Fired 150 rounds from one. From first 9 shots, I already knew this one would work greatly. The action was so positive. The rest 141 rounds simply proved that.

These Ruby pistols, so simply constructed and worked so well, surprised me a little bit.. definitely not a sexy design, it must be a very practical one for its day. Magazine capacity is 9 rounds.

Alvin,
If I'm not mistaken the BH stamped in the rear frame means "Beistegui Hermanos" - the same company that later produced the Royal, MM31 and MM34 pistols.
Most of these Ruby pistols were made for the French Army during WWI, as they were suffering of chronic short supplies of semiauto pistols. Again, if I remember correctly, French accepted Ruby pistols had two stars and a letter stamped in the grip. The quality of such pistols ranged from very good to very poor.

The picture is not very clear. The circled stamp on the frame is "EL", slide text "ELUSTONDO URTIAGA Y CIA / FABRICA DE ARMAS / GUERNICA VIZCAYA".

Will sell two, but keep one. They were made by three different makers, but all have exact same structure. The design of this gun is great... I love this one better than Browning 1922. But its making quality looks lower than FN peacetime production.

Unfortunately that's exactly the name of my illness, especially when I see a reeeeeeally beautiful Luger, or a stunning 1911 winking at me from a shop window of a gunshop... simply irresistible... :surr:


Sergio

After some effort, I sold two, and kept one. I like this one (pictures in post #22), it's heavy. Not a collector item because it's mismatched. But it shoots great, and the cost is lower than a carton of cigarettes (2015 is not 1945). Besides that, like sheepherder said, it's a great opportunity to see how Ruby's constructed.

Way back in the day, my dad acquired two Star Model B 9mm handguns. They were reliable as could be, and accurate. Darn shame he sold them. Not surprised at all that the pistol you picked up is reliable. Congrats on your new acquisition! :thumbup:

Does it have a hold open function?

No hold open function. Very simple and effective design. I think it's slightly improved over Browning 1910/1922 -- it has an internal hammer driven by strong spring so its firing is very positive, and it eliminated that annoying grip safety on Browning. The barrel is fixed in place in Browning style, but it also improved by eliminating the muzzle bushing. The design is top. Many pistols have separate tiny safety lever spring. This one does not. The recoil spring gives tension to safety lever.

The only disadvantage is making. Three pistols have three different quality. Not consistent.

I kind of disagree. These pistols are a slightly modified copy of a previous Browning design, used in the 1903 Colt. The Browning 1910/22 is in fact Browning's improvement of is own design. Placing the recoil spring around the barrel and replacing the concealed hammer with a striker to simplify the design.

As for the grip safety, it was present in both Browning designs. The Spanish simply deleted this feature as they also did in some of their copies of the 1911 design.

That was a good price on the three Ruby pistols, and they are in very good shape - compared with many, including mine. I bought one a while back that is "marked like the one in the Dillinger Museum..."

Ruby Pistol .32 ACP/7.65 mm made by the Spanish firm of Retolaza Hermanos (RH in an oval), Eibar and sold under the names: Liberty, Military, Paramount, Stosel, Titan, Titanic, and "1914 Model Automatic Pistol." These pistols were procured in large numbers by France beginning in 1915 as WWI trench raiding pistols due to the 9 round magazine. The French designed is based on the .32 Browning FN and Colt ‘Hammerless’ Models of 1903, which only carried 6-7 rounds, but simplified without the grip safety. Initially contracted with Gabilando in Spain, quality of pistols varies due to 50 manufacturers used to keep up production during the war and continuing conflicts, and parts are not necessarily inter changeable, with 500,000 to 1 million produced. Serial number 343 is on the right side of the frame under the grip, barrel, slide, trigger bar, bar guide, and safety lever (probably trigger and magazine catch also).

RH Ruby S/N 343 was owned (?) by John Dillinger and is engraved under the left wooden grip with his name. The holster was also owned (?) by John Dillinger and is stamped inside the belt loop with: John Dillinger New York 1934. So that neither name can be read unless the items are taken apart. The holster was made by Brauer Bro’s Mfg. Co. of St. Louis and stamped with Moose Brand Sporting Goods, a moose head, and H 2.