USMA-82
NES Member
First, a little background for those of you not familiar with this gun:
The Roth-Steyr M1907, or, more accurately Roth-Krnka M.7 was a semi-automatic pistol issued to the Austro-Hungarian Kaiserliche und Koenigliche Armee cavalry during World War I. It was the first adoption of semi-automatic service pistol by the land army of a major power. The Roth-Steyr is a locked-breech pistol, which allows the barrel and bolt to recoil together within a hollow receiver. It is chambered for a cartridge specific to this model (8mm Steyr). The Roth-Steyr does not have a detachable magazine, but features a fixed magazine loaded from the top with stripper clips (almost impossible to find and extremely expensive).
The sights are fixed, the grips are wooden and terminate in a lanyard ring. Rifling is 4 grooves with right-hand twist.The pistol was developed by the Czech designer Karel Krnka, working for an ammunition company of Georg Roth, from an earlier design of Roth-Theodorovic pistol. After development and tests of several prototypes, the final version of the Roth-Krnka won a contest for an Army pistol in 1906, and was adapted as a standard gun of the Austro-Hungarian Army as: Repetierpistole M.7. (self-loading pistol M1907).
Since Roth had no weapon production capabilities, the government bought all the rights and ordered production in the Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft (OEWG) in Steyr and FEG in Budapest (where this pistol was manufactured). From 1908 to 1914, approximately 99,000 weapons were manufactured (the Army received 59,334 from Steyr and 38,213 from FEG, plus several hundreds were sold in civilian market).
Despite the common name for the pistol Roth-Steyr, Steyr works didn't participate in its design, apart from minor improvements. Following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Roth-Steyr was fielded by Yugoslavia, with limited use during World War II by Austrians and Hungarians. Italy received a number of pistols as World War I reparations from Austria-Hungary, and these pistols were used by Italian troops during World War II. They were used also in Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The grip disc is marked "L.A.R.9" for the Leitches Artillerie Regiment, one of the many Hungarian units absorbed into the German army in 1938 (year of the Anschluss - the occupation and annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany). Originally, the pistol was marked at the rear of the receiver with "W n eagle and 12" (Wiener-Neustadt Arsenal, 1912). After 1926, many of these pistols were re-issued and re-stamped. In this case, the pistol is over-stamped with an "Hv eagle and 31" (Heeresverwaltung (Army Administration), 1931).
The pistol has some bluing loss near the muzzle, but probably still sits at about 90 - 95%. The internals are mostly marked with the letter "R" (manufacture stamp of FEG) and look unissued. As far as impressive machining goes, this pistol is certainly in the same league as the Mauser Broomhandle. I was fortunate enough to track down some 8mm steyr ammo, so the next stop is the range!
Enjoy!
For an excellent summary on these pistols and other Austro-Hungarian firearms, check out this website:
http://www.hungariae.com/RothStey.htm
For more in-depth research, check out Jan Still's tremendous book:
http://www.gunshowbooks.com/cgi-bin/webc.exe/st_prod.html?p_prodid=GS410727&sid=In3xI63p
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The Roth-Steyr M1907, or, more accurately Roth-Krnka M.7 was a semi-automatic pistol issued to the Austro-Hungarian Kaiserliche und Koenigliche Armee cavalry during World War I. It was the first adoption of semi-automatic service pistol by the land army of a major power. The Roth-Steyr is a locked-breech pistol, which allows the barrel and bolt to recoil together within a hollow receiver. It is chambered for a cartridge specific to this model (8mm Steyr). The Roth-Steyr does not have a detachable magazine, but features a fixed magazine loaded from the top with stripper clips (almost impossible to find and extremely expensive).
The sights are fixed, the grips are wooden and terminate in a lanyard ring. Rifling is 4 grooves with right-hand twist.The pistol was developed by the Czech designer Karel Krnka, working for an ammunition company of Georg Roth, from an earlier design of Roth-Theodorovic pistol. After development and tests of several prototypes, the final version of the Roth-Krnka won a contest for an Army pistol in 1906, and was adapted as a standard gun of the Austro-Hungarian Army as: Repetierpistole M.7. (self-loading pistol M1907).
Since Roth had no weapon production capabilities, the government bought all the rights and ordered production in the Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft (OEWG) in Steyr and FEG in Budapest (where this pistol was manufactured). From 1908 to 1914, approximately 99,000 weapons were manufactured (the Army received 59,334 from Steyr and 38,213 from FEG, plus several hundreds were sold in civilian market).
Despite the common name for the pistol Roth-Steyr, Steyr works didn't participate in its design, apart from minor improvements. Following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Roth-Steyr was fielded by Yugoslavia, with limited use during World War II by Austrians and Hungarians. Italy received a number of pistols as World War I reparations from Austria-Hungary, and these pistols were used by Italian troops during World War II. They were used also in Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The grip disc is marked "L.A.R.9" for the Leitches Artillerie Regiment, one of the many Hungarian units absorbed into the German army in 1938 (year of the Anschluss - the occupation and annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany). Originally, the pistol was marked at the rear of the receiver with "W n eagle and 12" (Wiener-Neustadt Arsenal, 1912). After 1926, many of these pistols were re-issued and re-stamped. In this case, the pistol is over-stamped with an "Hv eagle and 31" (Heeresverwaltung (Army Administration), 1931).
The pistol has some bluing loss near the muzzle, but probably still sits at about 90 - 95%. The internals are mostly marked with the letter "R" (manufacture stamp of FEG) and look unissued. As far as impressive machining goes, this pistol is certainly in the same league as the Mauser Broomhandle. I was fortunate enough to track down some 8mm steyr ammo, so the next stop is the range!
Enjoy!
For an excellent summary on these pistols and other Austro-Hungarian firearms, check out this website:
http://www.hungariae.com/RothStey.htm
For more in-depth research, check out Jan Still's tremendous book:
http://www.gunshowbooks.com/cgi-bin/webc.exe/st_prod.html?p_prodid=GS410727&sid=In3xI63p
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