Frommer Stop
Hungarian long-recoil pistol used in both World Wars.
The Frommer Stop is a semi-automatic pistol from Hungary, created by Rudolf Frommer and built by Fegyver- és Gépgyár (FÉG) in Budapest. It emerged in the early 1900s and stands out as a significant Hungarian firearm of its era. The Austro-Hungarian military adopted it for World War I, and Hungary continued using it between the wars and during World War II.
The pistol is known for its unusual look and a long-recoil operating system. Different versions came out, including military and compact models, and production in various forms stretched over several decades.
The Austro-Hungarian Army officially took on the Stop in 1914 as the Pisztoly 12.M, alongside the Steyr-Hahn. Its frame measures 165 millimeters long, with a 95-millimeter barrel that has four grooves of rifling. The action uses a long-recoil, straight-pull, rotating bolt lock, with separate return springs for the barrel and bolt housed in a cylinder above the barrel. Unloaded, it weighs 610 grams. A detachable box magazine holds eight rounds of 7.65 x 17mm Frommer Long, a round similar to .32 ACP but with higher velocity.
The name "Stop" was a marketing nod to the idea of stopping an enemy, and to a lesser degree, the cartridge’s stopping power. The complex locking action is overkill for .32 ACP or .380 ACP rounds; later FÉG pistols like the 29.M and 37.M used simpler blow-back designs. The Stop borrowed features from Frommer’s earlier pistols—the M1901, 1906, and M1910—all inspired by the Roth–Theodorovic pistol. Frommer took the basic long-recoil locked action from his earlier guns, gave it a more compact and conventional layout for the Model 1910, and patented it in 1911 for the Stop.
The Stop fires a 7.65mm cartridge, ideally the proprietary 7.65 Frommer version with a larger powder charge and heavier bullet, which has a crimp at the base of the casing. This round reaches 920 feet per second from the gun. It can also shoot standard .32 ACP, though with weaker recoil, ejection, and rechambering. A 9mm Frommer variant—essentially a hotter .380 ACP or 9mm Kurz—was made from 1912 to 1929 for export. This version can fire normal .380 ACP, but the hotter loads help work the long-recoil action.
A compact "Baby" version, with a 57-millimeter barrel and a six-round magazine, was sold commercially as a pocket pistol alongside the 12.M Stop.
Quick Facts
- Origin
- Austria-Hungary
- Is Ranged
- yes
- Service
- 1914–1945
- Wars
- World War I / Hungarian–Romanian War / Hungarian–Czechoslovak War / World War II
- Designer
- Rudolf Frommer
- Design Date
- 1911
- Manufacturer
- Fegyver- és Gépgyár
- Production Date
- 1912–1918, 1919–1929, 1939–1940
- Number
- 365,000
- Mass
- 610 g
- Length
- 165 mm
- Part Length
- 95 mm
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Frommer Stop was designed by Rudolf Frommer and adopted by the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1914 as the Pisztoly 12.M alongside the Steyr-Hahn. Its model designation 'Stop' was attributed as a marketing allusion to the idea that it would stop your enemy and to a lesser extent its stopping power. The pistol incorporated design features of Frommer's earlier sidearm designs, including the M1901, 1906, and M1910, all three of which were inspired by the Roth–Theodorovic pistol. Using his earlier pistols' basic long-recoil locked action, Frommer redesigned it with a more compact and conventional layout for the Model 1910 and patented it in 1911 for use with the Stop.
The Stop features a 165 mm (6.5 in) long frame with a 95 mm (3.7 in) 4-groove rifled barrel using a long-recoil, straight-pull, rotating bolt locking action with the barrel and bolt employing independent return springs in a cylindrical housing above the barrel. Such a complex locking action is not necessary for .32 ACP and .380 ACP cartridges, and later FÉG Frommer 29.M and 37.M pistols used more conventional simple blow-back actions.
The pistol was manufactured in various forms from 1912 to 1929 and was also used by various nations in World War I and World War II. Users included Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Hungary, and Poland (issued in limited numbers as the Pistolet Frommer wz.1911).
Reader's Guide
The Frommer Stop is significant as a distinctive Hungarian pistol design that saw service across two world wars. Its long-recoil, rotating bolt locking action was unusually complex for the relatively low-powered cartridges it fired, a feature inherited from Frommer's earlier designs inspired by the Roth–Theodorovic pistol. The pistol was chambered for a proprietary 7.65mm Frommer Long cartridge with a larger powder charge and heavier bullet, achieving a velocity of 920 feet per second (280 m/s), though it could also fire standard .32 ACP ammunition with less energetic recoil. A 9mm Frommer variant (a higher velocity .380 ACP) was produced from 1912 to 1929 for export. Variants included the 'Baby' with a shortened 57mm barrel and 6-round magazine, and a final limited production .380 ACP export-only version called the 39.M manufactured in 1939 to 1940. The last variants of the Frommer pistols, the FÉG Pisztoly 29.M and 37.M, used simple blow-back mechanisms and were unrelated to the Stop design. During World War I, FÉG converted two Frommer Stop pistols into automatic machine pistols with 25-round magazines, mounted side-by-side on a tripod in an attempt to replicate the Italian Villar Perosa, but this was not successful and was only made in small numbers.
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