Weirdest autoloaders...

[Greg Bell]

I have always had a penchant for oddball gun designs. And since I'm married and can't have any fun on Saturdays anymore, I'm asking you guys to post your thoughts on the weirdest/oddball gun designs ever.

I think the little German pocket pistol that used its trigger guard as a cocking mechanism has got to be top five weirdest. But I cant remember what it was called.

The H&K P9 and the P7K3 were really odd guns.

 

[Standing Wolf]

...since I'm married and can't have any fun on Saturdays anymore...

Take her to the range.

 

[Greg Bell]

"Take her to the range."

No Saturday night shooting ranges around here.

Oh, and the Benelli B76 is pretty wild.

 

[Tamara]

I think the little German pocket pistol that used its trigger guard as a cocking mechanism has got to be top five wierdest. But I cant remember what it was called.

The Lignose Einhand. Also, see the Schwarzlose 1908 pocket pistol.

The BDM is funky and eclectic; so is the Colt AA2000, but the latter sucks.

 

[SDC]

That German pistol you're thinking of was the "Einhand" ("one hand"), based on Witold Chylewski's patent. (The Chinese are now making a copy of this in 9mm.) There have been a whole bunch of weird designs for auto pistols, including some "blow-forward" designs, where the barrel is carried forward by the bullet passing through it, and the empty case is ejected out of the pistol by the next loaded round rising underneath it. Another one that always struck me as "weird" was the Kimball pistol design, which looked something like an enlarged Woodsman; because they didn't have a locked breech, they needed to have rings machined in the chamber, and the brass expanding into those rings, then being swaged down on extraction, slowed the opening of the slide to the point where it was safe to open. (They gained a bad reputation after a number of them sheared the slide stops off, and the firers got a slide in the face.)

 

[Bren]

Heres another pistol that uses the trigger guard to rack the slide. (Model 77-B)

 

[Greg Bell]

Check out this engraved Lignose...

 

[Snowdog]

Bren, is that the one Norinco put out a few years back?
I never could see myself owning one of those.

 

[Zundfolge]

I think the weirdest autoloader is the Mateba.


(yes ... it's an auto)

 

[Tamara]

Zundfolge,

(yes ... it's an auto)

Really more of a self-cocking revolver than an "autoloader".

 

[George Hill]

Korth. $6,000 for an uninspired automatic... You must be really seriously bent to get one of those.

 

[Zundfolge]

Really more of a self-cocking revolver than an "autoloader".

Which is why it's weird

 

[Greg Bell]

Uninspired! Check out this ultra cool engraved Korth with suppressor..

 

[Greg Bell]

And what about this little gift set for Christmas!

 

[Jim K]

For those who may not know, the Kimball mentioned by SDC was chambered for the .30 Carbine and yes, it was blowback. They tried chamber rings and other tricks, but the guns kept destroying themselves.

Another weird system is the Frommer (Stop and Baby). These fire .32 ACP and .380 ACP, but are locked breech and long recoil operated. The bolt and barrel are locked together until they reach the end of travel, then the barrel is released to go forward, followed by the bolt to chamber the next round.

In the early days of auto pistols, there were dozens of weird designs, some of which (like the Luger) only seem "normal" because they were produced in quantity. Other odd actions, like the Pedersen designed Remington Model 51, were made because of the need to circumvent the Browning patents.

Jim

 

[Snowdog]

Greg, how many kidneys will that Chrismas combo cost me?

 

[Kodiak AK]

I can't remeber the name of it , but it was a weird little pistol you held in your palm . The magazine was in the circular body of the pistol , and you put the barrel between your fingers , and squeezed to fire the pistol.

 

[DougCxx]

If the Mateba was an upside-down revolver, then the Margolin MCZ was an upside-down automatic--only a 22 short, but still.
See "The Progenitor Of Change":
http://www.geocities.com/pistoleer2001/Evolution2.html
~

 

[BluesBear]

KodiakAK,

I believe youare referring to the The Chicago Firearms Company's Protector Palm Pistol made in the 1880s.

Later made by the Minneapolis Firearms Company.

It's a 32 caliber pistol with radial cylinder made to fit in the palm of the hand. The barrel was held between the middle and ring fingers and was operated by a lever that fit the heel of the hand. You squeezed it to rotate the cylinder and fire.

 

[1911Tuner]

Weird Pistols

For my money...The Mars...Hands down. Straaaaaaange-lookin' thing.

 

[Kodiak AK]

BluesBear

That's the one . The design is way out there , but still I wouldn't mind haveing one just to have it , but they seem to be extreamly pricey if you can even find one for sale .

 

[SnWnMe]

Gyrojet.

Too bad it didn't take off (pun unintended). It doesn't go bang (perfect for the backyard) and it shoots rockets out of a pistol sized weapon (you know you want one).

 

[James Bondrock]

Not an autoloader ... or is it?

There was a magazine-fed revolver called the Dardick, after its inventor. Its cartridges were triangular in cross section and called trounds. An American Handgunner article from several years ago discussing various handgun action types showed a picture of a "prototype S&W Revmatic." It had the grip of a 3913 and the cylinder and barrel of a 2.5" M66 revolver. I think they were pulling our legs.

 

[Gordon]

Blues Bear collects "Palm Pistols"!! I sold mine 15 years ago for $$$$$ at auction . When I check current values I lost out about 1% per year since then the collection had been in my family for 3 generations so it was a big desicion! The Styer Gb was pretty weird , I never bought one thank G-d! I did buy an HK VP-70Z , which I sold to get a Glock 17 when they came out.Never had a Gabbit -Fairfax Mars pistol , but I do have a JO-LO-MAR.

 

[Badger Arms]

Here's a good picture.