Colt 1903 Hammerless 32 ACP barrel/chamber

[mtnman31]

I have a shooter 1903 Colt .32 ACP pistol (pocket hammerless). After firing, the brass is bulged unevenly above around the case head. It isn't so bad that extraction/ejection is an issue but it's bad enough to be noticeable when the cases are visually inspected.

First, is it a problem that I should be concerned with? The pistol shoots and functions fine.
Second, if I decide to replace the barrel, is there anyone out there that makes a modern replacement? Heck, is there anyone out there that makes anything for the 1903's? Numrich has had new replacement barrels listed for ages but they have been out of stock for as long as I have been looking. I'd do an original replacement but the cost of original parts for these little guns is insanely high. Original magazines are routinely sold for 50-100 bucks and the one aftermarket mag I have isn't worth its weight in pocket lint. Any ideas on who has parts and accessories for these? Any 1903 specialists out there?

[Multigunner]

Could be a weak recoil spring letting the slide move back before pressure has dropped.

For some reason many older and often battered pocket autos I've cleaned up showed signs of the recoil spring having been shortened by a previous owner, possibly due to weak ammo having caused short stroking, or some other factor causing the short stroking and the owner believing the spring was too stiff. If so someone may have shortened the spring and gone too far.

Some military .32 autos did have a fairly stiff spring due to hotter milspec ammunition, and these sometimes didn't function well with milder commercial loads.

If the bulge is all in one spot it could be that the feed ramp was cut too deep or polished too much.

If fouling prevents the slide from closing all the way, and the disconnect still allows the striker to fall, then bulging could be the result.

A very rough bore can cause increased chamber pressure and early slide movement.
Lapping the bore may help.

I haven't owned one of these but my nephew picked up a excellent condition example many years ago. He traded it off without asking me first or I'd have traded him out of it myself.
It was the best condition example of this pistol I've ever seen, extremely accurate. This pistol also showed signs of a shortened recoil spring but they did not remove enough to cause any malfunctions.

PS
Check for magazine interchangeability with more common .32 pistols. Many of the lower cost autoloaders were designed around existing magazines rather than having a magazine designed for them.

[Mohillbilly]

A replacement would be nice but .....there three different productions . the first had barrel bushing like a 45 and the second did too , the third had a knob on the end so it is bushingless . and extractor size changed and of coures it was also made in .380

[mtnman31]

Sorry, forgot to mention that. Its barrel does not have the bushing, just has the shaped lug. You partially draw the slide back then rotate the barrel to disassemble the gun.

Multigunner,
I had not checked the recoil spring. I never realized how that could have an impact. Thanks for the explanation. So, I checked the spring but couldn't definitively tell if it had been hacked on. It measures 5-1/8" long uncompressed.
The chamber and bore are both smooth and neither appears misshaped. There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the feed ramp, but I am not an expert and wouldn't know what to look for in that area. It doesn't appear to have ever been worked over and still has bluing on the ramp.

[Multigunner]

You might try a different brand of ammunition. Could be the brand you are using has undersized or soft cases.

If the chamber had been polished agressively it could be slightly oversized.

If you don't plan to reload the fired cases I wouldn't worry about it.