Mannlicher M1901 & M1903

Ferdinand Mannlicher's two production pistols: the cam-delayed blowback M1901 and M1905 that Argentina adopted, and the strut-locked "M1903" pistol, holster-stocked carbine-pistol and carbine, from the 1902 German description of it — history, mechanism, identification, disassembly, the two cartridges, the market and the law, and how one could be built.

Firearms

Mannlicher M1901 & M1903 · Deep Dive

Mannlicher M1901 & M1903

The rare "M1903" is loaded like a 7.65 Borchardt — same 0.45 g charge under the same bullet — yet the hotter 7.63 Mauser drops straight into its chamber.

Ferdinand Mannlicher's two production pistols: the cam-delayed blowback M1901 and M1905 that Argentina adopted, and the strut-locked "M1903" pistol, holster-stocked carbine-pistol and carbine, from the 1902 German description of it — history, mechanism, identification, disassembly, the two cartridges, the market and the law, and how one could be built.

Photo: Steyr Mannlicher 1905 7.63mm 5907 L DSC7726 by Self Loader · CC BY-SA 4.0

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    Volumes

    1. Vol 1 Ferdinand Mannlicher's Pistols, 1894 to 1905 The engineer, the blow-forward M1894, the two families that followed it, the trials none of them won, and why two different pistols were both called 'm/1901' in 1902
    2. Vol 2 The Blowback Pistol: M1900, M1901 and M1905, and Argentina How the commercial Mannlicher evolved, what it measured by each source, how many were made by each count, and the one army that bought it
    3. Vol 3 The Locked-Breech Line: the 'M1903' Pistol, the Carbine-Pistol and the Carbine Mannlicher's strut-locked pistol family from the 1902 German description of it: the long and short pistols, the leather holster-stock, the carbine, their measured performance, and the fore-end that moved
    4. Vol 4 How They Work: the Cam-Delayed Blowback and the Strut Lock The M1901 and M1905 cycle part by part, what the 'delay' actually amounts to by each source, and the locked-breech pistol's strut, step block and barrel catch in the words of its 1902 description
    5. Vol 5 Identifying a Mannlicher Pistol: Families, Models, Markings Blowback or locked breech at a glance, then M1900, M1901 and M1905, commercial, Austrian, Dutch and Argentine, and the long pistol, short pistol and carbine of the locked-breech line
    6. Vol 6 Field Strip, Detail Strip, Care and Repair The locked-breech pistol's disassembly in the order its 1902 description gives, what is and is not known about taking down the blowback pistol, how to keep either working, and what breaks
    7. Vol 7 The Cartridges: 7.63 mm Mannlicher, 7.65 mm Mannlicher, and the Rounds That Must Not Go In The straight-cased blowback cartridge and the bottlenecked locked-breech one, what each measured and was loaded with, what can be bought or made in October 2026, and the dangerous confusions with 7.63 Mauser, 7.65 Borchardt and the other 7.65s
    8. Vol 8 Owning One: the Market and the Law What Mannlicher pistols have sold for, which of them are antiques (almost none), why every one is a curio or relic by name, and where the holster-stock and the carbine run into the National Firearms Act
    9. Vol 9 Making One: From Parts, From Scratch, and the Law of a New Old Pistol Why there is no parts-kit route, which part of each Mannlicher the law calls the frame, and how a lab could build the blowback pistol or the strut-locked one without inventing a dimension