1914 AUTOMATIC PISTOL I

Question
I HAVE A SMALL AUTO PISTOL MARKED
1914 AUTOMATIC PISTOL
"ROYAL EXTRA" PATENT ON THE SLIDE. NO OTHER MARKINGS OTHER THAN A CROWN ON THE PLASTIC/BAKELITE GRIPS. CAN YOU HELP WITH ANY ID OR MANUFACTURE?

Answer
Mark,

Without seeing photos, I am only able to guess what you might have.  From the sounds of it, you may have a Spanish Eibar or "Ruby" pistol.  This was essentially a copy of an original John Browning design introduced in 1903.  Several gun manufacturers in the city of Eibar, Spain started producing these pistols which were primarily sold to the French military.

There were several different companies making a variation of the same pistol, but one called Beistegui Hermanos and another one called Retolaza Hermanos made pistols that carried the designation "1914 Automatic Pistol" or "Model 1914 Automatic Pistol".

The guns were usually calibered in .32 caliber which would probably be indicated on the gun as 7.65mm.  If you look at the gun on the grip, you may see a small two letter code.  If it is either BH or RH, then that would confirm what I am thinking.  You might also see an indication of the manufacturer stamped into the metal where the magazine goes into the gun.

As I said, without seeing any photos, that is the best guess I can make.

Hope that helps you out...

Regards,

Doug Little