The Roth–Steyr M1907, or, more accurately Roth-Krnka M.7
was a semi-automatic pistol issued to the
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
''kaiserliche und königliche Armee'' cavalry during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. It was the first adoption of a semi-automatic service pistol by the army of a major military power.
Mechanism
The Roth–Steyr pistol fires from an unusual style of locked breech. The bolt is very long. Its rear end is solid, except for a sleeve for the striker, but its front part is hollow and fits tightly over the barrel. The interior of the bolt has cam grooves cut into it, and the barrel has studs which fit into the grooves. When the pistol is fired, the barrel and bolt recoil together within the hollow receiver for about . During this operation, the helical grooves in the muzzle bush cause the barrel to turn 90 degrees clockwise, after which it is held while the unlocked bolt continues to the rear, cocking the action as it does so. For safety in the intended use by mounted cavalry, the pistol has a heavy trigger pull against the firing striker spring, similar to a hammerless revolver.
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. The Roth–Steyr does not have a detachable magazine, but features a fixed magazine loaded from the top with
stripper clip
A stripper clip (also known as a charger or charger clip, especially in Commonwealth English military vocabulary) is a speedloader that holds several cartridges (usually between 5 and 10) together in a single unit for easier and faster loadin ...
s. The sights are fixed, the grips are wooden and terminate in a
lanyard
A lanyard is a length of cord, webbing, or strap that may serve any of various functions, which include a means of attachment, restraint, retrieval, activation, and deactivation. A lanyard is also a piece of rigging used to secure or lowe ...
ring. Rifling is four grooves with right-hand twist.
The
Bundeswehr Museum of German Defense Technology in
Koblenz
Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...
has one of these specimen in its collection.
Production and distribution
The pistol was developed by the Czech designer
Karel Krnka, working for the ammunition company of Georg Roth, based on the earlier
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 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
Steyr (; ) is a statutory city (Austria), statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd lar ...
and FEG in Budapest. From 1908 to 1914, approximately 99,000 weapons were manufactured (the Army received 59,334 from Steyr and 38,213 from FEG, plus several hundred were sold on the civilian market).[ Despite common name for the pistol Roth–Steyr, Steyr works did not participate in its design, apart from minor improvements.][ Following the dissolution of ]Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, the Roth–Steyr was fielded by Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
, with limited use during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
by the Austrians and Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
. Italy received a number of pistols as World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
reparations from Austria-Hungary, and these pistols were used by Italian troops during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. They were used also in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
and Poland.[
]
Time Table
*not to be confused with ACP
*
The United Kingdom & United States Trials
The company was looking forward to get a military contract for their brand new gun. The pistol was originally chambered for 8x18 mm Roth Steyr however the United Kingdom and United States asked for a gun that would use a bigger cartridge, most preferably a Cal.
United Kingdom
The trials are exhaustively described in the Minutes of the Small Arms Committee, starting in April 1900 with the Borchardt and ending with the adoption of the .455SL Webley in 1912.
The first trial of the Roth is recorded in Minute 635 of June 1902. An 8mm Roth had been tested earlier in October 1900. In 1902, Roth submitted two and one 8mm pistol of “improved design”. The committee reported that the ammunition had a bullet of with a copper envelope with exposed lead tip with of smokeless powder.
In March 1903, another Roth pistol was tested (Minute 745), this time in “. caliber” with a bullet of which gave a velocity of . The conclusion was that the method of loading was unsatisfactory, pull-off too heavy, too many openings to admit dust but Figure of Merit was good.
The last mention of a Roth is Minute 1077 of May 1909 when an ( actual) pistol, described as a “Mark II”, was tested. Recorded as having an eight round magazine loaded by charger. The velocity was and penetrated ten of the boards, spaced apart at . Bullets weighed grains with steel envelope and of smokeless powder.
Conclusions were that it was a handy and well balanced pistol with good certainty of action. It performed well in the sand test, strips easily, and had less recoil that the Webley pistol. There was no safety catch, which was a disadvantage.
United States
A prototype in cartridge was tested at the Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...
and it failed the 1,250 rounds endurance test with 191 malfunctions of 9 different types of ammunition and a broken extractor.
See also
* Frommer Stop
* 8mm Roth–Steyr
* 8 mm caliber
This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the caliber range.
*''Length'' refers to the empty cartridge case
Case or CASE may refer to:
Instances
* Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design ...
* List of handgun cartridges
This is a list of handgun Cartridge (weaponry), cartridges, approximately in order of increasing caliber.
Table of handgun cartridges
Other cartridges used in handguns
Although not originally designed for handguns, several rifle and shotgun ...
*
*
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC - AUSTRIAN PISTOL M07 "ROTH-STEYR" 8MM SN# 13858 - Springfield Armory Museum
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth-Steyr M1907
8 mm firearms
Semi-automatic pistols 1901–1909
Semi-automatic pistols of Austria
World War I Austro-Hungarian infantry weapons
Fegyver- és Gépgyár firearms