Miniature guns like the one I have made are known as Berloque or Watch Fob pistols and were first produced in Austria in the late 1890s, where they continue to be manufactured to the present day. Many of these miniature pistols were made by Austrian watchmakers as decorative pocket watch chain fobs charms or as cufflinks and are now prized collector´s items. All of this guns, nowadays are designed to fire 2mm pinfire blank cartridges, but live 2mm pinfire ammunition was also produced and used in the past.
It seems that this peculiar little gun was invented or developed by Franz Pfannl, born in 1867 in Stein, Austria. In 1897 Pfannl began producing a variety of 2mm, berloque pinfire pistols and rifles. Many were stamped with PFANNL or FP. His business grew fast as the Berloques were a big success and soon Pfannl's factory was producing parts for other manufacturers in Germany and Spain, who finished the guns with a variety of grips and markings. In fact, all of the Berloque pistols manufactured prior to 1938 - the year the Goebharter company began making these guns - were designs either licensed for manufacture or manufactured by Pfannl. After the Second World War many Berloque pinfire pistols and rifles were also produced in Japan by manufacturers like "Little Atom", "Mighty Mite", "Chadwick" and "Concraft". Thousands were sold as toy cap guns, keychain charms, cufflinks and tie-clips.
Pfannl became best known as the designer of the smallest automatic pistol ever manufactured, the Kolibri 2.7mm centerfire. The Kolibri was patented in 1910, and manufactured from 1914 until just after the start of the First World War. From the early 1930s to the Second World War, Pfannl created many interesting designs for Berloque, Blank and Flobert pistols in calibers from 2mm through 6mm. In 1943 Pfannl ceased the production of miniature guns and closed his factory. He died in 1961 in Krems an der Donau, Austria, after a long and productive career that earned him the title of "Father of the Berloque Guns".

The materials I used to make the pistol shown in this video were the following:
-Sideplates: Cupronickel ;
-Barrel, hammer, trigger, backstrap, screws and rivets: Brass;
-Spring: Tempered steel;
-Grips: Bone.
The 2mm pinfire cartridge (Lefaucheux system) shown in the video is a replica that I have made of an old live ammunition from the Pfannl era, but it has no powder or primer in it. It´s made of brass tube, wire and a round piece of lead.
I don´t intend to fire blank or live cartridges with my miniature guns as they are only for display purposes.

Tags: Berloque pistol , berloque gun , 2 mm pinfire , miniature pistols , miniature guns , miniature firearms , mini pistol , handmade pistol , homemade pistol , handmade gun , homemade gun

Contact e-mail: pita.miniature.guns@gmail.com

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