Send us your own comments about this object.

Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  GERMAN PISTOL RHEINMETALL 7.65MM SN# 251679
Maker/Manufacturer:	BROWNING, JOHN M.
Date of Manufacture:	1922-1927
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1978
Measurements:	OL: 16.5CM 6 1/2" BL: 9.1CM 3 5/8" 23.6 oz. unloaded.

Object Description:

GERMAN PISTOL RHEINMETALL 7.65MM SN# 251679
Manufactured by Rheinmetall, Sommerda, Germany - Standard Rheinmetall 7.65mm semi-auto pistol. Blowback-operated, striker-fired. Nickeled with two-piece smooth wood grips. Fixed blade front, fixed U-notch rear sight. 4-groove rifling, right hand twist. Muzzle velocity 850 fps. Weapon weighs approximately 23.6 oz. unloaded. Weapon complete with 8-round detachable box magazine. The few of these that were in service were issued to the Navy. Based largely on M1910 Browning design.

Markings:
Slide: RHEINMETALL ABT. SOMMERDA (early style markings with a tiny encircled diamond trademark at each end.) Bottom of slide: 251679.
Barrel: 1679.

Notes: "Rheinische Metallwaaren-und Maschinengabrik was founded in Sommerda in 1889 as a general engineering company. The assets of moribund Waffenfabrik von Dreyse were purchased in 1901, the name being perpetuated in the Dreyse pistol of 1907-15. Becoming involved in the production of artillery during the First World War, Rhenimetall allied with Solothurn AG of Switzerland and Steyr of Austria in the 1920s, operating design bureaux in the Netherlands and Russia. Continued expansion led to an amalgamation with Borsig AG in 1936, the resulting Rheinmetall-Borsig combine becoming one of Germany's leading manufacturers of heavy artillery. Dismantled and reorganized after the end of the Second World War, Rheinmetall GmbH is now a major German weapon manufacturer once again.
Rheinmetall - A 7.65mm pistol, developed in 1920-1, was marketed from 1922 onward. Although basically a copy of the 1910-pattern Browning, it had an unusual dismantling system in which the slide was pulled back and locked. The rear section, with the finger grips, could then be unscrewed from the rest of the slide. This allowed the front portion of the slide to be taken forward off the frame and made a screwed muzzle bush unnecessary. Held in a ring-seat in the frame, the barrel could be removed backward after turning it until a tab below the chamber came clear of a recess. The grips were wood, and the tail of the striker protruded from the rear of the slide as a cocking indicator." - Hogg & Weeks

References:
Hogg, Ian & John Weeks. PISTOLS OF THE WORLD. 3rd Ed. DBI Books, Inc. Northbrook, Il. 1992.
Hogg, Ian. GERMAN HANDGUNS: THE COMPLETE BOOK OF THE PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS OF GERMANY, 1869 TO THE PRESENT. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2001.
Miller, David. THE ILLUSTRATED DIRECTORY OF 20TH CENTURY GUNS. Salamander Books Ltd. London, England. 2001.