[Dwight Gruber]

Couldn't resist, hope y'all enjoy. Corrections by real French-speakers gratefully accepted.

--Dwight
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(p. 32)

The Parabellum Pistols

sold by the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne

At the begining of the twentieth century the automatic pistol, in development for several years, finally reaches a level of improvement with the appearance of the Parabellum and the 1900 Browning which will allow them to equal, then to supplant, the revolvers which until then were universally used for personal defense and the military.

Text and photos: Luc Guillou
�©"La Gazette des Armes" #370

illustration: Parabellum in 7.65mm pictured on the catalog of the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne, open to the page of accessories. It is accompanied by a cylindrical [typographical error] grease-patch cleaning rod, proper for the Parabellum.

In the years following the birth of the 20th Century the most important French company to sell contemporary weapons is Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne, keeping its customers provided with the best automatic pistols available (1)

Beginning in 1904 it markets the Browning 1900, in 7.65mm. This gun's particular characteristics attract many individuals who want a weapon of moderate weight and bulk. The 6.35mm Browning joins it in the catalog in 1907. It is followed by other small automatic pistols, and full-sized guns like the Clement and Webley.

For soldiers, explorers, and colonials, looking for guns firing more powerful ammunition, Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne also sold larger automatics: the c-96 Mauser, which appears in the catalog of 1904; the Mannlicher, from 1905; and then the Browning war-model (2) and the Parabellum which make their apearance in the trade-catalog in 1909.

The Parbellum pistol, which is the subject of this article, was marketed by Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne from 1909 to 1914. The model offered in the trade catalog is the modernized version of the Model 1900 Parabellum, known today by collectors as the model 1906.

Recalling the ways by which the 1906 model is distinguished from the original 1900 Parabellum:

(p.33)

-its toggle is strehgthened and built up with square ends, without the right-side toggle lock and spring
- its extractor is pivoted
- its frame is slightly lighter
- flat recoil spring of the model 1900 (3) is replaced with a coil spring

The gun was offered in two versions:
- in 7.65mm Parabellum with a 120mm (4 3/4 in.) barrel
- in 9mm Parabellum with a 100mm (4 in.) barrel

Wonders of the Trade Catalogue

Parabellums of both calibers appear in the catalog under the same reference (number 38) from 1909 to 1912. After 1912 the 7.65 model is catalog number 38; the 9mm appears on the same page as catalog number 41.

Catalog publication ended in aafter the declaration of war in 1914 and did not reappear until 1919. Parabellum pistols were no longer sold by Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne after the First World War.

illustration: Markings of Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne on a 4 3/4 in. 7.65mm barrel, and a 4 in. 9mm barrel.

illustration: On this page of accessories, Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne offers spare magazines, seen here along side magazines for the Bayard and spring clips for the Mannlicher pistol and Daudeteau carbine.

illustration: Two Parabellum model 1906 pistols, 9mm and 7.65mm, resting on a 1910 Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne catalog. Parabellums cost 110 Francs, making them the most expensive automatic pistols in the catalog: the Mauser C96 cost 100 Francs; the Mannlicher, 95 Francs; and the Browning war-model 90 Francs. A Browning 1900 7.65mm, on the other hand, did not cost nearly as much--its ordinary version was only 50 Francs.

(p. 34)

We cannot resist the pleasure of quoting the catalog's description of this magnificent gun:

"the Parabellum pistol introduces some distinctive features which place it at the first rank of automatic guns:

1. Its locking type is the universally known and appreciated "knuckle", used with great success for many years in Maxim guns and machine guns;

2. It loads very easily thanks to its magazine, even with gloved hands or hands numbed with cold;

3. It is able to serve very advantageously as a pistol for precison target shooting, using a reduced charge and lead bullet;

4. Its maintenance and its disassembling are excessively easy.

Moreover, this proves its qualities better than anything else: after long and meticulous testing, which has compared it to all other models of automatic pistols, it has been adopted as the ordinance pistols of the armies of Germany, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Portugal, and Brazil.

-The weapon is available for 110 francs at this time, in either 7.65 or 9mm.

-7.65mm full-jacketed ammunition is being sold for 3.25 Francs for 25, and 4.35 Francs for partial-jacketed ammunition (4)

-Magazines cost 5 Francs each.

It is necessary to make clear that "the magazines are useable indefinitnely", in order to differentiate them in the mind of the public which is only slightly familiar with automatic pistols, from the disposable spring-clips used by the Mauser, Mannlicher, and Steyer also sold by Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne.

illustration: Extract of the French version of the Parabellum user's manual. Here is the page showing the penetration and the effect of cavitation of various 7.65mm projectiles shot into plastic clay

illustration: 7.65mm Parabellum resting on the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne catalog, open to the page advertising the Mannlicher and the Luger; along with several 7.65mm Parabellum cartridges. Also shown is a regulation French cleaning rod type offered through the catalog to pistol owners.

(p.35)

Although theoretically interchangeable, the magazines for the 7.65mm and 9mm Parabellum are sold under two different catalog references.

For carrying the gun on a belt, a molded leather holster is available, in either tobacco or black, with a small expanded pocket to store a magazine, available for 5 francs.

And a final quote:

"the gun is accompanied by a set of accessories including: a cleaning rod, a screwdriver, a pin drift; as well as detailed instructions forloading, disassembling, reassembling, and cleaning."

Distinguishing Characteristics of Parabellums sold by the Manufacture of Saint_Etienne

Parabellum sold by the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne are exactly identical to all other model 1906 manufactured by the German firm DWM at this time. They are distinguished by only by two particular markings:

-the mark of the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne on top of the barrrel;

-a number struck at the bottom of the grip. This number, different from the serial number of the gun, is also found on other pistols sold at this time by Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne but not manufactured by them. It is probable that this was used within the company to differentiate guns of different manufacture which may carry an identical serial number.

Parabellum model 1906 are very rare today, and those which carry the mark of the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne are even more so.

How amazing, reading these marvellous catalogs a hundred years later. The reader can without any difficulty dream of a time machine which would allow him to present himself at the store of the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne, then located in Paris, Rue du Louvre, to buy one of these brand-new guns in its original box, with manual and accessories, and its ammunition in its box of the era!

If such weapons could be freely bought in the era called "La Belle Epoque" (the Beautiful Time), these wonders of almost 100 years old are today severely regulated despite their extreme rarity. We can measure in this field, as well as in others, how much personal freedoms have eroded in Western societies over the course of decades!

illustration: 9mm Parabellum pistol with 4 inch barrel sold by the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne.

illustration: Holster for the Parabellum offered by the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne.


Sources:
- Catalogues anciens de la Manufacture d'armes et cycles de Saint-Etienne
- "Le Manufrance du collectionneur" second edition Picari

Notes:
1. It was not until 1914 that this well-known company introduced a handgun of its own design and manufacture, the pistol "Le Fran�§ais".

2. Collectors today call it the Browning model 1903

3. Readers desiring more information on the evolution of the Parabellum pistols are invited to see issues 6 and 9 of the "Gazette", devoted to the Luger.

4. Price as of the 1910 Catalog. The price of the Parabellum remained the same through the catalog of 1914. However, the price of the cartridges increased slightly: 3.75 Francs for a box of 7.65mm, and 4.75 Francs for the 9mm. A strange fact is that magazines for 7.65mm stayed at 5 Francs, but for 9mm increased to 5.25 Francs.