The world of miniature working guns is very diverse, but there is one species that stands out of all others in terms of quantity and popularity. We mean 2mm pinfier guns. This standard is so common that it covers about 90% of the relevant market.
The origin of such popularity goes back to the middle of the 19th century, when only one kind of unitary cartridge, a pinfier standard, was recognized. At this time, among wealthy people in Europe and the United States, pocket watches were very fashionable. According to the tradition, such watches were usually worn on a silver or gold chain. Often, to surprise others and emphasize the status of their owners, these chains were decorated with various pendants, for example, in the form of family coat of arms in gold frame, or other original coulombs.
The first 2 mm pistols appear at this very time as one of the types of such pendants. Now it is not known for certain, who was the author of such a gun, and why 2 mm caliber was chosen. As noted above, the standard of unitary cartridges was then one, probably, it served as a guide for the creation of miniature cartridges. The design and dimensions of 2mm pinfier cartridge proved to be so successful that, unlike its ball full-sized prototype, it survived until the 21st century.
So this kind of miniature weapon came into being. And why a pinfire cartridge became a universal standard for miniatures? In the world of real firearms, the Casimir Lefaucheux system revolvers were in vogue in the 19th century. Numerous producers from Belgium and France put it into production. The manufacturers of 2 mm guns didn’t stay away: the design of their revolvers, after some simplification, copied real specimens, their appearance was also very close to the originals. They made such tiny revolvers of different metals: silver, gilded steel, and in exceptional cases even gold, for elite customers. Making miniature mechanisms is very labor-intensive, and for this reason they are very expensive. Not every owner of a pocket watch could afford such an accessory. The specimens that have survived to this day are very popular among collectors, their value is measured in thousands of dollars, and they do not stay long in antiquarian shops.
2 mm pistols of the XX century
The twentieth century brought some changes to the world of 2 mm pistols. Due to the growth of industrialization, pocket watches became cheaper, and at the same time the number of their owners grew: they were not as rich as aristocrats and bourgeois, but they also had money, and they wanted new entertainments. And as you know, demand is coupled with supply. Then our new persona has appeared: Franz Pfannl, a watchmaker from Austria. This man breathed new life into 2 mm pinfire guns, he made them really popular in wide circles. Pfannl organized serial production of simple and reliable single-shot miniature pistols. His models were extremely successful. For 120 years they have been being manufactured in various modifications, both factory and home-makers copy them without significant changes.
The product created by Pfannl was called Berloque, it quickly appeared in all European trade catalogs. The popularity of this product did not stay unnoticed and by 1910 several companies and private Austrian manufacturers, such as Hector Gebharter, started producing different versions of this pistol. This stage lasted until the outbreak of the First World War. The war and connected with it impoverishment, of course, didn’t in no way contribute to the sales of watches and accessories. But after post-war hungry years, life in Europe began to revive. Although the pre-war aesthetics became a thing of the past, and with it the fashion for pocket watches and everything connected with them went away.
However, there are exceptions of all the rules, and in this case our 2 mm pistol became an exception. If in 1900s it was an attribute, clearly associated with a pocket watch, in the next decades it became an independent product. In the 1930s, there was a new boom in the production of 2 mm pinfire guns, Germany and Japan joined Austria, bringing their own specificity to these products. For example, Japanese pistols, for safety reasons, were produced with a muffled muzzle and a side hole for gases issue after a shot: shooting such a pistol is possible only if you use blank cartridges (European products can fire both blanks and lead bullets). In Europe innovations also came: armourers started releasing the models that could fire not only bullets, but also signal flares. For this, the pistols are equipped with a special detachable nozzle, which turns a usual pistol into a signal rocket launcher. They can launch flares of about 25-30 meters upwards.
In addition to that, a revival of miniature revolvers also happened. Before World War I in Germany only one model Kolibri existed, it was not as beautiful as its predecessors of the 19th century, but its price was not so high. However, this revolver was still not cheap and therefore it wasn’t in massive distribution. Today it is a collection rarity, and its price is around 1500-2000 dollars.
In the 1930s, the formation of the US market was started. The first American factory products are quite original, they don’t have analogues in the European market. It looks like a revolver, but the mechanism and the principle of action is similar to Berloque pistol. The production process was rationalized maximally, that did not improve the appearance of this gun, but positively affected the price. Due to it these miniatures became relatively mass, now their price in the United States ranges from 120 to 250 dollars, depending on the state of the specimen and the place of sale.
In the pre-war period there were other less known manufacturers, who haven’t make a noticeble mark on history because of small quantity of their products. During World War II, a natural break occurred in the production of 2 mm guns, but it didn’t last long. Immediately after the end of the war, production resumes, moreover, new players come on the market. According to the already existing tradition, again watchmakers and again Austrian, decided to try themselves in the role of gunsmiths.
So in the fifties, Andres & Dworsky company released its famous Xythos revolver. The first batch was just a little more than 100 pieces, but it was only the start. The appearance of this pistol immediately revealed that it was designed not by a professional gunsmith: with its angular details, it looks more like the mechanism of a watch than a revolver.
The gun became extremely popular, although it had some shortcomings, which were not overcome with subsequent modifications. The fact is that a 2 mm pinfire cartridge requires a fairly powerful mechanical impact, but Xythos, due to the characteristics of its trigger, could not always provide the required force to push. For this reason, the revolver often misfired. Besides that, the mechanism of this pistol quickly falls into disrepair during active operation: the weak point of this product is the cylinder, or, more precisely, the mechanism that synchronizes it with the barrel. Nevertheless, the sales of this miniature revolver grew rapidly. The release of Xythos was terminated only in recent years.
By the way, if you want to buy the most beautiful and original 2 mm revolver that is available for collectioners these days – think about a ring-revolver. It is a shooting mechanism with a small cylinder without a barrel, that is inserted in a piece of jewelry: a standard size ring.
Such ring-guns were made by French, Belgian and German masters in 19th century, but they were unsafe and didn’t provide the shot power that would be enough for self-protection. Today we have modernized and improved this mechanism.
If you want to surprise your wife or your girlfriend with an unusual gift – it is obviously the best choice! Just tell us the size of her finger, and we will make the ring for your loved one. It would be one of the most romantic moments in her life!
2 mm pistols by American gunmakers
Another postwar trend was the fact that the leadership of Europeans was challenged by gunsmiths from the United States. Unlike Europe, the production of 2mm pistols in the United States was performed not by factories, but by individual craftsmen. Therefore, 2 mm guns from the US are distinguished by a variety of approaches to their construction. The United States gave the world such famous gunsmiths as Larry Smith and David Kucher. The last one has succeeded not only in the manufacture of miniature weapons of 2mm standard — we can even say that this is only a small part of his artistic heritage in the sphere of miniature firearms, but it is a separate topic.
Speaking about 2mm guns, we should also mention such a master as Bob Urso. This man has made an inestimable contribution to the popularization of 2mm pistols, as well as miniature weapons in general. He created a huge variety of different models and modifications. It would take more than one article to describe all the specimens made by him. His experiments with the adaptation of 2 mm pinfire cartridges to models that had never shot ammunition of this type gave us such fancy models as pinfire Lugger and pinfire Colt.
He also made the smallest pistol in the world that uses 2 mm cartridge (you can see it in the pucture below). Bob Urso has published a book devoted to the overview of all 2 mm miniature guns, which became an indispensable handbook for all collectors interested in this topic.
