Early production examples were delivered from Von Dreyse out of Sommerda and were marked as such. Of note to these originating models was the revision of the rear sight, moved from above the chamber to the back of the slide to create a longer sight radius for the user and expand the capabilities of the weapon. Well-built, the Mannlicher Model 1900 as a series sported a most distinct outward design.ĭesign of this Mannlicher product began in 1900 and early forms featured slightly ever-changing details in the search for ultimate handgun perfection. There was a slight prawl atop the handgrip at the rear and the hammer was slightly visible above the prawl. The trigger was set within an oval trigger guard. The pistol grip was thin and slightly ergonomic with a vertical grip pattern and open loop at the base. The weapon was light at 2lbs and fit well in the average hand.

Outwardly, the Mannlicher Model 1900 sported a thin frame with her barrel protruding passed the receiver. The operator need only pull back on the slide once and activate the catch to access the magazine and its cartridge chargers.© If the operator needed to empty the magazine well at any point, a release catch was provided. The chargers were then inserted down into the magazine well until the eight-cartridge count was reached, the slide then being closed. The weapon, therefore, was loaded by having the operator pull back on the slide thus opening the feed. As opposed to utilizing a 'conventional' magazine by today's standards, the Model 1900 series made use of cartridge 'chargers' fed from the top of the weapon into a fixed magazine port buried within the pistol grip. The Model 1900 series was chambered for the 7.63mm Mannlicher cartridge and fed from an integral 8-round box. The spring allowed for sufficient delay in the recoil process to allow the bullet to exit the barrel before introducing a new cartridge into the firing chamber. The delay was accomplished by way of a heavy spring that was utilized against the slide during recoil. The action on the Model 1900 series was of note in that it operated from a delayed blowback firing action. The flood of security small arms prior to World War 1 worked well against the Model 1900 achieving any level of noticeable world-wide fame. As such, this excellent pistol saw little in the way of profitability and usage was limited to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (later Austria) and export customer Argentina. Pistols were made to a high degree of quality and built to last but this often came at the expense of pricey production methods and complicated machining.

The Mannlicher Model 1900 series was consistent with the high-end craftsmanship coming out of Steyr.

Mannlicher schoenauer model 1900