Yes, Colt will be making brand new-production Model 1903 pocket pistols. The same man responsible for making Colt’s reproduction Gatling guns has been put in charge of producing a limited new run of the classic elegant pocket pistol, the Colt 1903. That’s the good news – the bad news is that it will only be a limited run of 2500. Of those, 500 will be commemorating the General Officers issue pistols. The US Army adopted the Colt 1908 (which is simply a 1903 chambered for the .380 cartridge) as the official issue sidearm for General-level officers, and they were issued to men like Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley.

These new commemorative ones will be marked and finished like the original General’s issue guns, and each come with a historical fact sheet about one of the Generals who carried a 1908. Neat!

Now, the interesting question is what Colt will do with the tooling for these once the limited run sells out. Seems like a pretty big waste to me to put in the money to tool up and then stop…perhaps we will see the gun added to Colt’s standard product list down the road?

I should also mention that this will be a very different type of “re-introduction” than befell the Remington Model 51. Curt Wolf, the man running the project, is very much into historical arms, and his new 1903 will be identical to the original 1903 – no polymer, no big modern sights, no change in caliber, etc. That may be a disappointment to some, but it will be a relief to those of us who appreciate the svelte lines and elegant craftsmanship of the Colt 1903.