Garate Anitua Triumph

Garate, Anitua y Cia · Pistol · Discontinued

Also known as: La Lira, Triumph Automatic Pistol

Overview

The Garate Anitua Triumph is a small blowback-operated semi-automatic pocket pistol produced in Eibar, Spain, by Garate, Anitua y Cia in the early 20th century. It is the firm's 'La Lira' pistol sold under the 'Triumph Automatic Pistol' trade name - a copy of the Mannlicher Model 1901 chambered in .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning) and fed from a removable box magazine. Like many small Eibar automatics of the period it was an inexpensive self-defense arm, blued steel with wood grips, marketed under a catchy English trade name for the export market.

Specifications

Action TypeBlowback
Trigger TypeSingle Action
Magazine TypeDetachable Box
Effective Range25 m (27 yd)
Barrel RiflingRight Hand
Frame MaterialSteel
Slide MaterialSteel
Barrel MaterialSteel
Stock MaterialWood
FinishBlued

Calibers

Features

Service history

Operators

Production

Production years: c. 1905-1915

One of several trade-named handguns from the firm; the La Lira / Triumph automatic dates from before World War I. The Eibar arms trade wound down with the Spanish Civil War.

Origin

Country of origin: Spain

Notes

Reference sources (Gun Digest / Gun Values) list the Triumph as identical to Garate Anitua's La Lira model, a .32 ACP Mannlicher Model 1901 copy with a removable magazine marked 'System La Lira' on the breech and 'Para Cartucho Browning 7.65mm' on the barrel. Exact factory dimensions, weight and magazine capacity for the Triumph are not documented; fields listed as null are unconfirmed. An earlier draft of this record incorrectly described the Triumph as a top-break .38 S&W revolver - that was a fabrication and has been corrected.

Background

Garate, Anitua y Cia is best remembered for the .455-calibre top-break service revolvers it supplied to the British Army during World War I under the designation 'Pistol O.P. No. 1 Mk. I'. Alongside those military contracts the firm turned out inexpensive civilian handguns like the La Lira automatic, exported under trade names such as 'Triumph'.