointed. But on the other hand a used Colt magazine could also disappoint if: it is not for my gun; actually a junk mag someone has decided to dump; or the seller is a con man.

I'd risk $50 on an original 7 rounder but not much more. I have this gun because it is a neat looking gun and a John Browning invention. I do shoot it like any other gun in my bunch of guns but maybe once a year if that. I have one good magazine but I like to have two in case the one eventually fails. But I'll not pay anymore than $50 for a spare that I really don't need.

Thanks all for the good info and the education on Colt 1903 magazines. I do know more than when I posted originally, Thank you!

LDBennett
 
#9 ·
I went home and got my copy of "Colt Pocket Automatic Pistols" (2nd ed.) by John Brunner. This is what I got out of it:

1) 32 caliber magazines made by Colt always have 7 witness holes. That, plus the round on top, makes for 8 rounds. A magazine with 6 witness holes is a 380 magazine or not made by Colt.

2) Colt did not begin marking calibers on the magazine until about 1910, which is about 2 years after the 380 was introduced. (I guess they expected people to count holes before that.)

3) For the 32 and 380, the two-tone, cyanide-hardened magazines did not start until about 1913, and ran until about 1938-41, when they became all-blue again.

4) The change in magazine style described in my first post happened about 1926. It was done so the magazine would not snag on the new magazine safety, not to make it work. Therefore, both styles of magazine work interchangeably, but the early style may snag getting in or out of later guns.

I hope I got all that right, and that it helps.
 
#10 ·
You are right that there are 7 holes and I failed to realize that you could get another round in it. When I shot it last week I just filled it to the top without counting and shot without counting. But it makes sense as I shot six mags full and had two rounds left over...that's (6 x 8) + 2 = 50.

So will any of the 32ACP mags work in my 1904 version regardless of when they were made?

There is no marking on my mag at all. The gun was re-hl;ued by some former owner decades ago (??) so the mag may not be the original.

LDBennett
 
#11 ·
Yes, if I understood Brunner's book, any Colt factory 32 magazine should work in your gun. People pay a lot of money for those now. Even on Ebay, they get bid really high. I don't have any ideas about getting a good quality repro.

These Colts are some of the nicest small pistols ever made. I have seen two that have been hard chromed, and they looked good that way too.
 
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