Beistegui Hermanos
These
guns were made by a Spanish company called Beistegui Hermanos, who started to
made unauthorized copies of the Mauser C96 around 1927, mostly aiming the
Chinese market. Astra ("Unceta Co.") followed them with the model 900 series. In
1931 Beistegui introduced a version of its pistol with a select-fire switch,
allowing to use the gun as a submachine gun.
However,
political issues arise and most of the production of automatic pistols was
halted by the Spanish Republican Government in 1931. Only a small production was
allowed to suply foreign customers (Chinese war lords, mostly) but, in 1934 the
Guardia Civil requested a select-fire gun with a slower rate of fire, so the
next two Astras - the experimental Model 904, and the big order for the Guardia,
the Model F - had such a mechanism. These were all made in 1934 and 1935.
Beistegui introduced the MM34 about at the same time,
with a similar retarding mechanism but adding a switch to select various cyclic
rates. Another interesting feature was the distinctive barrel. This gun had
dettachable magazines, using the same mags as the German Mauser Schnellfeuer.
By 1935, the political situation in Spain had
continued to deteriorate, though not yet to the point of open warfare, and the
financial squeeze on manufacturers continued. The Beistegui brothers, clearly
suffering since 1931, finally abandoned the gun business altogether, after
making only a few hundred specimens of their new MM34. The brothers appeared
again after the end of the Civil War, but this time making bicycles.
According to some old-timer gun collectors in my
country, these guns made its way to here, after be purchased by the Rio Grande
do Sul's State Law Enforcement, but as the political situation was fragile at
that State, Federal Government confiscated many of the guns and issued them to
other States Police Departments (mainly in the arid Northeast States), where
they served for many years. This particular gun was abandoned (lying inside a
metal box) in an discharged gun depot of one of these northern States, when it
was bought in an auction. The holster stock was found and bought in another
auction in another State, almost
Many thanks to "Douglas S. Aguiar Jr. collection" for details and nice pictures
Beistegui Hermanos
This 6.35mm or 7.65mm Eibar-type gun (virtually identical with the Bullmark) was made and sold by Beistegui Hermanos, but can also be found with the GRANDE PRECISION title and PATENT DEPOSE N° 69024.
No trace of this patent as yet be found.
Extract to “Der Neue Stöckel”
