Colt 1903
COLT 1903 - Pocket
Hammerless
Belgian contract
1903 Pocket
Hammerless
Caliber: 7.65
Browning
Empty weight: 660 g
Length: 171 mm
Barrel length: 95 mm
Capacity: 8
cartridges
This is the reduced
version of the Browning model 1903, these compact models are also due to the
engineer John Moses Browning then associated with the American firm Colt.
Manufactured in
572,215 copies between 1903 and 1945, these weapons enjoyed great commercial
success both civil and military. The pistol equipped the Municipal Police of the
French Concession of Shanghai, the Belgian Army, the British Army (during the
Great War) then the OSS and the SOE during the Second World War. In 1915, the
Belgian government ordered 24,002 pistols
This example is one
of 1,200 weapons sent on March 8, 1916.
The pistol is stamped
with an "A" in a diamond to the right of the serial number.
A punch is engraved
on the barrel with a Belgian military acceptance mark consisting of a crowned
oval surrounding the letters "EGB".
This is the 3rd
variant of the pistol ranging from serial numbers 105051 to 468097.
The main difference
is the elimination of the "barrel bushing". A lug was added to the lower front
part in order to be able to lock it.
Charles
