What is this pistol?

11/30/11 | me

[Clay Moore]

I was asked by a friend what this pistol is.

Here is a portion of the letter:

"On the side with the selector switch the slide is stamped with "1913 Premier = Patent". Also stamped on the slide is "P.V." and a star, both very small. There are a few more stamps, but they are small and I can't tell what they are. There are matching serial numbers on the slide and frame. The grips are made out of wood. I did not find any markings on the magazine or under the grips.

I am starting to think my grandfather brought it home from WWII."

[norton]

Wow!
Thanks.
From the huge summary in your link I have to assume mine was not part of any military order;
only has manufacturer's trademark and serial number.

Surprisingly, it's a fairly accurate little runt.

[Voice of Reason88]

Some needs to start a boat rental business, just in case Obummer has chance of being re-elected.

[Mich Patriot]

Ha ha ha...al baby, you started a good discussion.

Then of course the next line is “...no, I don’t recall what lake I was boating on.”

[al baby]

It was Lake Noneofyourbidness

[Mich Patriot]

LMAO

[Mich Patriot]

That guide is funny as hell...thanks for the laugh!

[USMCPOP]

I saw a bit about the smaller (grip) 7-shot Rubys having the safety moved to the rear. Perhaps that was a French requirement. Anyway, interesting piece in seemingly good condition.

[Tenacious 1]

....Sir, it was off coast of California about 1200 miles east northeast of Hawaii but a good measure south of Alaska. It was storming and I was drunk when it happened. So I can't be more specific than that.

What's that? Why did I have all my guns out there? We were hunting the Great-Pacific Snipe. Never even saw one before the mishap happened...

[archy]

That is not a Spanish Ruby, but a French-contract copy of the Ruby made under license during WWI either in France or Spain, and was one of the primary French sidearms during that conflict.

Concur. Though the Paramount/Premier/Liberty/Ruby pistols were all similar and all used tghe same 9-round magazine [a requirement of the French Army, who had supply problems enough with their hodgepodge assortment of handguns without further complicating matters with different magazine types in the same caliber, it's the safety location that's the giveaway feature of the French-built guns. Mostly.

Back in the 1970s I hit weekend gun shows on my motorcycle, and since space for carrying enough goodies to fill one or two tables was limited aboard the bike, handguns were my usual stock in trade. There were times I had as many as 20- two dozen varieties of *Ruby pistols* displayed for sale, plus magazines, parts and ammo for them and some of the other offerings that had come my way.

They're mostly a pretty good little handgun, though I didn't care much for the lack of an external hammer. Still, if you're going to carry a .32 of the period, it's nice to have one with nine shots abailable, though the Mauser M1914, also a .32, also with nine shots and also hammerless, was a sometime favourite of mine as well.

Among the last military use of the Ruby pistols: there were a few spread amonng the reservists of the British South African Police during military counterinsurgency operations in Rhodesa, circa 1978-1979. The little .32 Ruby pistols were a bit handier for police radio operators and drivers to carry, particularly the female auxiliaries, and didn't *compete* with the military and police 9mm pistols and submachineguns for scarce 9mm Parabellum ammunition.

Spanish M1914 "Liberty" pistol, Caliber .32ACP. Made in Spain in the period 1910 to 1930, these pistols were commonly referred to as "Ruby" pistols.

[Erasmus]

At least you could have retrieved the incandescents because they were floating.

Too bad you had also lost your net in the same accident, so you couldn’t retrieve them.

Then some ducks came by and took them to their nests, never to be seen again.