Bergmann 1896
Produced by Bergmann
The Bergmann 1894/1896/1897 was a family of 19th-century semi-automatic pistols developed by German designer Louis Schmeisser and sold by Theodor Bergmann's company. This gun was released in the early days of automatic pistols, and was a contemporary of the Mauser C96 and Borchardt C-93 pistols. The Bergmann 1894/1896/1897 pistols failed to achieve the same widespread success. There are several variations, but the internal mechanisms remain almost the same in all of them. The first cartridges in Bergmann pistols were grooveless, with the bullets having a sharp nose to avoid jams. Later pistols, however, have mechanical extractors and cartridges with grooved flanges. The M96 had an internal box-magazine holding five cartridges.