Langenhan pistol
German blowback pistol used by military and police in WWI.
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The Langenhan pistol, officially designated the F.L. Selbstlader Cal. 7,65, is a German semi-automatic pistol designed by Friedrich Langenhan. It saw use by German military personnel and police during and after World War I, with approximately 55,000 units produced.
Background
Designed by Friedrich Langenhan of Zella-Mehlis, Germany, the Langenhan pistol was in production from 1914 to 1917. It was used by the German military from 1915 until an unknown date, and by the German police after World War I. Over 55,000 were made, with a decent amount still in existence.
The Langenhan is a simple blowback pistol fed by an eight-round single-stack detachable box magazine stored in the grip. The pistol is almost an exact mechanical copy of the FN M1900.
The return spring for the slide is located just above the barrel; cartridges are ejected off to the right of the weapon. The slide was held on only by one screw, which tends to wear down and rattle loose through continuous firing. If this goes unnoticed, the slide could fly off the weapon and hit the shooter, possibly injuring him or her.
Users included Germany, where it was used by military men and police officers.
More in Semi-Automatic Pistols
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Langenhan pistol (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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