Pistols of Spain & Italy.

[Panzerknacker]

Handguns used in ww1 and ww2.

http://i40.tinypic.com/29f5jt5.jpg

[Panzerknacker]

Campo Giro M1916/1916

One of the first semi-automatic pistol designed in Spain ever, it was developed to replace the awful belgian Bergman bayard 1908 wich suffered continued malfuction due the powerful 9mm largo ( 9x23).

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8576/30ag.jpg

It was designed by the colonel Venacio Lopez de Aguirre ( wich incidentally was count of Campo Giro) , the gun used a simple blow back action, and included a spring buffer below the barrel to soften a bit the stress in the frame caused by the slide hitting in the backwards travel.

The pistol is quite large and heavy, his recoil unpleasant but also a sound and reliable design, it was adopted by the Spanish Ground Forces in 1917 and for the navy the following year. 13,525 examples were completed up to 1922.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/5589/21gx.jpg


Name: Pistola Campo Giro M1916.

Caliber: 9x23mm

Barrel lenght: 165mm

Magazine: single stack, 8 rounds.

Muzzle velocity: 385 mps.

Manufacturer: Esperanza y Unceta, Guernica.

Weight loaded: 1210 grams.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1830/49iu.jpg