The Roth Steyr Model 1907,An invention of the Czech firearms designer Karl Krnka, the Roth Steyr Mod

The Roth Steyr Model 1907,An invention of the Czech firearms designer Karl Krnka, the Roth Steyr Model 1907 is famous for being the 2nd semi automatic pistol to be officially issued to any military, and the 1st semi automatic pistol to be issued en masse to the common soldier.  Unlike many pistols, which make use of a recoiling slide, the Model 1907 utilized a retractable bolt.  When the pistol was fired, recoil energy would be transferred from the barrel to the bolt, causing it to retract backward.  The extractor on the bolt would eject an empty casing, then a spring would drive the bolt forward, which would cock the firing pin while stripping a new cartridge from the magazine.  Thus, the Model 1907 was also one of the first striker fired semi automatic pistols developed.  To prevent accidental discharge while a round was chambered the Model 1907 featured a very heavy trigger pull, which tended to effect its accuracy.  Regardless the Model 1907 was not drop safe.  The Model 1907 also lacked a detachable magazine, a common feature of future semi automatic pistols.  To load the pistol the user inserted a ten round stripper clip into the magazine, through the open breech.  It was chambered for a unique cartridge called the 8mm Roth Steyer (8x18mm).The Model 1907 became standard issue to all cavalry units of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the early 20th century up to the end of World War I.  Between 1908 and 1914, 99,000 were produced for the Austro-Hungarian Army.  Several hundred were also sold on the civilian market.  After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the supply of Roth Steyer pistols was divided up among the successor nations of the empire.  Others were exported to Italy and Poland after the war.  As a result, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, and Poland fielded the M1907 throughout the interwar period and during World War II. -- source link

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