Colt 1903 Hamerless and 1903 Hammer

These two guns came to me from my father. He was an avid collector of Browning design pistols. I've not fired the '03 hammerless, but the "03 hammer became my favorite pistol from the first tie I fired it. I've since picked up a 1911 as my main pistol because I don't want to shoot the '03 hammer except on special occasions.




Browning M.1903 (Browning No.2)

Type: Single Action, Semi-automatic pistol
Chamber: 9x20mm SR Browning Long, 7.65x17mm SR Browning (.32ACP)
Weight unloaded: 930 g
Length: 205 mm
Barrel length: 127 mm
Capacity: 7 rounds (9mm) or 8 rounds (7.65mm)

The M1903 was the second production blowback-operated pistol, designed by famous American arms designer John Browning by 1902 and patented in 1903. Also known as the Browning No.2 pistol, this design was a serious improvement over the older No.1 (FN - Browning M1900) pistol. At the same time Browning developed the recoil-operated M1900 for Colt. This design also was manufactured by the Colt Firearms Co of USA as the Colt M1903 pocket pistol, chambered in .32ACP (7.65mm). Both FN and Colt produced this design until 1930s. In Europe, The FN M1903 became a favorite police pistol, and also was adopted by several armies, included Belgian, Dutch, Turkish and Swedish ones, as well as by Imperial Russian police

I believe the '03 Hammerless was manufactured in 1916.
The '03 Hammer was probably manufactured in 1909

The size is significantly different which is why I prefer the '03 hammer best. It fits my hand better than any pistol I've fired except for the 1911.

Carnival of Cordite #48