The period of the late XIX and early XX centuries was in many ways a turning point in the history of short-barreled weapons. It was then that self-loading pistols began to appear. Moreover, it was at the turn of the century that the world recognized such famous models as the Mauser K96 and Luger P08. Of course, a lot more pistols were created, but not all of them got into mass production. One of the most interesting candidates of that era was the 1901 Mannlicher pistol.
The pistol was developed at the end of the XIX century by the Austro-Hungarian designer Steyr Mannlicher. In 1894 and 1896, the gunsmith competed with another famous designer, Georg Luger, who created his legendary pistol based on the design proposed by the gunsmith Hugo Borchardt. The development of Mannlicher collected a lot of flattering reviews from the military and even went into production. Used pistol in the Austro-Hungarian and Argentine army. However, as a result, it turned out to be much less known than its German competitor.
The main advantage of Steyr Mannlicher M1901 was the simplicity of design. The pistol used a single-action trigger and was loaded with clips of 8 rounds through fixed magazine, similar to how it happened in another well-known pistol of that time - Mauser C96. The Austrian development barrel was locked due to its mass and the action of a return spring, using a free longitudinally sliding magazine.
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For its time, the gun had good characteristics. With dimensions of 221.5x136x30 mm, the pistol had a 136 mm barrel and weighed no more than 880 grams when loaded. Magazine capacity - 8 rounds. Caliber - 7.65 mm. The weapon had a high rate of fire. For 1 minute with reloading, it was possible to shoot up to 80 rounds. The initial velocity of the bullet was 300 m / s, and the aiming range of the pistol reached 40-50 meters. When fired at close range, Mannlicher pierced 150 mm of pine wood.
In general, the gun was reliable and unpretentious. Without much difficulty, it was possible to bring the weapon to life even after “water procedures” and the appearance of rust. Without cleaning and lubrication, Mannlicher fired 500-1000 rounds without any problems. Which was a lot for its time. But why is it that such a wonderful weapon from all sides could not capture the European market? The fact is that Steyr was corny late with his development. In 1900, many European armies were already armed with self-loading pistols, including the very successful Browning pistol of the 1900 model. Therefore, the circulation of Steyr Mannlicher M1901 amounted to no more than 10 thousand samples.
In continuation of the topic, read about why did you need to make a strange design of ten Mauser pistols.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/210522/63044/