1903 .380 COLT HAMMERLESS AUTOMATIC PISTOL
Serial Number 82230
owners: Tom O. of Texas & anonymous (also, special thanks to Tony Stewart)

The Hideout has researched this weapon, and at this time the findings are inconclusive, but once again a possible Barrow "item of interest" has been brought to my attention. This vintage 1903 Colt .380 Hammerless Automatic Pistol was handed down to a Hideout visitor by her late father.



The pistol was purchased from a pawn shop in the 1940s. The original grip had been changed to a pearl handle grip and the rubber cushions on the original grips were then put on the pearl grips. As the inside was being cleaned, the initials "CB+BP" and the date "1932" began to appear. They became even more profound as the cleaning had continued. The original grips had a black knarled handle with a gravure of the Colt horse on it. The pistol was taken to a gunsmith who replaced two original grips with the the custom pearl handle grips.

Photo above shows how the original grips had looked


Photos below show the original "inscribed" rubber cushions on back of the replacement pearl grips

The fact that the initials were carved in an inconspicious place and not on the exterior part of the gun leads me to believe that it may indeed be authentic. The hidden initials of two people, "CB+BP" in the year "1932" is a little more than a coincidence to me. Clyde Barrow was known for carving his and Bonnie's initials, somewhere on many of his weapons. Although the initials on this gun don't quite match Barrow's initials found on other guns of his - it is quite understandable, because anyone carving into "rubber" will have their markings distorted due to the texture of rubber, because the carving instrument would drag along the rubber more than it would in other materials. Clyde did have a Colt .380 automatic in the death car in 1934, and it's quite possible that the one who ended up with it may have fallen on hard times and pawned it off some years later.


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