Nicolas Pieper Model 1909
Etablissements Nicolas Pieper · Pistol · Discontinued · 1909
Also known as: N. Pieper 1909, Pieper Model 1909, Pieper Demontant
Overview
The Nicolas Pieper Model 1909 is a compact blowback-operated semi-automatic pocket pistol made in Liege, Belgium by Etablissements Nicolas Pieper, the firm run by Henri Pieper's son Nicolas independently of the Bayard works. Chambered for the 6.35mm Browning (.25 ACP) cartridge and fed by a six-round detachable box magazine, its defining feature is a hinged tip-up (break-open) barrel that is released by a frame lever and pivots upward for loading and takedown, letting a round be chambered by hand without cycling the striker. Its recoil spring rides in a tube above the barrel rather than around it. A refinement of the firm's 1908 vest-pocket design, it was widely licensed and copied, most notably by Steyr in Austria.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 325 g (11.5 oz) |
| Overall Length | 125 mm (4.92") |
| Barrel Length | 57 mm (2.24") |
| 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 | 25 m (27 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Slide Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| 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: Tip Up Takedown Barrel, Recoil Spring Above Barrel, Concealed Striker, Fixed Sights
Service history
Operators
- Civilian
Production
Production years: 1909-1920s
Original Belgian manufacture; total production not documented, licensed and copied by Steyr and others
Origin
Country of origin: Belgium
Designer: Nicolas Pieper
Notes
The tip-up barrel design was licensed to Osterreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft (Steyr), which produced it as the Steyr-Pieper Model 1908/09; the Belgian-made original by Etablissements Nicolas Pieper is a distinct manufacture. Dimensions are drawn from the closely related 6.35mm Pieper pocket-pistol family and are approximate.
Background
The Pieper tip-up barrel let a shooter drop a cartridge straight into the chamber and snap the barrel shut, so the pistol could be carried loaded and fired without ever racking a slide - a genteel convenience prized by early-20th-century vest-pocket carriers and a rare point of confusion between Nicolas Pieper's own workshop and his late father's Bayard firm.