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Coltautos.com Gun of the Month - October 2012
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 Factory Engraved Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP serial number 118197 - Factory engraved, blue finish with recessed medallion mother of pearl grips. Pistol was a single gun shipment shipped to Col. Emmett E. Walker, Asst. Quartermaster General, Austin, Texas on September 9, 1913. On August 7, 1913, Lieutenant Colonel Emmett E. Walker wrote to Colt's Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co. He strongly recommended to all Texas Rangers that they arms themselves with the new Colt Government Model Caliber .45. It's interesting that a single embellished Colt was sent to Col. Walker approximately one month after Lt. Col. Walker made this recommendation. Later, in a scandal that received the attention of the Governor of Texas, Colonel Walker ended up receiving a dishonorable discharge on April 15, 1916 after being at the center of a scandal where he and Captain George J. Head were caught selling $30,000 of rifles, ammunition, uniforms, saddles, tents, beds and mess gear to Mexican revolutionaries and to St. Louis and New York Arms Dealers. In one case, Captain Head moved Texas Nation Guard uniforms across the river to Matamoros when General Blanco's Constitutionalist troops were outfitted in Texas National Guard Uniforms. Walker was able to conceal his thefts by using a technique known as "surveying." This technique allowed Walker to stipulate that certain items were no longer usable and were declared surplus. Surplus equipment was usually destroyed, but because Col. Walker was responsible for the equipment, he was able to dispose of it by methods of his choice. Walker and Head eventually fled to Mexico and in 1916, both fugitives eventually returned to Texas where they were tried in Austin. They pleaded not guilty but received convictions on all counts and were sentenced to three years and one day in the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. (Source: Texas Rangers and the Mexican Revolution: The Bloodiest Decade, 1910 - 1920 by Charles H. Harris, III and Louis R. Sadler)
Name: Emmett E Walker Source: Original data: Inmate Case Files, compiled 07/03/1895–06/06/1952. ARC ID: 571125. Records of the Bureau of Prisons, 1870–2009, Record Group 129. The National Archives at Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.
Colt Factory Letter for Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP serial number 118197, documenting features and original shipping destination.
Factory Engraved Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP serial number 118197 - right side.
Factory Engraved Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP serial number 118197 - top of slide.
Factory Engraved Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP serial number 118197 - engraving on front grip strap.
Factory Engraved Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP serial number 118197 - engraving on trigger guard.
Factory Engraved Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless .32 ACP serial number 118197 - muzzle showing blued barrel and fire blued recoil spring plug. |
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