My Favorite Chinese Warlord Pistol: the Luger Grip Type
China
•
14m
My favorite pattern of domestic Chinese pistol form he Warlord Era is the one I have termed the "Luger Grip Type". The Luger was not a very common pistol in this period in China, and it is rare to see elements of it copied on Chinese designs. This pattern, however, very specifically uses the grip angle and style of the Luger, as well as its front sight. This particular one even has Luger-type wooden toggle magazine floor plates. This is also a very cool example because it includes two magazines and an original holster.
Mechanically, the Luger Grip Types are simple blowback, chambered for the 7.63mm Mauser cartridge. The design of the slide, hammer, and rear sight are largely based on the C96 Mauser. As a class, they are generally well made pistols, with rear sights that are actually separate parts and movable, although generally without actual locking notches in the rear sight bar. This example has a pseudo-date type of serial number, and a manual safety that simply doesn't work.
Up Next in China
-
Chinese Warlord Pistols: the "Horn Gr...
In the course of researching Chinese domestic pistols of the Warlord Era, I sorted through several hundred examples, and was able to identify six distinct patterns of uniquely Chinese designs. Once of these I have designated the Horn Grip Type, as almost all the examples identified use horn (some...
-
"Made for the Republic of China": Sha...
The Shanghai Arsenal was founded in 1865 as a joint venture between British and Chinese customs officers. They bought a defunct American ironworking company and rebuilt it as an arsenal. In 1884 they began production of a copy of the Remington Rolling Block, and by 1891 copies of Mannlicher 1888 ...
-
Shanghai 1900 Pistol-Carbine at the B...
Today I am going to actually do some shooting with a Chinese Warlord Era pistol - a Shanghai Model 1900 Pistol-Carbine. As I described in yesterday's video, these were well-made guns produced by a large and legitimate factory arsenal. I only have a single magazine (and sadly no shoulder stock) fo...