Garate Anitua Danton

Garate, Anitua y Cia · Pistol · Discontinued · 1915

Also known as: Garate Anitua Express, Danton, Express

Overview

The Garate Anitua Danton is a Spanish blowback-operated semi-automatic pocket pistol chambered in .32 ACP, produced in Eibar from the First World War era into the late 1920s. Marketed under the 'Danton' (and related 'Express') trade names, it is one of the many 'Eibar' or 'Ruby'-type pistols closely modelled on John Browning's Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless. It feeds from a single-stack detachable box magazine, uses a concealed hammer with a single-action trigger, and was built for the export and military-contract market that demanded large numbers of cheap, compact handguns.

Specifications

Weight (empty)850 g (30.0 oz)
Weight (loaded)920 g (32.5 oz)
Overall Length155 mm (6.10")
Barrel Length83 mm (3.27")
Height110 mm (4.33")
Width30 mm (1.18")
Sight Radius120 mm (4.72")
Action TypeBlowback
Firing MechanismHammer Fired
Trigger TypeSingle Action
Magazine Capacity9 rounds
Magazine TypeDetachable Box
Muzzle Velocity300 m/s (984 fps)
Muzzle Energy200 J (148 ft·lbf)
Effective Range25 m (27 yd)
Maximum Range100 m (109 yd)
Barrel RiflingRight Hand
Number of Grooves6
Frame MaterialSteel
Slide MaterialSteel
Barrel MaterialSteel
Stock MaterialWood
FinishBlued

Calibers

Features

Production

Production years: 1915-1930

Part of the very large Eibar/Ruby-type pistol output; exact Danton production figures are not documented.

Origin

Country of origin: Spain

Discontinued: 1930

Notes

Garate, Anitua y Cia of Eibar was best known for revolvers, including the .455 Old Pattern revolver supplied to the British Army in the First World War. The Danton/Express semi-automatics were part of the broad Ruby-pattern pistol trade that flooded out of Eibar to satisfy wartime French contracts and the post-war civilian export market, particularly to the United States.

Background

Born of the same desperate wartime demand that gave rise to the Ruby pistol, the Danton was one of dozens of near-identical .32 Browning copies churned out by the gunmaking town of Eibar. Cheap, serviceable and unglamorous, these pistols armed French troops in the trenches and later filled the holsters of civilians across the Americas through the export trade.