Going one-handed with some rare German Lignose pistols (VIDEOS)

Equal parts weird and cool at the same time, the arcane German Lignose Einhandpistole can do a neat trick. From a patent by Polish inventor Witold Chylewski, the gun was able to be cocked with one (ein) hand, hence the name and, as Chylewski came up with the idea as early as 1914, it predated the better known “squeeze-cocking” HKP7 designed by Helmut Weldle in the 1970s.

Although produced in limited numbers by Bergmann, these EinHand pistols really became associated with the Lignose holding company in 1920’s Weimar-era Berlin. NRA Museums Registrar Erin Sabatini shows off both the .25ACP 2A pocket model Lignose as well as a slightly larger nine-shot 3A model in the above video.

If they look familiar, you may recognize the 3A as a plot point in Babylon Berlin, a noir-style crime drama set in (go figure) Weimar-era Berlin based on the novels by Volker Kutscher. While it appeared on Sky Deutschland last year, Netflix has it with an English dub. Besides the Lignose the show also features a lot of other oddball hardware including a Haenel-Mannlicher takedown, an Ortgies pistol and, best of all, the ugly but indestructible Dreyse 1907.

For more on the Lignose, LifeSizePotato has another 2A complete with its brass cocking piece.

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