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398
LOT 447
Attractive Cased Pair of Gustav
Bittner Model 1896 Manual
Repeating Pistols -A) Bittner
Model 1896 Pistol - Serial no. 18,
7.7 mm cal., 6 inch octagon bbl.,
blue/casehardened finish, checkered
hardwood grips. Developed in the
1890s, Bittner’s pistol is an excellent
example of the “manual repeater” class
of handgun. The rival to the single and
double action revolvers of the early
cartridge era, manual repeaters were
brought to an end by the rise of semi-
automatic pistols; anyone good enough
to design and build a manual repeater
could make a semi-auto. Bittner’s
design uses a rotary locking bolt
operated by a ring lever and a fixed
bar lever for the trigger, and fed via
an internal magazine loaded with
en bloc clips. In operation, the
Bittner design could be used
for deliberate, single action
style fire by using the hook
outside the ring lever to close
the breech without striking
the trigger bar, or rapid double
action style fire by having
the trigger finger inside the
ring and hitting the trigger
bar immediately after closing
the breech. Blade front and
elevation adjustable notch
rear sights, with the Bittner
trademark and “PATENT/
BITTNER” on the right side
of the frame, “.89 .97” on the
underside of the barrel, “18”
on the left side of the grip
frame, and “6.” in pencil on
the inside of the grips. The
frame construction is elegantly
machined and casehardened
steel, with a lanyard swivel on
the butt (sans ring), a set of
checkered hardwood panels
covering the magazine spring
and a pair of checkered fine
contour grip panels.