Colt 1903 Auto

[Danth]

Hello All: Would anyone know what the safety depressor does on the 1903 Colt Auto? Where does it go, and did all versions use this piece? Also, what might be the problem if I can sometimes fire the weapon by engaging the grip safety?Thanks, Dan

[pietro]

.

That's part # 36 below, and appears to reside near the top of the gripframe - stay warm, up there in NH..........

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/pub/schematic/Colt_32380PktHammerless_schem.jpg

[MtGun44]

One owner reports that if he pulls the trigger with the grip safety NOT depressed,
he hears a small click. Then if he releases the trigger and later depresses the grip
safety, the hammer drops (would fire if loaded). This would seem to me to be either
the sear spring is not returning the sear to it's proper position after releasing the trigger,
or that the grip safety is letting the sear move more than it should. I do not own
and have not worked on a 1903 but am very familiar with the 1911. There the grip
safety stops the trigger pull, not sure how it works on the 1903, but I would look for the
grip safety functional area to be worn and not doing as much "safetying" as it should
(however it works) and letting the sear move to partial disengagement, which then "goes"
when the grip safety is depressed. Examine these parts for wear or broken areas, repair
as needed.

Good luck, should be fixable.

[cwheel]

You made me look and test mine, I have 3 of them. Mine are all of the 3rd model, and all without the mag disconnect safety that come in the last models. Thinking your part #36 has something to do with the mag disconnect safety used in the later models, all of my earlier models don't have that part. Thank you, was a defect worth checking for.
Chris

[Ballistics in Scotland]

One owner reports that if he pulls the trigger with the grip safety NOT depressed,
he hears a small click. Then if he releases the trigger and later depresses the grip
safety, the hammer drops (would fire if loaded). This would seem to me to be either
the sear spring is not returning the sear to it's proper position after releasing the trigger,
or that the grip safety is letting the sear move more than it should. I do not own
and have not worked on a 1903 but am very familiar with the 1911. There the grip
safety stops the trigger pull, not sure how it works on the 1903, but I would look for the
grip safety functional area to be worn and not doing as much "safetying" as it should
(however it works) and letting the sear move to partial disengagement, which then "goes"
when the grip safety is depressed. Examine these parts for wear or broken areas, repair
as needed.

Good luck, should be fixable.

I doubt if this is anything to do with the magazine safety, but it sounds like a failing common to all kinds of safety which act on the hammer or a mainspring-driven firing-pin. It could indeed be caused by a weak trigger spring, but it could just as easily be due to excessive stoning of the hammer notch, to remove rounding-off by wear. With a grip safety worn or incorrectly sized pins might do it.

Essentially a safety should raise the hammer ever so slightly off the sear. The sear can then be moved by the trigger and return to its battery position. When the safety is taken off, the hammer or firing-pin notch is deposited onto the sear, and the normal trigger pull has to be applied to fire the weapon.

If the hammer notch is worn, however, the safety may not be engageable at all, or it may engage loosely and leave the hammer notch resting on the sear. If the trigger is pulled or the sear jolted out of position by dropping the pistol, there will be insufficient space for the sear to return to the battery position. The firearm will go off when the safety is removed - when it shouldn't be pointing at toes or whatever else you have below a waistband holster, but accidents happen when two nearlies make a whole.

[cwheel]

Well, your post caused me to get all 3 of mine out of the safe to test them. ( they all passed the test ) Because I had them out of the safe already, cleaned and oiled all 3 looking at them harder. I got the Colt parts list out of the files, and sure enough, part #36 is listed as the Safety Disconnector. So yes this could be the problem in the pistol discussed above. There are several other parts to be looked at as well that will require a disassembly to the frame for a better inspection. Later pistols used a magazine disconnector setup and will have some different parts to accomplish this, the newer magazine used in these later pistols had more of a squared off top to interact with the disconnector. I'd tag the pistol as unsafe, and why, until it can be fixed to prevent a AD.
Chris