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Bergmann 1896 and 1897 · Volume 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

5.1 The question a reader is asking

Somebody holding a Bergmann of the 1890s wants to know four things: is it an 1894, an 1896 or an 1897; if an 1896, which number and which calibre; is it early or late; and how much of it is original. The plates and the table below answer the first three from the outside of the gun. The last needs the serials and the auction record’s lessons further down.

The rule applied to every photograph in this dive: a spring tube under the barrel means 1894; a fixed magazine with a hinged sideplate and two angled slots and no tube means 1896; a detachable box magazine with holes in its well and a barrel inside a shroud means 1897. Within the 1896, the code on the left of the barrel gives the calibre. Each photograph’s identification was checked against that rule and against its source’s description.

5.2 The whole family from the right

Figure 1 — Bergmann self-loaders of 1894 to 1897 from the right, not to a common scale. Top row: the 1894 Swiss trial pistol (second view in the source plate blanked out); a No. 2 with folding trigger, serial…
Figure 1 — Bergmann self-loaders of 1894 to 1897 from the right, not to a common scale. Top row: the 1894 Swiss trial pistol (second view in the source plate blanked out); a No. 2 with folding trigger, serial 3; a No. 2 with ring trigger guard, serial 1221. Bottom row: a No. 3, serial 1685; a No. 4, serial 2429; an 1897 No. 5, serial 260. The numbered key on the plate gives the features that separate them. Sources: Reinhart and am Rhyn via Forgotten Weapons; Self Loader via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0 and CC0); Rock Island Auction Company.

5.3 Tell them apart

Table 1 — Tell them apart

Feature1894 (No. 1)1896 No. 21896 No. 31896 No. 41897 No. 5Where to look
Recoil springtube under the barrel, with an outside rodin the boltin the boltin the bolt(locked; spring position not described)under the barrel
Magazinefixed, clip-loadedfixed, five-round clip through the right sideplatesamesamedetachable box, normally ten, with witness holesahead of the trigger guard
Barrelexposedexposedexposedexposedinside a shroud, with a lever at its rearforward of the frame
Triggerconventional or foldingfolding (first few hundred), then ring guardring guardring guardring guard
Barrel code (left side)—611278156/14—left of the barrel ahead of the frame
Calibre5, 6.5, 7.5 or 8 mm (disputed)5 mm6.5 mm8 mm7.8 mm
Extractornonenone on early guns, then fittedsamefitted (late guns)fitted, on the right of the frameright side of the bolt and frame
Rear sightfixednotch on the bolt knobfixedfixedtangent, graduated to 1,000 mtop rear
Stock slot—only if sold with a stocksamesamein every grip, per Forgotten Weaponsbottom of the grip
Top marking————PISTOLET BERGMANN / PATENT BREVETÉ S.G.D.G. on the bolt covertop of the bolt cover

Sources: Volumes 1–4 and their references; Forgotten Weapons; Julia; Rock Island.123456 A dash means the feature is absent or no source describes it.

5.4 Which 1896: the calibre code

The three 1896s are the same pistol in three sizes of cartridge, and they share serial blocks (Volume 2), so a serial does not say which calibre a gun is. The number on the left of the barrel does: 611 on the No. 2 in 5 mm, 278 on the No. 3 in 6.5 mm and 156/14 on the No. 4 in 8 mm. Forgotten Weapons found 611 on every No. 2 it photographed, 278 on about three-quarters of No. 3s, and 156/14 on both No. 4s it photographed.123 A missing code does not rule a calibre out, since a quarter of No. 3s lack it, and a barrel can have been changed (Rock Island catalogued one No. 2 barrel as “a possible replacement”).7 The bore is the final word, and the No. 2 is also obviously smaller: Julia gives about 7.5 inches overall for one, against about 10 inches for a No. 3 or No. 4.523

5.5 Early or late 1896

Four features place an 1896 in its run, in rough order of appearance. None is tied to a serial by a primary source (Volume 2).

  1. Folding trigger (No. 2 only): the first few hundred, in the first months.
  2. No extractor: the early guns of both No. 2 and No. 3; look for an extractor on the right of the bolt, and check whether the gun has been made to take grooved cartridges.
  3. Barrel held by screw and lug (early) or fully threaded (later).
  4. Schilling’s letters: “GAGGENAU” above the miner and “V.C.S. SUHL” below show Schilling made it; a bare miner in the oval is attributed to Bergmanns Industriewerke. Schilling’s marks appear from serial 19, so they do not by themselves mean late.82

5.6 The 1897 from the left

Figure 2 — The 1897 from the left: the unnumbered prototype, with its long single-column magazine and unshrouded barrel; serial 117, with four witness holes each side of the magazine well; serial 156, with fi…
Figure 2 — The 1897 from the left: the unnumbered prototype, with its long single-column magazine and unshrouded barrel; serial 117, with four witness holes each side of the magazine well; serial 156, with five. The safety lever at the left rear of the frame is visible on all three. Photographs James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2013, lots 3191, 3192A and 3192.

The production 1897 varies less visibly than the 1896, but it does vary. Julia’s 2013 cataloguer says the variations were “largely directed to the milling pattern of the right frame”, and his predecessors described a “2nd type” (serial 475) by its “hook end bolt locking spring, screw and plate for ejector”.910 The one difference anyone can count is the witness holes: four each side on serial 117, five on serials 96, 156, 260 and 493 in the descriptions and photographs.91112613 Whether four holes means early is not established by two data points, and is not claimed.

The carbine is unmistakable: a 13.5-inch barrel in its shroud, sling swivels, and a solid walnut butt on the stock lug, with “KARABINER BERGMANN” on the bolt cover.13

5.7 Markings and where to find them

Figure 3 — Where the 1897 is marked: the bolt cover (PISTOLET BERGMANN / PATENT BREVETÉ S.G.D.G.), the serial on the right of the frame above the trigger guard, the miner trademark in its oval (here on the pr…
Figure 3 — Where the 1897 is marked: the bolt cover (PISTOLET BERGMANN / PATENT BREVETÉ S.G.D.G.), the serial on the right of the frame above the trigger guard, the miner trademark in its oval (here on the prototype), and the stock iron numbered to the pistol. Photographs Rock Island Auction Company, lot 1558, and James D. Julia, Inc., lot 3191.

Table 2 — Markings and where to find them

Marking18961897Source
”PATENT / BREVETÉ / S.G.D.G.”three lines on the left of the frame, below the barrel code—Julia, serial 479; photographs
”PISTOLET BERGMANN / PATENT BREVETÉ S.G.D.G.”—two lines on top of the bolt coverRock Island photograph, serial 260; Julia, serials 96 and 260
”KARABINER BERGMANN, PATENT BREVETE S.G.D.G.”—carbine bolt coverJulia, serial 493
Crown over crown over U proofbarrel, cocking knob and frameleft of the frame, back of the boltJulia, serials 479, 96, 156
Miner trademark in an ovalright rear of the frame on most; on the left magazine housing on someon the frame (prototype: right sideplate)photographs; Julia lot 3191
Calibre code (611, 278, 156/14)left of the barrel—Forgotten Weapons
Serialright of the frame, in front of the magazineright of the frame, above the trigger guard or forward of the extractorForgotten Weapons; Julia

Sources.146111213151

Figure 4 — Serial 96 from behind: the proof marks on the back of the bolt, knurled cocking knobs at either side of it, and the checkered hammer spur below. Photograph James D. Julia, Inc., Spring 2014, lot 3030.
Figure 4 — Serial 96 from behind: the proof marks on the back of the bolt, knurled cocking knobs at either side of it, and the checkered hammer spur below. Photograph James D. Julia, Inc., Spring 2014, lot 3030.

S.G.D.G. stands for sans garantie du gouvernement, the French formula for a patent granted without official examination. That an 1890s German pistol is marked in French, on both models, says something about where Bergmann expected to sell; the dive found no source that explains the choice.

Julia’s catalogue for serial 156 renders the 1897 cover marking as “PISTOLE BERGMANN”, without the T.12 Every 1897 cover photographed, and the same cataloguer’s text for serial 96, reads PISTOLET; the “PISTOLE” reading is probably a slip, but serial 156’s cover was not photographed from above and the point is left open.

Figure 5 — The Bergmann miner trademark, in its oval: a bearded miner with a pick behind his back, rays of light behind him. Bergmann is German for miner. Here it is the early bare form, without Schilling's l…
Figure 5 — The Bergmann miner trademark, in its oval: a bearded miner with a pick behind his back, rays of light behind him. Bergmann is German for miner. Here it is the early bare form, without Schilling's letters, on the 1897 prototype. Photograph James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2013, lot 3191.

The trademark is not always on the same side. On the No. 2 serial 3, the No. 2 serial 19, the No. 3 serial 1685 and the No. 4 serial 2429 it is on the right rear of the frame; on the No. 2 serial 1221 and the Armémuseum’s No. 2 it is on the left, on the magazine housing in front of the trigger guard.1617 The Armémuseum’s catalogue text, translated, places “an oval stamp with Gaggenau … Suhl and a figure resembling a Father Christmas” on the left.17

5.8 Serials and matching parts

The serial is stamped on the frame, and on many guns repeated on other parts: on the inside of the grips (handwritten in pencil on Rock Island’s serial 19, stamped on the backs of the grips of serial 2429), on the 1897’s magazine base, and on the iron of an 1897’s holster-stock.81896 Matching numbers raise the value sharply, and Julia’s cataloguer says almost no 1897s survive “with their matching number stock”.19

5.9 What has been changed on pistols that were sold

The auction record is candid about what has been done to these guns, and the list is a useful warning.

Table 3 — What has been changed on pistols that were sold

PistolWhat the cataloguer foundSource
1897 serial 156”a patch of thinning on the right side of the receiver around the serial number that seems to have been re-struck”, touched up with cold blue; “the same renumbering” on the magazine base; shroud refinishedJulia 2013
1897 serial 544”Stock serial number appears to be restamped”; “old exceptional restored rust blue”; grips numbered to the gun but not well fittedJulia 2009
1897 serial 475”a fine professionally restored finish”Julia 2010, 2012
1897 serial 493 (carbine)strawed parts “reheated for enhanced color”; grips “likely replacements”; magazine numbered 330, mismatched; stock refinished and its lug number removedJulia 2014
1897 serial 570grips numbered “555”Julia 2010
1896 No. 2 serial 386barrel “a possible replacement”; re-checkered grips; “period refurbished” finishRock Island 2025

Sources.12201013217 The lesson for identification is that a matching number is not proof of an original part: on serial 156 the number itself had been re-struck.

5.10 Things that are not an 1896 or an 1897

  • The 1894. Spring tube under the barrel; very few made (Volume 1).
  • The Simplex (from about 1897, sold from 1901). An 8 mm blowback pocket pistol with a detachable magazine ahead of the trigger and a light, open-topped slide; easy to take for a small 1897 at a glance (Volume 3).
  • The Mars (1903) and the Bergmann-Bayard (1908, 1910). Locked by a vertically moving block, 9 mm, with a heavier, squarer frame and the magazine still ahead of the trigger. Many are marked by Pieper of Herstal.22

The Borchardt dive’s Volume 5 shows the 1896 No. 3 beside the C-93 and the C96, for anyone separating the first German self-loaders by silhouette.

5.11 Two published identifications corrected

  • The Armémuseum’s “Pistol m/1894”. Both of the Swedish Army Museum’s Bergmanns are catalogued as model 1894. Both have the 1896’s fixed magazine with angled-slot sideplate and no spring tube under the barrel; the 5 mm one has a ring trigger guard. They are 1896s. The catalogue also takes the barrel’s 611 for the serial; it is the calibre code, and the frame’s 2172 is the serial (Volume 2).17
  • The 1896’s safety. Forgotten Weapons describes the 1897 as keeping the 1896 and 1894’s “right-rear manual safety”.4 Every photograph in this dive of an 1896 or 1897, from both sides, shows the safety lever on the left rear of the frame, above the grip, as Julia’s catalogues also describe it (“a left side, long throw thumb safety”; “on the left side of the frame is the traditional Bergmann safety”).1015 “Right-rear” is a slip.

5.12 A buyer’s identification checklist

  1. Model. Spring tube under the barrel (1894), fixed side-loading magazine (1896), or detachable magazine and shroud (1897).
  2. Calibre (1896). Read the code on the left of the barrel (611, 278, 156/14) and confirm on the bore and the chamber.
  3. Extractor. Present or not; it decides which cartridges the pistol was made for (Volume 7).
  4. Maker. Schilling’s letters around the miner, or the bare miner.
  5. Serials. Frame, grips, magazine and stock. Look hard at the metal around each number: a re-struck number on a polished patch is the commonest alteration in the record.
  6. Finish. Original blue and straw parts, or restored; the descriptions above show how often restoration is found and noted.
  7. Stock. Original or not, and whether it matches. That decides a legal question as well as a price (Volume 8).

References

Footnotes

  1. Ian McCollum, “Bergmann No. 2 / 1896 Pistol”, Forgotten Weapons, 8 November 2013, https://www.forgottenweapons.com/bergmann-no-2-1896-pistol/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Ian McCollum, “Bergmann No. 3 / 1896 Pistol”, Forgotten Weapons, 12 November 2013, https://www.forgottenweapons.com/bergmann-no-3-1896-pistol/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Ian McCollum, “Bergmann No. 4 / 1896 Pistol”, Forgotten Weapons, 13 November 2013, https://www.forgottenweapons.com/bergmann-no-4-1896-pistol/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Ian McCollum, “Bergmann No.5 / 1897 Pistol”, Forgotten Weapons, 15 November 2013, https://www.forgottenweapons.com/bergmann-no-5-1897-pistol/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2

  5. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2010, lot 1074, 1896 No. 2 serial 1195, https://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-1074-rare-bergmann-model-1896-no-2-semi-auto-pistol-40592/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2

  6. Rock Island Auction Company, 5 December 2020, lot 1558, M1897 serial 260, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/81/1558/bergmann-model-1897-semi-automatic-pistol-with-holsterstock (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Rock Island Auction Company, 16 August 2025, lot 1394, 1896 No. 2 serial 386, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4095/1394/v-c-schilling-bergmann-model-1896-no-2-folding-trigger-pistol (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2

  8. Rock Island Auction Company, 22 August 2026, lot 1338, 1896 No. 2 serial 19, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4098/1338/very-scarce-german-bergmann-1896-no-2-folding-trigger-pistol (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2

  9. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2013, lot 3192A, M1897 serial 117, https://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-3192a-bergmann-m1897-no-5-presentation-with-matching-shoulder-stock-52046/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2012, lot 2474, M1897 serial 475, https://jamesdjulia.com/?p=479395 (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. James D. Julia, Inc., Spring 2014, lot 3030, M1897 serial 96, https://jamesdjulia.com/item/3030-358 (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2

  12. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2013, lot 3192, M1897 serial 156, https://jamesdjulia.com/?p=484810 (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. James D. Julia, Inc., Spring 2014, lot 3029, M1897 carbine serial 493, https://jamesdjulia.com/item/3029-358 (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2012, lot 2472, 1896 No. 3 serial 479, https://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-2472-bergmann-model-1896-no-3-semi-automatic-pistol-46957/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩

  15. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2013, lot 3191, M1897 prototype, https://jamesdjulia.com/?p=484809 (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2

  16. File:Bergmann 1896 No 2 5mm Bergmann S n 1221 L DSC 1165.jpg, Self Loader, Wikimedia Commons (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩

  17. Armémuseum, Stockholm, “Pistol m/1894”, object IDs 76331 and 76415, https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024400550/pistol-m-1894 and https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024400548/pistol-m-1894 (catalogue text via Wikimedia Commons, accessed 2026-10-19). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. Rock Island Auction Company, 11 September 2016, lot 3300, 1896 No. 4 serial 2429, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/68/3300/bergmann-theodor-1896-pistol-8-mm (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩

  19. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2008, lot 1142, M1897 serial 260, https://jamesdjulia.com/?p=460505 (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩

  20. James D. Julia, Inc., Spring 2009, lot 1155, M1897 serial 544, https://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-1155-extremely-rare-bergmann-model-1897-no-5-semi-auto-pistol-with-shoulder-stock-37698/ (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩

  21. James D. Julia, Inc., Fall 2010, lot 1075, M1897 serial 570, https://jamesdjulia.com/?p=469478 (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩

  22. Ed Buffaloe, “The Bergmann Pistols”, Unblinking Eye, https://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/Berg/berg.html (accessed 2026-10-19). ↩

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