June 25-28, 2018 Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/25/2018
"Roth–Theodorovic pistols were a series of prototypes sometimes identified with model years including 1895, 1897 and 1898. These long-recoil, locked-breech, double-action semi-automatic pistols were designed by Austrian inventor Wasa Theodorovic with the financial support of George Roth. Early versions were unusually large with an oversize trigger guard and an elongated grip. The internal magazine was top loaded from a stripper clip. A group of 25 pistols submitted for Austrian military trials brought no orders. The design saw numerous modifications including a shorter grip, a decocker, a Tambour grip safety, and a rotating and swiveling ring for attaching a lanyard. Later modifications were made by inventor Karel Krnka. Although these prototypes never entered mass production, some of their features were later incorporated into such successful models as the Frommer Stop and the Roth–Steyr Model 1907." The above Wikipedia information is about all the information one can find on these early pre-production models. It is estimated that less than 100 of al prototypes were manufactured, and in searching the internet for images, we could not find a single example that matched this one exactly, as the experimentation of different features seemed to be continuous. It was not until Roth joined with the Steyr factory and the development of the Model 1904 and finally the refined Model 1907 that Roth finally hit a sellable design. The 1907 was considered such a fine gun that production never reached commercial capacity with the main contract being the Austrian government and supplied to their army, which 80,000 were delivered between 1908 and 1914. The only serial number we could find upon completely stripping this handgun down is No. 132H stamped on the inside right grip panel. This example is a double action that features large elongated checkered bird's head grip. Swivel on this example is fixed and does not move. Top of the barrel is stamped "PATENT" with "CR" in circle. Metal is basically a smooth grey patina with age freckling. Grips are very good to excellent with wear. Fine bore and action. There is a video of a similar prototype showing takedown procedure. An extremely rare, experimental pre-turn of the century semi-automatic pistol in all original untouched condition.