Wikipedia: The Dreyse Model 1907 is a semi-automatic pistol designed by Louis Schmeisser. The gun was named after Nikolaus von Dreyse, the designer of the Dreyse Needle Gun. The Waffenfabrik von Dreyse company was acquired by Rheinische Metallwaren & Maschinenfabrik Sömmerda in 1901, although the Dreyse Model pistols were marketed under the Dreyse name.

The pistol had an interesting feature for the time: when the gun was ready to fire, the firing pin projected through the back of the breech block, serving as an early handgun-cocking indicator. For cleaning, the frame, receiver and slide pivoted forward on a pin in front of the trigger guard. The pistol and its derivatives (Dreyse Model 1907 Pocket Pistol, Dreyse Model 1912 Parabellum) was of simple blowback recoil operation, though of unusual design.

The same company also manufactured a 6.35 mm pocket version (also named Model 1907). In 1912 the 9 mm Parabellum Dreyse Model 1912 emerged as the gun's successor. Marked as the RM & M Dreyse, it was chambered for 9 mm Parabellum.

Despite the gun's limited production time, the gun is relatively common today, in large part due to its use by Volkssturm and Volksgrenadier late in World War II, enabling many Allied personnel to bring examples home as war trophies.

The Model 1907 Dreyse pistol was designed by Louis Schmeisser (who had previously worked with Theodor Bergmann on the Bergmann machine gun) in 1905–1906 and were marketed from 1907 onward. The first gun, the 7.65 mm Auto is the most unusual. Most of the cranked slide lies along the top of the barrel, with a short section projecting down behind the chamber to serve as the breech block.

The breech block is confined within a flat-sided frame with a bridge to carry the back sight and arrest the upper section of the slide. The recoil spring surrounds the barrel, enclosed in the frame and held by a collar engaging the front end of the slide through a spring catch. Pulling back on the finger grips at the front of the slide brings the breech block into view behind the frame.

The Dreyse pistol is fired by a striker whose tail protruds back through the rear of the breech block when the chamber is loaded. The entire top section of the frame and slide can be pivoted on a pin in front of the trigger guard, being locked in the firing position by a catch at the rear of the frame. This final refinement is essential to dismantling; removal of the cranked slide is impossible otherwise.

The Dreyse design was strongly influenced by John Browning's FN M1900, though the Browning has its recoil spring above the barrel, while the Dreyse has a concentric recoil spring. Nonetheless, the overall shape is the same, as is the grip angle and surface design, the magazine release, the positioning of the manual safety and the breech blocks.

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