Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! When the majority of gunsmiths in 1905 were still grappling with semi-autos, Ferdinand von Mannlicher had already made a pistol that was so elegant and precise that it was compared to a fine Swiss watch. With the Steyr Mannlicher Model 1905, he created another weapon that was not just any other but a mechanical marvel parading its guts. This open-topped beauty exhibited its working mechanisms like an haute horlogerie timepiece. Its fixed barrel screwed into the frame behaved well with a sliding breech block that moved to and fro on side arms. The springs and levers lay hidden inside the grip and frame, each playing a part in the intricate dance of semi-automatic fire. However, this Austrian timekeeper did not go to European wrists. Instead, Argentina across the Atlantic became home to the Steyr Mannlicher Model 1905. The South American nation fell under its charm buying approximately 6,000 between 1905 and 1910; others went further to Paraguay. Everyone displayed the Argentinian crest as an emblem of their new country of adoption making this precision-engineered Steyr Mannlicher Model 1905 an authentic jet-setting horological wonder.
“Manufacturer: Steyr
Model: 1905
Type: Pistol
Gauge: 7.65 MM Mannlicher Auto
Barrel: 6 inch solid rib
Finish: blue
Grip: hardwood”
Lot 2702: Steyr Argentine Contract Model 1905 Mannlicher Pistol. (n.d.-z). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved May 27, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1036/2702/steyr-argentine-contract-model-1905-mannlicher-pistol.
