Colt M1902 - Design Details

Design Details

The M1902 was a short recoil operated pistol derived from the Model of 1900 by the simplification of its internal mechanism and a reduction in the number of internal parts. Browning and Colt also adopted the suggestion of the U.S. Military to add a slide stop to the design. The problematic pivoting rear sight safety of the M1900 which swung back and down to physically block the arc of the pistol’s hammer was also removed. Another shortcoming in the M1900 design was brought out by trials held by the British military, who discovered that the pistol had a tendency to fire when dropped. In the M1902, the firing pin’s length was reduced to be less than that of the slot it moved in, decreasing the likelihood of such an occurrence unless the firing pin was actually struck by the hammer.

The Model of 1902 was chambered for the same .38 ACP cartridge as was the earlier M1900 pistol. The M1902 pistol for the most part also shared the same hard black rubber grips which were standard on the Model 1900, however, custom grips were also available, especially on presentation versions. The vast majority of Model 1902 pistols were produced with a highly polished, deep and lustrous Colt Royal blued finish, but rarely nickel and silver plated models are encountered, as well as various custom finishes. On some early production Model 1902s the trigger, pins, and grip screws were set off with a fire or nitre blued finish, giving those parts a beautiful cobalt blue hue. The hammer of 1902 pistols usually had a case hardened finish. Earlier production pistols featured either milled straight line or cross-cut checkered slide serrations on the forward end of the slide, which were deleted in later years of production. Although the M1902 was originally intended for the military market, Colt was progressive enough to recognize that commercial merchandizing of the pistol also offered potential revenue and introduced a sporting version of the pistol with a few minor changes. Neither the Military or Sporting versions of the pistol had a manual safety.

The Colt 1902's featured three distinctive hammers for the 1902 sporting model. Two, referred to by Colt as the "high" spur hammer and a rounded hammer, referred to by Colt as the "stub" hammer, were carryovers from 1900 production. Eventually, by 1904, at or just beyond serial 7184, the supply of "high" spur hammers was exhausted and the "stub" hammer became the norm for the sporting model. The 1902 Military Model, started production with "stub" hammers only. The third hammer, which did not see use until late 1907 or early 1908,was a lower profile spur hammer and replaced the stub hammer only in the very last of the sporting models but took position as the sole 1902 Military model hammer from about 1908-09, just prior to that being phased into production alongside the stub hammers.

Due to hand polishing of Colt Automatics through the 1905 Model .45, the depth of any pistol's markings might vary on the same pistol as well as the weight; pistols might vary as much as an ounce when compared. The 1902 Militaries were slightly heavier than the sporting models due to the extended square frame and lanyard loop.