Bergmann 1896 and 1897

Theodor Bergmann's self-loaders of the 1890s, designed by Louis Schmeisser: the clip-fed blowback 1896 in 5, 6.5 and 8 mm and the laterally locked 1897 No. 5 in 7.8 mm. History and trials, both mechanisms, identification, care, the five cartridges, the market and the law, and how one could be made.

Firearms

Bergmann 1896 and 1897 · Deep Dive

Bergmann 1896 and 1897

In Michigan a pre-1899 Bergmann is probably an antique where an 1895 Borchardt is not: no Bergmann cartridge is made, and the 7.63 Mauser that keeps the Borchardt out will not fit the 7.8 mm Bergmann's chamber.

Theodor Bergmann's self-loaders of the 1890s, designed by Louis Schmeisser: the clip-fed blowback 1896 in 5, 6.5 and 8 mm and the laterally locked 1897 No. 5 in 7.8 mm. History and trials, both mechanisms, identification, care, the five cartridges, the market and the law, and how one could be made.

Photo: Bergmann 1896 No 3, 6.5mm, Sn 1685 L DSC9221 by Self Loader · CC0 1.0

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    Volumes

    1. Vol 1 Bergmann, Schmeisser and the First Gaggenau Pistols An ironworks owner who sold air guns, a Mannheim gunmaker whose patents carried his employer's name, the 1892 Swiss prototype, and the 1893 patent that set out the unlocked principle every Bergmann of the 1890s used until the 1897
    2. Vol 2 The 1896 in Production: No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 Schilling of Suhl, three calibres sharing one serial series, a folding trigger that lasted less than a year, the extractor added in mid-run, and production figures that the sources give two ways
    3. Vol 3 The 1897 No. 5: A Locked Breech, Two Armies and the Line to the Bayard Prototypes on the No. 4 frame, three patents in a year, a presentation pistol for the man who wrote the book on Bergmann's recoil loaders, Swiss and British refusals, the carbine, and the successors told briefly
    4. Vol 4 How They Work: An Unlocked Bolt and a Bolt That Steps Aside The 1896 cycle from the patent and the field-strip descriptions, the clip magazine, the lockwork and its disconnector, and the 1897's laterally locked short recoil, part by part, with what the sources leave undescribed marked as such
    5. Vol 5 Identification: Telling the Models Apart Right-side and left-side comparison plates, a feature table, the calibre codes, where the serials and trademarks are, what has been restamped or restored on pistols that have been sold, and two published identifications corrected
    6. Vol 6 Field Strip, Detail Strip, Care and Repair The one published 1896 takedown, what a correct 1897 procedure must allow for when no manual is found, cleaning and lubrication for a pistol whose maker left no schedule, the recurring weak spring, and where parts come from
    7. Vol 7 The Cartridges: 5, 6.5, 7.5, 7.8 and 8 mm Bergmann Seven cases measured and drawn to scale, four different things called 7.5 mm Bergmann, why the 7.8 mm is a .30 calibre round that a 7.63 Mauser will not fit, the grooveless first cartridges, and what can be bought or made in 2026
    8. Vol 8 Owning One: The Market, Antique Status and the Law Dated auction results with their terms, which Bergmanns were made before 1899 and how far that can be shown, the stocks and the carbine under the NFA, and a Michigan position that comes out the opposite way from the Borchardt's
    9. Vol 9 Making One: From Parts, From Scratch, and the Law of a New Bergmann Why there is no parts-kit route, what rebarrelling an original does to its legal status, a from-scratch lab plan for the 1896 and the 1897, barrel blanks that happen to fit the old bores, and a federal replica clause that is open for these cartridges where it was closed for the Borchardt