mawkie
C&R Whisperer
Have bid on more than a few of these in the past but never successfully. Then this one comes up, flying under the radar with an auction house that only knows it's a nice, early Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless. But that A mark in a diamond shaped box is what makes it so special. During WWI Colt built 24,002 1903 Pocket Hammerless pistols for the Belgian government. That mark is unique to this contract.
The SN for this pistol puts it in a batch shipped on 2/4/1916. During this period a small number (216) of these pistols with the Belgian mark were sold to commercial dealers. I'll probably contact Colt to see if they have any records indicating if this is one of them. I'm thinking it is as most Belgian examples I've seen were so heavily worn and many refinished as well. This one only has minor back strap finish wear. Otherwise it's pristine with a tiny amount of edge wear.
Paid a premium for it but felt it's worth the coin as early Type III examples this nice are so hard to find.
The SN for this pistol puts it in a batch shipped on 2/4/1916. During this period a small number (216) of these pistols with the Belgian mark were sold to commercial dealers. I'll probably contact Colt to see if they have any records indicating if this is one of them. I'm thinking it is as most Belgian examples I've seen were so heavily worn and many refinished as well. This one only has minor back strap finish wear. Otherwise it's pristine with a tiny amount of edge wear.
Paid a premium for it but felt it's worth the coin as early Type III examples this nice are so hard to find.