The Steyr Mannlicher Model 1894 Semi-Automatic Pistols,One of the first semi automatic pistol design

The Steyr Mannlicher Model 1894 Semi-Automatic Pistols,One of the first semi automatic pistol designs to be invented during the late 19th century, the Steyr Mannlicher is certainly an oddity to behold.  Like most early semi-automatics its form is very bizarre and strange compared to modern firearms.  In an age when people did not yet know what a semi-automatic was supposed to look like and how they were supposed to function, the Steyr Mannlicher Model 1894 is an oddity among oddities.Produced by FAB. D'Armes of Switzerland, the Model 1894 was one of those rare and mysterious blow forward designs.  With most semi-automatic pistols, the force of recoil or expanding gas will force a slide backwards, which ejects the empty casing.  A spring then forces the slide forwards and back into position, stripping a new cartridge from the magazine in the process.A blow forward action has a totally different mechanism.  With a blow forward action, the barrel is the major moving part.  When the gun is fired, the force of inertia of the bullet and gasses moving down the barrel “drags” the barrel forward.  When the barrel moves forward is ejects the empty casing.  A spring then forces the barrel back into position, at which point the barrel strips a new cartridge from the magazine.The Model 1894 was fed from a five round fixed magazine which was loaded with a stripper clip.  Originally it was chambered for a 6.55mm cartridge, however other models were produced in 7.62 Mannlicher, 7.65 Mannlicher, and 7.65x21 parabellum.  Unfortunately due to it’s complex design and low magazine capacity, the Model 1894 was quickly overshadowed by designs such as that of Borschardt, Luger, and Browning.  A scant 200 were produced, making it a very rare collectors item today. -- source link

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