Continental
Francisco Arizmendi y Goenaga · Pistol · Out Of Production · 1914
Also known as: Continental Kal 6.35, Eibar Continental, Arizmendi Walman, Walman, Waldman, RWM Continental
Overview
The Continental is a small .25 ACP (6.35mm Browning) blowback pocket pistol produced in Eibar, Spain, by Francisco Arizmendi y Goenaga in the early 20th century. It is one of the trade names, alongside Walman and Waldman, under which Arizmendi sold its basic copy of the FN/Browning Model 1906, marketed under the fictitious German maker 'Rheinische Waffen- und Munitionsfabrik' (RWM). The 6.35mm Continental is a striker-fired blowback vest-pocket automatic with a six-round detachable box magazine, a roughly 54mm (2-1/8 in) barrel, and a manual safety that disconnects the trigger bar from the trigger. Like most Eibar export guns of the period it was inexpensively built of soft metal with simple finishing, and slides are commonly marked with the German 'Continental Kal 6.35 Rheinische Waffen- und Munitionsfabrik Cöln' inscription.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 350 g (12.3 oz) |
| Overall Length | 114 mm (4.49") |
| Barrel Length | 54 mm (2.13") |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Striker Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 6 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 230 m/s (755 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 86 J (63 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 15 m (16 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 50 m (55 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Slide Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .25 ACP · primary — also known as 6.35x16mm Browning, 6.35mm Browning, .25 Auto
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Browning Pattern Copy, Concealed Hammer, Fixed Sights, Trigger Locking Safety
Service history
Operators
- European civilian market
Production
Production years: 1908-1936
Arizmendi's automatic-pistol production under the Walman/Waldman/Continental trade names dates from roughly 1908; one source gives a 1908-1926 production span for the Walman family. Part of the broad output of Eibar trade-name pocket pistols, with output tailing off through the 1930s and the disruption of the Spanish Civil War. No reliable total-production figure is recorded.
Origin
Country of origin: Spain
Designer: Francisco Arizmendi
Discontinued: 1936
Notes
The Continental is one of several near-identical trade names (Walman, Waldman, Continental) applied by Francisco Arizmendi to the same Browning-1906 pocket-pistol pattern, so specifications vary slightly between examples. The slide inscription naming the 'Rheinische Waffen- und Munitionsfabrik' of 'Cöln' is a forgery: the misspelling of Köln and the soft-metal construction betray Spanish (Eibar) origin rather than a genuine German maker. Arizmendi also offered the pattern in 7.65mm (7-round) and .380 (with a squeeze grip safety). Construction quality was typical of low-cost Spanish trade-name pistols.
Background
The Continental belongs to the flood of cheap Spanish vest pocket automatics that poured out of Eibar in the early 1900s, when a loophole in Spanish patent law let local workshops freely copy John Browning's pocket pistols. Sold under romantic-sounding trade names and sometimes stamped with imitation German factory marks to flatter buyers, guns like the Continental armed shopkeepers and travellers across Europe as discreet last-ditch self-defense pieces.