Douglas Jr.

Hello everybody! Here I am with something very unique, recently added to my collection: an automatic pistol Royal MM34. And I must add that I'm happy as a kid with this one. OK, the gun is not in mint condition and saw better days, but as far as I could research up to now it is a very rare bird, and a nice addition to any collection. And it is in LIVE condition (and still kicking!) These guns were made by a Spanish company called Beistegui Hermanos, who started to made unauthorized copies of the Mauser C96 around 1927, mostly aiming the Chinese market. Astra ("Unceta Co.") followed them with the model 900 series. In 1931 Beistegui introduced a version of its pistol with a select-fire switch, allowing to use the gun as a submachine gun. However, polical issues arise and most of the production of automatic pistols was halted by the Spanish Republican Government in 1931. Only a small production was allowed to suply foreign customers (Chinese war lords, mostly) but, in 1934 the Guardia Civil requested a select-fire gun with a slower rate of fire, so the next two Astras - the experimental Model 904, and the big order for the Guardia, the Model F - had such a mechanism. These were all made in 1934 and 1935. Beistegui introduced the MM34 about at the same time, with a similar retarding mechanism but adding a switch to select various cyclic rates. Another interesting feature was the disctinctive barrel. This gun had dettachable magazines, using the same mags as the German Mauser Schnellfeuer. By 1935, the political situation in Spain had continued to deteriorate, though not yet to the point of open warfare, and the financial squeeze on manufacturers continued. The Beistegui brothers, clearly suffering since 1931, finally abandoned the gun business altogether, after making only a few hundred specimens of their new MM34. The brothers appeared again after the end of the Civil War, but this time making bicycles. According to some old-timer gun collectors in my country, these guns made its way to here, after be purchased by the Rio Grande do Sul's State Law Enforcement, but as the political situation was instable at that State, Federal Government confiscated many of the guns and issued them to other States Police Departments (mainly in the arid Northeast States), where they served for many years. This particular gun was abandoned (lying inside a metal box) in a obselet gun depot of one of these northern States, when it was bought in an auction. The holster stock was found and bought in another auction in another State, almost 1000 miles away from where the gun was. This gunbears the date letter code "F", which date it as made in 1933... Well, this is everyhting that I could find about this gun (source: http://www.1896mauser.com/spanish.htm). If you know anything else, please, feel free to add. Any information on this pistol is welcome. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Greetings, Douglas PS: Sorry about the poor pictures, I promise to make more (and better)pictures soon.

You can try here: http://www.ommb.com.br/forum/viewforum.php?f=29

OK! Here is the link for the International Forum. http://www.ommb.com.br/forum/viewforum.php?f=29 You just need to register yourself using a valid e-mail account. I don't think you will have any problem as the whole plataform is in English. The parental forum is: www.ommb.com.br/forum Hope to see you all there. Douglas

Thanks for the feedback. I?m must to confess that I'm kind of surprised with the positive acceptance to our idea. ? I'm gonna prepare the forum and, after that, will post the link here. Greetings, Douglas

Hello everyone! Together with my friend ricky1972, we have been runnin' for the last two years a Militaria Forum focused on Brazilian Awards and Militaria. There are, bu local demand, forums to discuss German, European and American awards and stuff, but the major subject is Brazilian Military collectables and Brazilian Military History. Our community is not so big as this one but highly participative. This week a friend from this forum joined us there. As the forum is in Portuguese language we are considering to open a new section, in English language, devoted solely to help collectors from the rest of the world with information, pictures and everything regarding Brazilian stuff. We know that there are some of you that enjoy Brazilian awards and we thought that having a direct channel with Brazilian collectors may be helpful. But it might be a wrong reading. Please, we would love to hear your opinions. Greetings, Douglas

bsweeney, Well, I am in the same dead's end as you, as my previous message was based on the post made by nesredep. For a printed source, I would recommend you Jan Still's book "Third Reich Pistols", which was published during the 90s, I think. However, if you are looking for a more updated data, I suggest you to become a member of the P38 & PPK Forum, ran by Orv Reichert and others. I'm sure that can give you a more acurate information on your PPK. The site is: http://www.p38forum.com/ You can also try the Jan Still himself discussion board at: http://luger.gunboards.com/ That's all I can do for you now! Hope it helps you a bit more. If not, let me know that we can figure out some other thing. Greetings, Douglas.

bsweeney, That's a nice PPK and Police proofed guns are sought after by collectors everywhere. Congratulations! However, you must be careful with the statement that "only 27 guns survived". What the book says is that 27 guns of this specific type were reported to the author when the source was printed. I bet that this number increase during the last 27 years - considering that the 1982 is the edition date. Besides that, have in mind that it may be many others still existing that never were reported after all! I would look for a fresher source in order to stablish the surviving rate concerning this Police contract. Hoever, these facts do not detract the rarity or interest on your piece. You can bet that I would love to have it in my collection! Greetings, Douglas

I would love to have it, but it is impossible: I live overseas and we are not allowed to import guns like this HP35. Thanks anyway! Douglas

Prussian, Thanks a lot for this information. Rick, Herr Rabl had a very impressive career, for sure! Greetings, Douglas

Hi, I can't understand what was the civil occupation (#8) of this WP's owner. Any help is welcom to decypher it. Greetings, Douglas

Hi George, Military Luger's holsters are usually marked with the makers name (or code) and year of manufacture. It can helps you to narrowed the research a bit more. Greetings, Douglas

Thanks for your comments! Paul, The bore is in very good condition. Not pristine, but very good. I like collectable guns that had seen some used and not that ones that spent their "lives" stored in a desk. But it is a personal preference! Nesredep, There is no mark in the holster. I was intrigued at first but later, after looking for some examples for sale in the Net, I noticed that this is very common regarding Radom holsters. Greetings, Douglas

Hello, Allow me to share with you some few images of a new addition: this nice Radom Vis-35 with holster, both in excellent condition (in my humble opinion). For your review there is a Type II (three levers, no stock lug) Radom, serial number L9894. All matching, including barrel. No markers mark on the holster. The only "issues" are the slightly bended lanyard ring and two small cracks in the right grip's screw holes. According to the information provided by a fellow collector, this example was made in about March, 1943. Hope you enjoy it! Douglas.

That's a great nazi HP-35! I really enjoy this one and I considered as one of the best pistols ever made. I'm still looking for one in decent shape down here in South America, but it has been a tough mission. Congratulations, Douglas

Sweeney, So it is a Type II - no slot, three levers on the right side. I think yours was made in early 1942. Great gun! Douglas

I can't see if it has a slot in the rear part of the grip. If so, it is a Type I VIS 35. The very good quality of the finish, seems to indicate that it is a German assembled gun with Polish made parts. Very early production. Douglas

Very nice indeed! And both seems to be in very nice condition. Congratulations, Douglas