Lignose

The Bergmann and Lignose Pocket Pistols
by Ed Buffaloe
photographs of a Lignose 3A by Rob Folda



	Bergmann Model 3



	Lignose Model 2 w/ Bergmann Grips

Theodor Bergmann is often described as one if the early geniuses of automatic weapons development, having begun the manufacture of self-loading handguns as early as 1893. However, Ian Hogg indicates that Bergmann himself was more of a businessman or entrepreneur, not a designer or inventor, and that the true genius behind early Bergmann guns was his employee, Louis Schmeisser (1848-1917). Theodor Bergmann retired in 1910 (he died in 1915) and Louis Schmeisser’s son, Hugo, took over management of the company. Louis Schmeisser probably left the Bergmann company around 1902.

According to Hogg, around 1912 (though some sources say it was after World War I), the Bergmann company, under Hugo Schmeisser, began to manufacture a line of pocket and vest pocket pistols (Taschenpistole und Westentaschenpistole). The Model 2 was a six-shot 6.35mm (.25 caliber) blowback-operated Westentaschenpistole, based on the 1903 Browning design, but without the grip safety. The Model 3 was a nine-shot Taschenpistole version of the same gun--the only difference being the extended grip and magazine. The Model 4 was an enlarged version of the Model 2 chambered for the 7.65mm (.32 caliber), with an eight round magazine. The Model 5 was the same gun chambered for the 9mm Kurz (.380 caliber), with a seven round magazine. Production of the Bergmann Models 4 and 5 was terminated during World War I and never resumed, so these guns are quite scarce.

Hugo Schmeisser left the company after the war in 1919 and went to work for Haenel. At this time the Bergmann company purchased the rights to Witold Chylewski’s patented one-hand cocking system and incorporated it into their two remaining pistol designs, which became the Models 2A and 3A, and were known as the Einhandpistole, or one-hand pistol. Bergmann’s .25 caliber pistols were marked THEODOR BERGMANN, GAGGENAU, and on the second line WAFFENFABRIK SUHL CAL 6,35 D.R.P.a.on the left side of the slide.

Aktiengesellschaft Lignose was a holding company in Berlin with interests in explosives and ammunition. In 1921 Lignose took over the factory of Theodor Bergmann Waffenfabrik in Suhl, Germany. When Lignose purchased Bergmann, the company continued production of the four Bergmann pistols until 1939. J.B Wood mentions that he had heard rumors of a prototype 7.62mm einhand pistol (a Model 4A) and another with an external hammer being manufactured by Lignose, but he was unable to verify them.

The Lignose pistols were nearly identical to the Bergmann pistols. The Bergmanns had 12 coarse slide serrations, as did a few of the early Lignose pistols. Later Lignose pistols had 15 fine slide serrations. A few Bergmann’s had wooden grips with an encircled B medallion, but most Bergmann and Lignose pistols had hard rubber grips with the names of the respective companies. Some of the early guns manufactured by Lignose still bore the Bergmann name on the slide or grips, probably because they had inherited a great many leftover parts from Bergmann. I have also seen some guns with Bergmann on the slide and Lignose on the grips. All of these guns were extraordinarily well made and well finished.

All six versions (2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4 and 5) were serial numbered together by Bergmann and (according to the 2005 Standard Catalog of Firearms) an estimated 8,000 were made before the business was sold. I’m virtually certain that the Lignose company continued Bergmann’s numbering sequence, because the highest serial number I have found on a Bergmann pistol is 6214, and the lowest number I have found on a Lignose is 6900. (If you have a Lignose or Bergmann, please e-mail me with the type and serial number and I’ll add the information here.*)

My gun is marked on the left side of the slide “AKT.-GES. LIGNOSE, BERLIN,” and on the second line “ABTEILUNG SUHL CAL 6,35 D.R.P.a.” The serial number is on the right side of the slide, as well as on the barrel and inside the grip.

The Lignose features an internal hammer and a rotating safety lever that positively locks the hammer back. There is no magazine safety, so the gun can be fired without the magazine. A small spring-loaded brass pin protrudes from the rear of the gun to indicate that the hammer is cocked. There is no rear sight, only a groove along the top of the slide and a minimalist front sight.

To field strip the Lignose Model 2 or 3:

With the safety off, remove the magazine and retract the slide to clear the gun and cock the hammer.
Pull the slide back and lock it open using the safety lever.
Turn the barrel 180° (counter-clockwise as you face the front of the gun).
Release the safety and ease the slide and barrel forward until the rear of the slide is just above the safety lever, then lift slide and barrel straight up off the gun.

My old Lignose Model 3 has seen better days--it is deeply pitted all over, has no blue left on it, and the right grip is cracked. Nevertheless, it is one of the best-shooting .25 caliber pistols I own. It simply never malfunctions. J.B. Wood commented that he owned two Lignose pistols, a Model 2 and a 3A, and that neither had ever malfunctioned. He says: “Back in those days, everything was carefully made.” The deep grip on the Model 3 makes it fit my hand better than most pocket pistols, and the grip angle is such that it points very naturally.

The Einhandpistole (Lignose Models 2A and 3A)



		Early Serial Number Lignose 3A with Bergmann Grips and Brass Cocker


		Late Model Lignose 3A


	Lignose Model 2A

A cocking and loading mechanism for an automatic pistol had been attempted early in the history of automatic handguns. The White-Merrill was the first design I’ve been able to locate, created for the U.S. military tests of 1907. It had a one-hand cocking spur beneath the trigger guard which could be operated by the middle and ring fingers of the shooting hand, but the ordinance department declared it “not entirely satisfactory.” Not everyone had hands strong enough to work the cocking spur, and the gun never made it past the prototype stage. Colt experimented with a couple of different systems for cocking their 1903 “Hammerless” model, but only one prototype for each design is known to exist, and neither was considered practical enough to manufacture. Ole Hermann Johannes Krag was granted a U.S. patent in 1910 for a pistol with a design very similar to that of the Chylewski--hammer fired, with the cocker forming the front portion of the trigger guard. A version of this pistol was tested by the U.S. Ordnance Department in May of 1911, but it did not perform well (though its problems had nothing to do with the cocking mechanism). Krag received a second U.S. patent in 1912 for another one-hand pistol design.

Sometime in the years 1913-1914 Witold Chylewski worked on the design of a slide retracting system to allow one-handed cocking and loading of an automatic pistol. The idea was a simple one--make the trigger guard in two parts, the forward portion being moveable, shaped like a trigger, and attached to a block mounted in a slot in the frame of the gun. The upper shoulder of the block fitted into two steps on either side of the forward portion of the slide. When the trigger-shaped front portion of the guard was pulled to the rear it moved the slide with it, cocking the hammer. When released, the recoil spring would cause the slide to go forward and chamber a round if the magazine were loaded. The mechanism was only viable for guns with light recoil springs, such as 6.35mm or 7.65mm blowback operated pistols. Chylewski obtained a Swiss patent for his mechanism in 1916 and Societe Industrielle Suisse Neuhausen produced a 6.35mm one-hand pistol for him for a brief time under the Chylewski name. Apparently only about 1000 were made.

The Bergmann company obtained the patent rights from Chylewski, and must have had time to make a few specimens before the company was sold to Lignose--Model 2A and 3A pistols with the Bergmann name are relatively scarce. Lignose, however, continued to produce them right up to the beginning of World War II in 1939.

I have a Bergmann 3A which does not have the cocked hammer indicator, but instead has a true loaded chamber indicator, situated in the slide rather than the frame. The Lignose 3A pictured here has a cocking indicator, as does the Bergmann Model 3 pictured above. I have only seen one other pistol, a Bergmann Model 2, with this feature. I’d be curious to know if the loaded chamber indicator appears on any other Bergmann or Lignose einhandpistoles. Please email me if you have one.

Elbert Searle also designed and patented (in 1918) a one-hand cocking mechanism, which involved squeezing an extended forward portion of the grip, but the design was never manufactured. The same year Chylewski obtained his patent (1919) a Spanish patent was granted to José de Lopez Arnaiz for a chambering/cocking lever, called a palanca, that screwed into the right side of a pistol slide. It could be grasped by two fingers of the shooting hand to cock the gun and chamber a round. This mechanism was subsequently incorporated into the Jo-Lo-Ar pistol as a modification of the Sharp Shooter design, which had a tip-up barrel for loading the first round, made by the Spanish company Arrizabalaga. The size and position of the cocking lever required the elimination of a trigger guard on the Jo-Lo-Ar. However, the gun was produced in 9mm Largo, 9mm Parabellum, .380, .32, and .25 caliber, and a few were actually produced in .45 caliber. The gun was reasonably successful, with a production run that lasted for six years. The disadvantages of the Jo-Lo-Ar cocking lever were that it made holstering difficult and was easily broken off. The 9mm Chinese Norinco 77B has a cocking lever almost identical to that on the Lignose, but it isn’t very useful because of the gun’s powerful recoil spring.

The Chylewski design in the Lignose utilizes a flat spring in the frame beneath the barrel. Two studs on the spring protrude through holes in the frame. The forward longer stud retaines the retractor on the frame, while the rear shorter stud maintaines enough tension on the retractor to prevent it from recoiling backward with the slide when the gun is fired.

To field strip the Lignose Model 2A or 3A:

With the safety off, remove the magazine and retract the slide to clear the gun and cock the hammer.
Pull the slide back and press the safety upward to engage the notch in the slide which holds it back.
With a small blade or other tool depress the spring-loaded retaining stud and slide the retractor/trigger guard forward off the frame. (The slide must be locked back to remove or install the slide retractor.)
Grasp the barrel and turn it 180° (counter-clockwise as you face the front of the gun).
Release the safety.
Move the slide and barrel forward until the rear of the slide is just above the safety lever, then lift slide and barrel straight up off the gun.

* Thus far I have noted Bergmann serial numbers that run from 42 to 6214, and Lignose serial numbers that run from 6900 to 54661.

References

2005 Standard Catalog of Firearms, by Ned Schwing. Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin: 2004.
Colt Automatic Pistols, by Donald B. Bady. Fadco, Beverly Hills, California: 1956.
Dictionary of Guns and Gunmakers, by John Walter. Greenhill Books, London: 2001.
German Handguns, by Ian V. Hogg. Greenhill Books, London: 2001.
“The Lignose Einhand Pistols,” by J.B. Wood. Guns, Nov. 1972.
The NRA Book of Small Arms, Vol. I. NRA, Washington, D.C.: 1946.
Pistols of the World, by Ian V. Hogg and John Weeks. Arms & Armor Press, London: 1978.
Spanish Handguns, by Gene Gangarosa, Jr. Stoeger Publishing, Accokeek, MD: 2001.
U.S. Military Automatic Pistols: 1894-1920, by Edward Scott Meadows. Richard Ellis, Moline, IL: 1993.

Note: The author is seeking photographs of the Chylewski and the Bergmann Model 4, or 5.
Please contact him if you can oblige.

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