[Sharpdogs]

I recently had a friend of mine show me a small .25 caliber pistol called the Little Tom. Very little information can found through google searches. I was wondering if anyone had any information on this pistol or even its value. From what I have found so far it was manufactured in Austria or Czech and it was made in both .25 and .32 calibers. It was apparently the first double action semi-automatic pistol and the magazine loaded from the top not the bottom. Below is a link to where I got some of my information.

http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/ATLT/atlt.html

[NORTEXED]

Never seen or heard of one before, but it is an interesting little pistol. Trigger mech. almost looks like one of the double action conversions of a 1911 that someone used to do.

[AZAndy]

Oh man, is that intriguing. Now where the heck am I gonna find one of those?

[bannockburn]

The Weiner "Little Tom" pistol was designed in 1908 by Alois Tomiska. It has the distinction of being the first actual production double action pistol. The Little Tom name comes from the direct translation of the inventor's last name. Production began in 1910, at the Weiner Waffenfabrik factory in Vienna. When production ended in 1924, Tomiska continued to build the pistols at his own shop in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, until 1929. There were two versions offered; the smallest one being the .25ACP, and a larger version chambered in .32ACP. A couple of unique features to the guns are the fact that the magazines were made from brass, and that they were designed to be loaded from the top, through the slide opening. They could also be loaded in a more conventional way, through the bottom of the grip frame.

[DrLaw]

It is also supposed to be made from softer steel than most other guns of the time. (Pistols and Revolvers by Smith).

The forward notch on the slide is for takedown of the gun. The safety is swung up to the second notch when the slide is pulled back. The barrel is then pushed back like a Beretta up and out of the slide. There is a plate covering the operating mechanism on the right side of the gun.

They are a different looking gun, unmistakeable for anything else. Slightly angled grip, two screws to the wooden grips, some with a W inside a double circle for a grip medallion. The saftey is behind the trigger and swings up and down.
It has an exposed hammer that has a rounded serrated top to grasp with the thumb for cocking. The Trigger guard has a fanciful open area formed by the trigger guard splitting in two, one radius going up towards the safety area, the other curving slightly downward before coming to the front grip strap. The slide is plain and the magazine release is in the convential European position on the bottom rear of the magazine.

Bannockburn is correct that it was made in .32 and .25 calibers. The link shows a .25 caliber.

The Doc is out now wishing he had a photo of one to add here. :cool:

[Gator]

Google is evil, but useful:

http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/ATLT/atlt.html
http://members.aol.com/bayard1908/littletom.html
http://vintagegungrips.net/ao-l42.html
http://www.e-gunparts.com/product.asp?chrProductSKU=194260
http://www.egun.de/market/item.php?id=1580393&PHPSESSID=ea5db66df371179d65c71ea16a8e1afe

[JERRY]

i believe they were the predicessors to the Seecamp line up........

[shamus]

fascinating...