There was a great deal of competition in this market segment just after the turn of the 20th century. Many of the firearm manufacturers came up with quite a variety of designs.
The very early Browning designs like the FN / Colt from 1905 and the Mauser WTP-I and WTP-II were direct blowback. Along came Josef Nickl with one of the more innovative designs in his M1910 / M1914 / M1934 family. These are fascinating well-made precision handguns.
It might be interesting to try and obtain examples of each of the basic early designs.
Marc
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 Igitur si vis pacem, para bellum -
- Therefore if you want peace, prepare for war.
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