[fernando]

For those collecting firearms and are not familiar to this somehow ethno specimen, let me tell you about it.They were made by the bycicle producers, and were sold in byke shops, ironmongers and bazaars, rather than produced by actual massive gun factories. I beleive they were largely used in France, their origin being German, introduced around 1900.They were called velodog, or cyclist pistols, used to "defend" postmen ( some say also priests ) from stray dogs, to stop them chasing their legs( and cassoks ). Within time, amunition calibers and charges were expanded, so that these pistols would not only frighten the animals, but got powerfull enough to kill them. Such radical attitude was abolished in 1914, these pistols remaining in action against sparrows, bats and public lamps.
Nevertheless, and in my humble opinnion, they look rather elegant, and that's what made me show them here. I admire the barrel and the breech, looking like cannon stuff. Despite the 14 centimeters total length, this thing is globaly minuscle, as it weighs a mere 106 grams. Some variations were said to be slim enough to be hidden inside the bycicle steering tube.
fernando