Liliput pistol
One of the smallest semiautomatic pistols, named after Lilliput.
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The Liliput pistol is a semi-automatic handgun designed by Austrian watchmaker Franz Pfannl. It is one of the smallest semiautomatic handguns ever made, with the Kolibri generally considered the smallest. Its name derives from the fictional island of Lilliput, inhabited by tiny people in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Background
The Liliput was designed and popularized by Austrian watchmaker Franz Pfannl. It was manufactured by Waffenfabrik August Menz in Suhl, Germany from approximately 1920 to 1927. The pistol uses a 4.25 mm rimless centerfire straight-sided cartridge, which became known as the 4.25mm Liliput and is no longer manufactured. This cartridge was introduced with the Erika 4.25mm handgun.
Menz also manufactured a similar .25 ACP pistol introduced in 1925 as the Model 1, and took over production of the Beholla Pistol, marketing it as the Menta in .25 ACP and .32 ACP. The Liliput is one of the few pistols that can be owned in the United Kingdom without a license.
The Liliput appears in a number of novels by Alistair MacLean, though he incorrectly refers to its calibre as ".21". According to an Allied report, a Liliput pistol was issued to members of the Werwolf resistance force.
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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: Liliput pistol (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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