Pocket guns ruled in post-WWI Europe

While the U.S. rolled into the Roaring ‘20s and partiers thumbed their nose at Prohibition after The War to End All Wars, post World War I Germany was a dangerous and desperate place in the decades between the Great Wars.

Political unrest and extremism marked the Weimar Republic (1918-1933), which saw some renewed freedoms and artistic expression, but the people suffered widespread economic hardship, soaring unemployment, social unrest, and daily street violence.

Citizens turned to technology advanced by the war, and they kept it in their vest pockets and purses.

Enter the American influence of John Moses Browning, whose early Model 1910, blowback-operated, semi-automatic pistol design was first manufactured at the Fabrique Nationale factory of Belgium.

Browning’s ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) ammunition and auto-loading technology widely influenced the weaponry of WWI, and popular civilian pocket guns thereafter made use of the .25 ACP (6.35mm) and .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning).

These vest-pocket (or purse) guns with smooth lines and relatively new striker-fired actions or pistols with recessed hammers served a purpose that, in many ways, mirrors the most popular 9mm options of today.

Among the most popular and reliable of these German lifesavers was the Deutsche Werke Ortgies pistol, generally known as the Ortgies Pistol. The striker-fired .25 ACP was an advanced design for its time, and the gun was said to be well-sealed against dirt and of a simple but brilliant design with relatively few working parts.

Like many of today’s most popular concealed-carry guns, the Ortgies is, quite simply, comfortable in the hand and reliable. Its simple blowback action is almost gentle with the adequately lethal .25 ACP.

It sports a stack of six in the magazine, with a heel release. It safely totes another in the chamber, thanks to an early version of a grip safety with a conveniently depressed button designed to avoid accidental discharges.

It became famously known as a gun of the infamous, male or female, in the 1930s. Adolf Hitler carried one and gifted one to his wife, Eva Braun. In the U.S., John Dillinger reportedly kept one in his pocket and used it in bank robberies.

Deutsche Werke took over production of the Ortgies in 1921. It was a design that, according to a translation from the book “Wapens en Munitie” (1946) by gun writers Ed Buffaloe and Dr. Stefan Klein writing for Unblinking Eye Gun Pages, Heinrich Ortgies purchased from a German gunsmith named Karl August Brauning.

Brauning, who reportedly worked for—you guessed it—Fabrique Nationale, later emigrated to the U.S. and worked as a gunsmith and designer with Yale & Towne in Connecticut. It is a small world indeed.

Mr. Ortgies, a businessman and politician, produced the gun in 1919-1920, but sold it to Deutsche Werke, and moved on to other endeavors; his name (likely unknown to him) secured in firearms history.

While Germany struggled, neighboring Czechoslovakia embraced democracy, advanced on the world stage, and developed its army. Bohemian Arms Company (Česká zbrojovka), or CZ, developed and adapted pistols and rifles for the Czechoslovak Army, including the Pistole vz 27 in .32 ACP and .380 ACP (9mm Short).

The .380 became standard issue for Czech soldiers going into WWII. A decade earlier, the CZ Pistole Model 27 in .32 ACP hit vest pockets and purses across the continent.

Like the Ortgies, it featured a simple but comfortable in-hand feel and rounded exterior to accommodate a quick draw from tight concealment. It was durable, reliable, and suited for plenty of abuse with little worry for care. It had relatively few working parts and a recessed hammer as a safe and dependable design feature.

Next time you heft your spanking new 21st-Century pocket gun, consider the evolution of the ACP, from early .45s to .25s, and the incredible durability of these 100-year-old firearms still ready and available to fill your vest pocket, or purse, with a bit of security today.