By Geremy Chubbuck ([email protected])
Excel Version

Disclaimer: This list is correct to the best of my knowledge, however, I accept absolutely no responsibility for the accuracy of this information or for the consequences and/or damages occurring from any inaccuracies. I have compiled this list for the purposes of sharing information only. This is not intended to be used in any way except for personal entertainment. It is a compilation of both personal information and information submitted from others from the Internet. ALL SERIAL NUMBERS SHOULD BE VERIFIED FROM THE MANUFACTURER PRIOR TO ANY PURCHASE OR ASSEMBLY. It should be noted that it is a felony to possess a Post-Ban (newly assembled after Sept 13, 1994) assault weapon.

• Mar 16, 2013 Anyone know of a site besides Colt to look up Colt serial numbers? I can successfully look up a serial number on Colt's site if there's no letters involved. When the serial number begins with a letter it says 'number not found'. Any one else have this problem?
• COLT MODEL 1903.32 ACP / 1908.380 ACP POCKET HAMMERLESS PRODUCTION. Year: Type: Serial Number (1903.32ACP) Serial Number (1908.380 ACP) Year.

If any information presented here is found to be incorrect or you have additional information to contribute, please contact me via E-Mail ([email protected]) and I will update and re-issue the list.

Colt 1903 Pocket Hammer.38 ACP – Serial Number 20000 – This pistol was manufactured on September 8, 1906 and shipped September 11, 1906 to Schoverling, Daly & Gales in New York City as a 1 gun shipment. Anyone know of a site besides Colt to look up Colt serial numbers? I can successfully look up a serial number on Colt's site if there's no letters involved. When the serial number begins with a letter it says 'number not found'. Any one else have this problem?

Note: All items marked with a single asterisk (*) are taken from http://home1.gte.net/bblakley/ban/index.htm. The year/serial numbers under Colt SP series was forwarded to me by an individual whose return address I no longer have. Double asterisk (**) under Bushmaster, a person on the internet e-mailed me that he had a lower that was shipped stripped (thus not a complete rifle) in 1991 from Bushmaster with serial #0327XX - ALWAYS CALL TO VERIFY.

Advanced Armaments
No information - Apparently machined from bar stock aluminum, lowers are marked as M-15.

American Spirit Arms(Formerly 'Sun Valley Traders')
ALL lowers are Post-Ban. Began introduction of lowers and rifles in mid/late 1998. Noted as having good fit & finish. Also, reported to be manufactured by Lewis Machine & Tool.

Armalite/Eagle 800-336-0184
Slightly over S/N 30,000 was the Pre-Ban cut-off, call to verify.* (Some Eagle lowers below the 30,000 range were determined to be POST ban by BATF - call to verify) Armalite sells Eagle lowers, but sells factory complete rifles with Armalite lowers.

Bohica
Made stainless steel lowers, rumored to have also made AR-15 pistols. Lower marked M16-SA. This is NOT verifiable info as it came from the Internet. Out of Business.

Bushmaster 800-998-SWAT
Below L051000 - Assembled Pre-Ban Rifles and some pre-94 lowers.**
L051001-L063000 - Mixed Pre-Ban Assembled Rifles and Pre-Sept 94 Lowers (Call to verify)
L063001 and Up - Post-Ban

Century Arms
Lower marked CIA. All are Post-Ban. Made with Olympic Arms Receivers under contract.

Colt 800-962-COLT
CC001616 and Below - Pre-Ban
CH019500 and Below - Pre-Ban
GC018500 and Below - Pre-Ban
LH011326 and Below - Pre-Ban
MH086020 and Below - Pre-Ban
NL004800 and Below - Pre-Ban
SL027246 and Below - Pre-Ban
SP360200 and Below - Pre-Ban
1963 SP00001-SP00023**
1964 SP00101
1965 SP02501
1966 SP05600
1967 SP08250
1968 SP10750
1969 SP14000-SP14653
1970 SP15001-SP15473
1971 SP16001
1972 SP19401
1973 SP24201
1974 SP32601
1975 SP43801
1976 SP55301
1977 SP67651
1978 SP83400
ST038100 and Below - Pre-Ban
TA10100 and Below - Pre-Ban
BD000134 and Below - Pre-Ban (AR-15A3 Tactical Carbine - very rare model)
MT00001 and Above - Post-Ban
BK000001and Above - Post Ban (CAR-A3)
CST000001 and Above - Post-Ban (Began Late 1997 Production)
CMH000001 and Above - Post Ban
CCH010000 and Above - Post Ban MT6700, MT6700C and MT6700CH series, 1998 production

Dalphon (360) 427-6867
All are POST ban. Cast 356-T6 Aluminum, hardcoat anodized per mil-spec A-8625

DPMS 800-578-3767
Below 10300 - Pre-Ban.
Some or all lowers are cast. Black in color. Some lowers are Stainless Steel.

Eagle Arms 309-944-6939
Now called ArmaLite. They will not give out a list, but will look up on an individual basis. Lower receiver serial numbers DO NOT begin with EA.

Essential Arms
All are Pre-Ban as they went out of business in 1993. (DPMS bought them prior to the Ban) Call DPMS Lower receiver serial numbers begin with EA. Some or all lowers are cast. Light gray coloring. It is rumored that Ruger investment casted the lowers for Essential Arms.

Frankford Arsenal
All are pre-ban. As rumor has it, Olympic Arms produced the lowers for Frankford Arsenal Call Olympic Arms and then Frankford assembled the weapon. A2 configuration lower. Frankford Arsenal went out of business in 1987. (Info from [email protected])

Hesse Arms
All AR-15's are post ban. Manufacturing began late 1997/early 1998.

J.L.M & Sons* (603) 425-1860
SC001 thru SC250 are Pre-Ban. All others are post ban.

Knights Armament Co.
All AR-15's are post ban, very few AR-10's are pre-ban. No further info at this time.

Military Manufacturing (M2) (FAX 702-263-7875)
All were military/law enforcement only. Full auto lowers were standard, semi were optional. Lowers were machined form raw bar stock with improvements incorporated - 18deg magazine angle and square mag release. (See: http://www.m2corp.com/HOME.htm)

Nesard
See 'Sendra' below.

Olympic Arms 360-459-7940

Olympic Arms Manufacturer's Notes:
1. There were some odd variations and some custom serial numbers mixed in thru the years also. And, some receivers manufactured after the ban have the year stamp after the model name, not in the serial #. And if you don't see a year stamp on the receiver, it is not necessarily pre-ban.

2. Serial numbers that end in 'D' were duplicates and one was changed using this letter.

3. Recently some serial numbers have left with one or two letters followed by FIVE numbers. The last numbers are either 5's or 0's. 99.9% of these are post-ban.

4. 'Older' does not always mean pre-ban as per Corey Sattler.

5. 'BL' serial number series lowers are transitional with some pre and some post ban. If you have a 'BL' you'll have to call to verify for certain.

Professional Ordinance
All are post ban (including all of the pistols).

PWA (360) 438-3983
35222 and Below - Pre-Ban (Note:Some lowers are cast not forged. Out of business) Post-ban have a year prefix in the serial number. Rumored to have only sold lowers.

Rocky Mountain Arms
Producer of AR-15 type pistols.

Sendra
Post-ban receivers have a circle milled into the side of the magwell. They were originally bead-blasted to a non-glare finish. All others are pre-ban. (This is unverified info...) Also, they used to be NESARD. Rumored to have been owned by Dick Drasen (currently M&A Parts) and produced lowers only out of Barrington, Illinois. No complete guns were sold (again, unverified info).

See More Results

The Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless (not to be confused with the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer or the M1903 Springfield rifle) is a .32 ACP caliber, self-loading, semi-automatic pistol designed by John Browning and built by Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. The Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless is a variant introduced five years later in .380 ACP caliber. Despite the title 'hammerless', the Model 1903 does have a hammer. The hammer is covered and hidden from view under the rear of the slide, this allows the pistol to be carried in and withdrawn from a pocket quickly and smoothly without snagging.

Colt Lookup Serial Number

History[edit]

Approximately 570,000 Colt Pocket Hammerless pistols were produced from 1903 to 1945, in five different types. Some were issued to US Army and US Air Force general officers from World War II through the 1970s; these were replaced in 1972 with the RIAColt M15 general officer's model, a compact version of the M1911A1.The Shanghai Municipal Police issued the M1908 to its officers in the 1920s and 1930s and it was a popular model with police in the United States such as the Boston Police Department.In addition to lawful owners, many gangsters of the pre-World War II era favored the Model 1903 and Model 1908 because they were relatively small and easily concealed. It is said that Al Capone kept one in his coat pocket and Bonnie Parker used one to break Clyde Barrow out of jail after smuggling it into the jail by taping it to her thigh. Bank robber John Dillinger was carrying this model of pistol when he was shot by FBI agents outside the Biograph theater on July 22, 1934, and another famous bank robber, Willie Sutton, had one when he was captured by police in Brooklyn on February 18, 1952.^[1]

This pistol was also used by an Indian revolutionary named Chandrashekhar Azad in 1931, when he shot himself dead to avoid capture by the British police in a park at United Provinces in British India.

Note: There was also a Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer pistol in .38 ACP, but this design is unrelated. The FN Model 1903 pistol design is related to the Colt Pocket Hammerless, but it is physically larger due to its chambering in the 9×20mm SR Browning Long cartridge.

General officer models[edit]

General officer models were often engraved with the officer's name. Recipients include generals Eisenhower, Bradley, Marshall, and Patton. Patton's Model 1908 was embellished with three (later four) stars on the grip panels to denote his rank. They were issued with a fine-grade leather holster, leather pistol belt with gold-metal clasp, rope pistol lanyard with gold-metal fittings, and leather two-pocket ammunition pouch with gold-metal fasteners. They came in russet or black leather (depending on service and regulations) and were made by Atchison Leather Products or Hickock. A cleaning rod and two spare magazines were also included.^[2] Generals were issued the Model M in .380 ACP, until 1950, when supplies ran out. At that point, they were substituted with .32 models until their replacement in 1972. The Pocket Hammerless was replaced by the M15 pistol made by Rock Island Arsenal in .45 ACP. Today, the Pocket Hammerless is manufactured by U.S. Armament, and is licensed by Colt.^[3]

Design[edit]

This pistol is actually fired by action of a hammer striking and driving a firing pin into a center-fire cartridge's primer. The hammer is covered by the rear of the slide. The 'hammerless' designation was merely an advertising designation pointing out the pistol's particular suitability for concealed carry. Special features include a serrated slide to prevent slippage during manual cycling of the slide and two safety mechanisms (a grip safety and a manual safety). The grip safety is a spring-loaded piece making up the back strap of the pistol. The grip safety, though not solely restricted to them, was a typical feature of Colt automatic pistols. A magazine safety was added on later models; this feature prevents the pistol from being fired with a round in the chamber and the magazine removed.^[2]

In 1908, a .380 ACP version of this gun was introduced. Called the Model 1908, it is nearly identical to the Model 1903 except for the bore diameter and the magazine, which hold seven rounds (one less than the Model 1903).^[2]

Grip panels are black checked hard rubber, checked walnut, or special order materials (ivory, mother of pearl, inset medallion).^[2]

Sights are fixed, although the rear sight is drift-adjustable for windage.^[2]

Metal finish is blued or nickel, and some special-order finishes such as engraved, silver- or gold-plated.^[2]

Variants[edit]

• Type I: Integral barrel bushing, four-inch barrel, no magazine safety, serial numbers 1 through 71,999^[2]
• Type II: 32 cal separate barrel bushing, 33⁄4-inch barrel; 1908–1910, SN 72,000 through 105,050^[2]
• Type II: 380 cal separate barrel bushing, 33⁄4-inch barrel; 1908–1910, SN 001 through 6250 ^[2]
• Type III: integrated barrel bushing, 33⁄4-inch barrel; 1910–1926, SN 105,051 through 468,789^[2]
• Type IV: integrated barrel bushing, 33⁄4-inch barrel, magazine safety^[2]
• Type V: integrated barrel bushing, 33⁄4-inch barrel, military sights, magazine safety on both commercial and 'U.S. property' variations. SN 468,097 through 554,446.^[2]

Cached

There was an M1903 version with a military Parkerized finish, which is otherwise the same as the Model IV, SN 554,447 through 572,214.^[2]

Trivia[edit]

Former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo used a Colt Model 1903 to attempt suicide shortly before his arrest for war crimes in September 11, 1945. Tojo was convicted at trial and was executed on December 23, 1948. Tojo's pistol is on display at the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia.

Colt Mustang Serial Number Lookup

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Ayoob, Massad (2012). Massad Ayoob's Greatest Handguns of the World. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. p. 128. ISBN1-4402-2869-8.
2. ^ ^{abcdefghijklm}Sapp, Rick (2007). Standard Catalog of Colt Firearms. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. p. 132. ISBN1-4402-2697-0.
3. ^James, Garry (August 2016), 'Colt's 1903 Hammerless', Guns & Ammo, pp. 82–94

External links[edit]

• 'Colt 1903 .32 ACP Pocket Hammerless Pistol'. Coltautos.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
• '1903 Colt Model M'. Unblinkingeye.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
• 'Colt Licensed 1903 'Hammerless' General Officer's Pocket Pistol'. U.S. Armament Corp. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2016.