Deployment
The Model 1902 was never adopted by the U.S. or any other world military organization, probably due to reservations regarding the design’s robustness as well as its developmental nature. The largest military purchase (still commercially serialed but military marked) known to date were of 1902 Military Models, 800 pistols in 1908 to Mexico (Mexican Crest on top of slide-rear slide serrations but still round hammers—pearl grips) However, other unmarked 1902 Militaries were purchased in smaller lots, perhaps adding up to several thousand pistols if not more to Mexico alone. The second largest purchase was 500 marked pistols purchased in 1906 through the London Agency (in the 11000 serial range) by the Chilean Navy (round hammer, checkered front slide, slide marked). Sporting Models show occasional purchases also by individuals associated with various governments, but only in single or smaller lots. At least one American observer in Mexico in 1913 mentioned them as the standard pistol of the regular Mexican Army. The US government purchased 200 1902 Militaries (serials 15000-15201) in 1902 for service evaluation of type (round hammer, checkered front slide). The Mexican marked pistols undoubtedly saw service during the Mexican revolution along with other privately acquired Military, Sporting Model, and 1903 Pocket Hammer Colts. The U.S. Army’s unsatisfactory experiences several years earlier with .38-caliber pistols used against Moro tribesmen during the Philippine-American War may also have been a factor against larger acceptance of the "large frame" automatics. Events of this conflict called into question the effectiveness of earlier pistols in the 1902’s class, ultimately leading to the 1904 Thompson-LaGarde Tests which concluded that for military use, ".38"-caliber cartridges of the time were inadequate and recommended the adoption of a pistol cartridge of at least .45 (11.43 mm) caliber. Colt and Browning responded to these criticisms with the introduction of the Colt Model 1905 pistol chambered in a new .452 in cartridge Browning designed—the .45 ACP. Whether or not the .45 ACP was overkill, European countries, with the exception of England who also had experience with fanatical opposition in the empire, opted for generally lighter calibers.
One can only speculate on the type of commercial customer (excluding the military users) that would have purchased the Colt 1902 Sporting and Military Models: perhaps wealthier hunters, fishermen, and adventurers who visited remote areas of the wilderness; businesses, especially those with Latin American offices and projects in remote areas such as mining interests in the US as they had significant and occasional labor unrest (often with very good cause) in the early 20th century; the more modern leaning police of the era who might have evaluated the pistols (no known significant police sales); perhaps shopkeepers who preferred the flat pistol for the counter shelf plus the imposing long barrel and superior rate of fire over robber's revolvers; perhaps those who just liked the look and selected the pistol for personal defense or the home; and of course the casual owners and shooters who liked the novelty. Prior to 1905, they were clearly "modern" holster pistols and the public and military already understood the value of about 1.5 seconds of seven/eight shot firepower. By 1906, however, unlike the Europeans (except the French and English) who were "sold" on automatics and had been buying them since the turn of the 20th century in a near frenzy, the North American customers were still waiting, perhaps taking their queue from the military, for more robust and powerful automatic pistols. The Colt 1905 .45 ACP, which was really being developed by Colt with military contracts in mind, supplied the most impatient and significantly supplemented Colt 1902 sales while setting the table for US government adoption of the Model 1911. Competition in Europe was overwhelming except in England. Although mainland European sales are noted, the admittedly excellent and safer Mauser M1896's and Lugers took the lion's share of the large frame automatic market. Steyr and others were at least regionally strong. It is highly possible that the Military Model might have seen increased foreign sales during WWI had not Colt been concentrating on its superlative 1911 (over 80,000 commercial 1911's were delivered to foreign countries during the war, 50,000 to Tzarist Russia alone). These sales might have otherwise gone to the 1902 Military Model.
Read more about this topic: Colt M1902