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| Country |
Austria-Hungary |
| Type |
Semi-automatic pistol |
| Manufacturer |
Steyr Mannlicher |
| Introduction |
1894 |
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The Model 1894 Steyr Mannlicher Blow-Forward, Semi-Automatic Pistol was an early semi-automatic pistol.
This earliest Steyr Mannlicher pistol, manufactured by FAB.D\'ARMES Neuhausen, Switzerland, was designed to be self loading and to use a special rimmed cartridge in 6.5 mm caliber. The design represented an entirely new utilization of mechanical principles in automatic action called \"blow-forward action\". In the standard type of automatic action for low powered cartridges, the recoil (or blow-back) is utilized to drive back a movable breech face or block, Mannlicher utilized the principle of a rigid standing breech with the barrel blowing forward to extract, eject, and prepare for reloading. The blow-forward principle has been utilized in very few firearms.
A special barrel housing which carries the sight covers the entire length of the barrel (6.49 in/165 mm) when the arm is closed. A heavy recoil spring is mounted concentrically around the barrel within this housing and is compressed between a shoulder at the forward end of the casing and a shoulder at the rear of the barrel.
An unusual element in this design is a three-armed \"barrel-holding lever\". It is pivoted above the trigger. Its bottom arm engages with the trigger. The forward arm holds the barrel forward for loading. The rear arm serves as a hammer catch.
The pistols were tested by the American Army at the Springfield Armory in June, 1900. They did not recommend the use of the pistol, primarily because of the poor function during the test. Cartridges frequently jammed or misfired, and the barrel burst after the 281st round.
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