In the first part I described several pistols of the Hungarian weapons designer Rudolf von Frommer, namely: Frommer M1901, M1906 and M1910. Outwardly, these models undoubtedly possessed a characteristic family trait: a thin and long barrel. Other pistols of that time also looked, for example Mauser C96, Luger P08 or Nambu Type 14. All Frommer's pistols, developed before 1910, had structural differences: different ammunition supply, safety devices, sighting devices.
After a long pause, I continue to acquaint you with the further developments of many of the forgotten Hungarian gunsmith. But once, for his outstanding services in the creation of weapons for the Armed Forces of Austria-Hungary, Emperor Franz Joseph granted Rudolf Frommer a title of nobility. But back to arms. The hero of today's review will be the Frommer M.12 pistol, better known as Frommer Stop.
Pistol Frommer М.12 / Frommer Stop.
The Frommer Stop pistol also has a recognizable appearance. If you look at it from the side - the barrel of the pistol vaguely resembles the barrel of a hunting "vertical". And looking at the muzzle of the weapon (outlet), it becomes clear that in this model the return spring is located above the barrel, in a separate channel. This arrangement is not new: 12 years earlier, John Browning had already applied this solution in his M1900 pistol, better known as Browning No. 1.
Low barrel location.
The lower location of the barrel relative to the pistol grip is designed to reduce the toss of the weapon and the recoil shoulder when firing. And this, in turn, was supposed to improve the accuracy of the battle. By the way, many decades later they returned to the lower barrel scheme, but this time it was implemented in revolvers. To increase the accuracy of fire, the barrels are located at the level of the lower chamber of the drum. As an example I can cite revolvers AEK-906 "Rhino", Chiappa Rhino and Mateba Unica.
Buffer spring.
In the supra-barrel channel of the Frommer Stop pistol, there is not one, but two springs of different stiffness and diameter. Both springs slide onto the guide bar and form a spring block. Thanks to the spring block located above the barrel, Frommer hoped to reduce the length of the weapon. And he succeeded: the total length of the Stop pistol is 160 mm with a barrel length of 100 mm, and the length of the previous model (1910) is 186 mm with the same barrel length.
On Frommer Stop, a larger spring (returnable) returns the bolt to the forward position. And the task of a spring of a smaller diameter (buffer) is to slightly soften the impact after a shot when the bolt is rolled back. That is, the presence of a buffer is designed to soften the operation of the pistol automation. By the way, the buffer spring solution was used in the development of the modern Heckler & Koch USP pistol and also to reduce recoil when firing.
The above-barrel channel for the spring block and the barrel casing were a single piece (receiver). The receiver was a fixed part, it was attached to the frame of the pistol and was not separable.
Automation action
Frommer Stop refers to semi-auto pistols. That is, to make the next shot, the shooter needs to pull the trigger. But this was not always the case: at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when such pistols were just beginning their march around the world, they were called automatic.
The operation of the automatic pistol is based on the recoil of the movable barrel with its locking by turning the bolt. For his pistol, Rudolf Frommer chose a locking scheme that was rather exotic for this class of weapon: with a long barrel stroke. In this scheme, the stroke of the barrel is equal to the stroke of the bolt.
Another Austro-Hungarian designer of Czech origin, Karel Krnka, was also fond of locks with a long stroke. At that time, Karel worked with Georg Roth and took part in the development of pistols such as Roth-Theodorovic-Krnka 1895, Roth-Sauer 1900, Roth-Steyr 1907. And since Frommer and Krnka were not only contemporaries, but also compatriots - the designers are quite could collaborate, or at least exchange experiences, discuss their ideas and share plans for the future.
The main part of the Frommer Sop pistol barrel locking unit is the bolt. For its basis, the designer took the bolt of Ferdinand Mannlicher's rifle: Mannlicher M1895. The M.95 rifle was adopted by the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1895 and was produced at an arms factory in Budapest from 1897 to 1918. Since Frommer worked at this plant for many years, and in 1914, by order of the emperor, was appointed director of the plant, then, naturally, he was perfectly familiar with the design of the Mannlicher rifle.
A distinctive feature of the Mannlicher rifle bolt was the principle of its action. To lock and unlock the bore, the shooter did not have to turn the bolt (direct action bolt). To reload the weapon, it is enough to move the bolt backward (ejection of the cartridge case) and then forward the cartridge to the chamber. The rotation of the combat larva for locking was carried out automatically thanks to special spiral grooves on its stem. This locking principle somewhat increased the rate of fire, but complicated the design and, accordingly, increased the cost of production.
For his pistol, Frommer changed the design of the Mannlicher bolt. The reloading of the weapon was not due to the muscular strength of the shooter, but due to the operation of the pistol's automatics.
Like most parts of the Frommer Stop pistol, the elements of the bolt group (bolt and bolt head), as well as the barrel, were manufactured by an expensive method of processing blanks on metal-working machines.
USM pistol Frommer Stop single action (not self-cocking), trigger type. The weapon is cocked manually. To do this, you need to pull the bolt head towards you.
Frommer Stop is equipped with an automatic fuse only, no other fuses are provided.
Ammunition
Like Rudolf Frommer's earlier models, the Frommer Stop M.12 pistol was designed for cartridges also designed by Frommer.
Frommer's pistols were chambered for 7, 65x17mm Frommer Long and 9x17mm Frommer cartridges. Frommer's cartridges in geometry were close to 7, 62 and 9-mm Browning cartridges, but differed in an increased weight of powder charge. Frommer's and Browning's cartridges weren't interchangeable, but people write that, theoretically, shooting with "non-native" cartridges is possible. True, no one will vouch for the reliability of the work.
On the forum guns.ru, the owner of the Roth-Steyr pistol wrote that when using the new 7, 65-mm Fiocchi cartridges, the automatic weapons did not work. An experienced user advised the collector shooter to buy Czech-made cartridges, as they would be "hotter".
Below is a comparative table of similar in characteristics and geometry of cartridges.
Frommer Stop (M.12)
In 1867, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed (Austro-Hungarian agreement). Then Hungary received the right to form its own armed forces (Magyar Királyi Honvédség). In accordance with the signed agreement, the Hungarian military formations were part of the armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1912, the Hungarian army adopted the M.12 pistol, developed by Rudolf Frommer, as a service weapon. Since it was supposed to be sold for export, for the pistol they came up with a sonorous and understandable name all over the world: “Stop”. As conceived by the brand managers, the word “Stop” was supposed to mean that this pistol is able to stop any target, as if hinting at a high stopping effect. Under this name, Frommer's 1912 pistol went down in history.
Perhaps the same marketing ploy was repeated two decades later by the Belgians, when they began to offer the Browning pistol under the designation High-Power (English) and Grande Puissance (French) - Great power.
The Frommer Stop pistol came on time and to the right place, because a year later Archduke Ferdinand was killed in Sarajevo and the whole world went crazy: the Great War began. During the 1st world pistol Frommer Stop was adopted not only by the Hungarian, but also by the entire imperial army (the Armed Forces of Austria-Hungary). At the same time, the pistol was sold to Germany, Turkey and Bulgaria, because war is the best engine of the arms trade. During the war (1912-1918), 275,000 Frommer Stop pistols were produced under the designation M.12.
Frommer Stop (M.19)
In the fall of 1918 (October 17), the Hungarian parliament tore up the Austro-Hungarian agreement and proclaimed the independence of Hungary. In the spring of 1919 (March 21), the Hungarian Soviet Republic was formed, and a few days later (March 25) the formation of the Red Army began. In the process of education, the Frommer Stop pistol was adopted by the Hungarian Red Army. Since the formation of the army took place in 1919, the pistol received the designation M.19. Already on April 16, Soviet Hungary unleashed a war with Romania because of the desire to regain Transylvania. The Romanian-Hungarian War ended with the defeat of the Red Army, and Romanian troops paraded through the streets of Budapest. The Soviet Hungarian Republic fell after only a few months. After the fall of Soviet Hungary, the monarchy was restored by the forces of the Hungarian monarchists (the king was not determined) and a regent was appointed.
In Hungary in the 1920s, a government was also formed: the National Assembly. The Hungarian National Assembly announced on 9 August 1919 the re-establishment of the Nemzeti Hadsereg (National Army). And the Frommer Stop pistol was also adopted by the Hungarian National Army, and also under the designation M.19. In addition to the army, Frommer's M.19 pistol was used as a service weapon in the Hungarian police and gendarmerie, as well as in the secret police.
Based on the foregoing, it turns out that the Frommer Stop (M.19) pistol was adopted twice within 1 year by the Hungarian army: first the Red, then the National. Between 1919 and 1920, 90,000 Frommer Stop units were produced under the designation M.19.
Frommer Stop (M.39)
In 1938, Hungary entered into an alliance with Hitler, as the latter promised to return Hungary to its former territories. In early 1939, Hungary rebuilds its economy on a war footing and begins to prepare for war. At the same time (for unclear reasons), the Frommer Stop pistol was again adopted by the Hungarian Armed Forces, but already under the designation M.39. Already in March, Hungarian troops occupied the Transcarpathian Ukraine and captured such large cities as Uzhgorod and Mukachevo. And on September 1, 1939, the troops of the Wehrmacht and the Allies invade Poland. As a result, the whole world went crazy again: the 2nd World War began.
There is evidence that an export version of the pistol under the designation “M-1939” was allegedly developed at the end of the 30s, but the project was closed due to the outbreak of World War II.
Pistol carbine.
In the Museum of Military History of Hungary (Budapest), Frommer's pistol with an unusual butt is exhibited. As a result of searches, I found additional information about this accessory. It turned out to be a Benke-Thiemann shoulder stock. It is made of sheet steel by stamping. In the folded state, the butt parts are twice superimposed on the pistol grips. Shooting is possible both with the stock folded and with the stock unfolded. Since the product is attached to the handle of the weapon with through bolts, the stock cannot be called quick-detachable. I did not see the elements of fastening the belt to the butt, but it seemed that a massive holster of a special design was offered. Perhaps, to use the belt, it was supposed to attach it with a carabiner to the swivel at the base of the pistol grip.
While unfolding the butt into a firing position, it resembles both a crossbow and butterfly wings at the same time. This stock was not in great demand, so a limited batch of several tens of units was made. The butt became more widespread as an accessory for the Luger pistol (several hundred were made) and therefore survived to this day in somewhat larger quantities. At the end of the article, watch a video demonstrating a folding stock for the Luger P08 pistol.
Automatic pistol (full-auto).
According to unconfirmed reports, a version of the automatic pistol was developed on the basis of the Frommer Stop pistol. Presumably, it was used on the Italian front in 1917. The First World War was going on, and the troops of Austria-Hungary and Germany opposed Italy and its allied forces. This model (let's call it the Frommer Stop Machine Pistol) differed from the base one by an elongated barrel and a high-capacity magazine that held 15 rounds. Also at the base of the pistol grip there was an additional part that was located along the magazine. Presumably, the part served as a guide for the magazine, so that the shooter could more easily insert the magazine into the handle.
It is not known whether the automatic firing mode was auxiliary or main. The only photo does not show if there is a fire mode switch. Perhaps this pistol had the ability to fire only in bursts (continuous fire).
Submachine gun Frommer Stop M.17
Perhaps the Frommer Stop Machine Pistol was an experimental model made in a single copy. Or maybe Machine Pistol is a stage in the evolution from a pistol to a submachine gun, which will be discussed below. And if there is reason to doubt the existence of an automatic pistol, then you can be convinced of the existence of a submachine gun by visiting the military history museum in Vienna (Austria). It was named and classified in various ways: Pistolen-MG M.17; Reihenfeuerpistole M.17; Sturmpistole M.17; Frommer double barrel machine gun mod. 17.
The M.17 was based on two twin pistols, which were mounted upside down on the machine. The pistols differed from the M.12 in that they lost their triggers and brackets, the trigger could only fire in bursts and there was no fuse. The automatic safety button served as a trigger. The barrel was several millimeters longer than the base M.12 model.
At the base of the pistol grip, as on the full-auto version, there is an additional detail along the magazine. But it is already bent into a spur. Food is carried out from stores of increased capacity, which first held 25, and then 30 rounds.
It soon became clear that the length of the barrel was not enough. Therefore, to increase the range of the bullet, its lethal and penetrating action, it was required to increase the muzzle velocity. The pistols were equipped with barrels, the length of which was equal to 250 mm. As unnecessary, the elongated barrels lost their flies, and the pistol grips were left without wooden cheeks.
PP Frommer Stop was described in great detail and competently by Ryabov Kirill, therefore, those who are interested in the details will find them in Kirill Klik's article here
Comparison table with TTX pistols Frommer M.12 and M.17
About the plant
The Frommer Stop pistol was produced at the Budapest Arms Factory. It was founded in 1891 and stopped producing weapons in 2004. I found out that after 2004, as a result of the embargo, the Budapest Arms Factory was reorganized, re-profiled and renamed into “FEG Convector Manufacturer”, became part of the MFP holding”And started manufacturing heating equipment.
Pistol Frommer Stop at the cinema
Pistol Frommer Stop on TV
Frommer pistol Stop in games
Conclusion
Despite the fact that Frommer Stop / M.12 pistols were expensive to manufacture and difficult to maintain, they were considered a good weapon and were in steady demand in the arms market. Frommer Stop were made of high quality materials, they were reliable and easy to use. Despite the specific cartridges, the pistol was produced in large quantities, became quite widespread and gained popularity in the central part of Europe. Introduced into service in 1912, Frommer Stop went through World War I and participated in World War II along with newer and more advanced models.
Since Frommer Stop pistols have survived to this day in a fairly large number, they can be bought at a reasonable price. So, at the GunBroker auction, a sample in good condition can be bought within $ 220-300.
In the following parts, read about other developments of the Hungarian weapons designer Rudolf von Frommer.
