Tirmax: A Pre-WW1 .32ACP Light Carbine
Forgotten Weapons
•
8m 57s
The Tirmax is a handy little carbine made between 1909 and 1914 in Liege by a German company. It is a semiauto action using a 5-round detachable magazine. The guns are quite scarce today because only a fairly small number appear to have been produced before World War One ended its manufacture.
Mechanically, the Tirmax is simple blowback, although incorporating a heavy hammer spring into the system to increase the bolt's resistance to opening when fired. The hammer also has a lever extension on the left side of the receiver, allowing it to be manually cocked prior to manually cycling the bolt.
Out on the range, this particular example exhibited a bunch of problems, although that may or may not be representative of overall production. In addition to feed problems, I had one instance where the firing pin appears to have stuck in the forward position, resulting in 3 rounds slam firing in extremely fast succession - note that this is part of why one does not put one's hand over the ejection port! After that incident, I stopped firing and the gun's owner will have it looked at by a good gunsmith.
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
Swiss 1929 Simplified Luger (Yes, Swi...
Switzerland was the First Nation to adopt the Luger as a service pistol, and they purchased them DWM in Germany from 1900 until 1914. World War One stopped deliveries, of course, and after the war the Swiss opted to begin their own production at Waffenfabrik Bern. These Swiss Lugers have become k...
-
Swedish K: The Carl Gustav m/45B and ...
During the 1930s, Sweden acquired an assortment of different submachine guns, including Bergmanns, Thompsons, and Suomis. As World War Two progressed, they decided that they really needed to standardize on a single caliber and model of gun, and requested designs from both the Carl Gustav factory ...
-
USMC Stinger Machine Gun: Medal of Ho...
Corporal Tony Stein
United States Marine Corps ReserveFor conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on I...
