Post your German Pocket Pistols

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During the First World War, German firms produced a large variety of pistols that found their way to the front lines after being purchased by officers. These would be the common side arms of General Officers and senior officers, unlike the field grade line officers who might carry the Luger or the C96 Mauser. Most were in the 7.65mm caliber commonly known as .32 Automatic or .32 Browning. These pocket pistols and parlor pistols were all the rage in the first decade or two of the 20th Century.

I thought it might be informative to post examples of these wartime pistols. Examples might be the Mauser M1914, the Dreyse, the Schwarzlose, the Beholla, the Menta, etc.

I'll start with the pretty scarce Becker & Holländer 7.65mm pistol commonly known as the 'Beholla' a derivative of the names of the firm's partners. These were made in Suhl. They were produced from about 1915-1918. It is thought about 45,000 were produced. The very early models had hard rubber grips, later replaced by wooden grips that were more durable for field use.

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The one drawback with this little pistol seems to be the backstop for the slide spring, being a thinly milled piece of steel protruding up form the main frame. Still, the pistol is quite compact and easy to operate.

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Top view and right side marks

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Here are the left side marks and safety mark. All of the acceptance marks on the left side.

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The more common Dreyse M1907 Self-loading Pistol in 7.65mm was produced in large numbers, several hundred thousand being produced. The pistol was the brainchild of Louis Schmeisser, who designed it in 1905-06 and placed on the market in 1907. Thankfully, he became a much better designer later!

The pistol is cocked by grabbing the nose and pulling it back into the solid frame. It is an odd design that actually 'top breaks' to reveal the magazine housing, the assembly being locked into the firing position by a catch at the rear end of the frame. It has a side plate as well that screws onto the main frame, making this one of the strangest designs to see field service. It is not designed for cleaning and ease of function, but is an impressive hunk of steel.

Produced by Rheinische Metallwerken Machinen Fabrik in Sommerda, the company was later absorbed by Rheinmetall-Borsig in 1936. The 'Dreyse' name is thought to have been a marketing ploy by using the famous designer's name.

The pistol was striker fired, the tail of the firing pin acting as a 'cocked' indicator, by protruding through the rear of the breech block. The frame, receiver and slide can be pivoted on a pin in front of the trigger guard,

The earlier versions had vertical serrations on the nose of the slide and later ones, such as shown here, had diagonal serrations. The rubber grips have the letters 'RMF' to represent the firm's name.

This example has seen some use. None of them are very pretty, even in a fine condition.

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The serial number on the slide is on the top portion internal to the frame. The top break feature and the design logo letters are seen here.

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You can see the hole on the rear that serves as a cocking indicator when the pin shows on the hole after a round is chambered. Here it is uncocked. The upper and lower frames have serial numbers inside. The front and rear site are milled fixed sites.

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The marks are on the left side and in this example, all the acceptance marks are on the left. Some examples I have owned and seen also have acceptance marks on the top of the slide where the serial number is also found.

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Holsters for these Imperial pocket pistols were similar even to holsters that might be seen on a Makarov pistol much later. These two date to WWI. The bottom one came with the 'Beholla' and the top one probably was used to holster a Mauser M1914 as the nose where shows its shape. The marks for the top one say, 'Genossenschaft Hamm and a date of 1918.

That's it for me. Would love to hear your discussion and please post your pocket pistols! Steve

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Bueller? Anyone? Are there no M1914 Mausers, or any German pocket pistols out there? Even Walthers and HSCs? Steve