Sharp eyes. T'wasn't me. Here is the story as I understand it.
Colt US Army Model of 1902 .45 revolver. Based on the Colt 1878 Thunderer (not to be confused with the Colt Lightning which was a totally different pistol). Sometimes (including by Elmer Keith who mentions a hooker shooting one at a police officer in his book on handguns) called the DA Rod Ejector gun. Only a few thousand were made as the order was an 'oops'. A new general in the Philippines told the Army to send him 10,000 of the newer Colt .45 DA revolvers to replace the Colt SAAs and .38 New Army revolvers on hand. The New Service had already been out for 4 years, but when the Army ordered a few thousand of the double action .45 revolvers, someone didn't specify, so Colt (wisely or cleverly) decided the order was for a few thousand of the older 1878 DA model which was glutting their shelves as no one was ordering them. Colt stuck 6" barrels on them and got them accepted by the local Army brass as the Model 1902 after some trigger guard and spring changes. About 5,000 total were made. About 2,500 were in the first shipment to the Philippines where the mistake was immediately discovered. [200 of that shipment were 'lost' in transit.] The order was subsequently canceled. Meanwhile Colt made the second 2,500 and sent them to the Army who became stuck with them. The ones in the Philippines were almost all issued to the Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine Militia. Very few of them remained under US Army control. Those that did mostly accompanied their owners to Alaska when the soldiers went there. The 2,500 the Army had were sold as surplus to a company called Bannermans as surplus sometime in the 1920s.
Almost all of the 1902s I have seen in good condition with intact hammers or pretty bluing can be traced to the Bannerman shipment. Just about all of them with hammers like mine can be serial traced to shipment to the Philippines. In short, Philippine guns were used as a weapon, while the Bannerman variants were stored in a drawer.
The missing hammer spur is very common on the actual service guns, especially the ones from in the Philippines. I have read accounts that imply some individuals (militia, police, guerilla soldiers, etc.) intentionally snapped off the hammer spur so as to allow more easy concealment and drawing from under outer garments. On the other hand, from once having a hammer spur snap off a different kind of Colt, I suspect that in the case of the 1902 some snapped off with use. Hitting someone in the skull, or dropping the gun, either could snap a hammer off. So too can fanning which the original hammer shape begs trying. In any case being a DA capable weapon, the gun doesn't care. The lost mass doesn't seem to be nearly enough to prevent primer detonation. That hammer falls both fast and hard. Yes, that little hammer nub does allow SA cocking if you really want to, but the gun is actually easier to shoot accurately in DA mode as the DA pull gives a shorter hammer arc.
These guns gave honorable service. I have both seen photos and read accounts of these things still serving and being used against the Japanese during WW2. During the ouster of a guy named Marcos one of the pictures of the rebels I saw in the papers showed the rebel with one sticking out of his belt. That was in the mid 80s. Around the same time frame I acquired mine. The serial number puts it probably in the first shipment. Mine had been disassembled and springs and pins lost by the seller who claimed an old Filipino woman sold it to him and then he took it apart to see how it worked. After the purchase it took me awhile (read years and years) to find the right springs. I have run about 140 rounds through it since then. Black powder only of course. These guns were not smokeless powder tested. Not even the ones Colt built out of left over parts and continued to sell until around 1909 when they sold off all their leftover parts. By today's standard the trigger pull is both heavy, long and strange (as is the grip feel). The gun is as accurate as an infantry weapon of the time should be. If you have time to draw and fire it, the guy coming at you with the knife loses. Simple as that.
