1910 Bergmann-Bayard Pistol w/ Pioneer Unit Mark

chrisftk

Moderator²
Staff member
Here's one you don't see every day. I picked it up about 2 years ago when it popped up on a dealer site.

The 1910 Bergmann-Bayard was made by Pieper in Belgium, licensing the design from Bergmann (as we mentioned elsewhere here, Bayard was a brand owned by Pieper). The Danish signed a contract with Pieper and most of these you'll run into were part of the Danish order. When Germany seized the Belgian factories during their invasion, Pieper continued production of the Bergmann-Bayard for German use. The German ones documented seem to be in the 15-16k SN range. They generally were not accepted in the traditional sense (no crowned letters or eagle fireproof like the Pieper 1908s), but some had a wonky apple-looking proof on them. This one has no proofs, but fortunately enough, has a wartime German unit marking that I am fairly certain represents Pioneer Battalion, IV Armee Korps. The German issued ones remained in the 9mm Bergmann (aka 9mm Largo) round, rather than 9mm Parabellum.

This model is bulky, cumbersome and not really all that pleasant to shoot. Size-wise, it's like a squat and bulky c96 and sort of feels that way in your hand (though I'd take a c96 any day over this) Loading is accomplished through a stripper clip.



IMG_20230916_134722467.jpgIMG_20230916_134734525.jpgIMG_20230916_134751225~2.jpgIMG_20230916_134809463.jpgIMG_20230916_134816614.jpgIMG_20230916_134825198.jpgIMG_20230916_134856531.jpgIMG_20230916_135058746.jpgIMG_20230916_135349364.jpg
 
That’s a nice one Chris. It’s interesting to see the magazine design. Another approach to early semiautomatic billet pistols. They were still in their infancy. Art deco!
 
The Germans after occupying part of Belgium and Pieper factory assembled around 1500 of these in 1915. They have either the apple-diamond proof or are un-proofed. They are in only the 15000 to 16500 serial number range. Presumably after expending the parts supply, production was dropped. There are a few that are known having unit marks. The Germans made their own holsters. Here is one made in Hanover in 1915. Clearly this is one of the rarest Imperial German pistols of WW1. I agree yours is marked to Pionier-Bataillion of 4th Armeekorps

Bergmann with Holster a4.JPG

holster IR145 closeup a.jpg l German pistols.
 
The Germans after occupying part of Belgium and Pieper factory assembled around 1500 of these in 1915. They have either the apple-diamond proof or are un-proofed. They are in only the 15000 to 16500 serial number range. Presumably after expending the parts supply, production was dropped. There are a few that are known having unit marks. The Germans made their own holsters. Here is one made in Hanover in 1915. Clearly this is one of the rarest Imperial German pistols of WW1. I agree yours is marked to Pionier-Bataillion of 4th Armeekorps
Thanks Jeff, I was hoping you'd share a pic of that holster. I remember seeing it on an old thread a couple years ago; very cool! I also appreciate your confirmation of the unit mark. These wartime ones are a little weird sometimes---
 
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