Picked up another odd-ball...

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  • Mongo59

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    Jul 30, 2018
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    Found a "Unique Court 7.65" pistol for cheap. It is the exposed hammer naval officer model.

    Pretty rough cosmetic shape but seems to be mechanically sound.

    This was a french pistol made in Vichy France during the German occupation. The Germans required their officers to be packing while in foreign ports and in the mid to later part of the war quality side arms were not readily available, so they had the same company (MADP) who made them for the French officers continue to produce them for the Germans.

    The early models were concealed hammer "copies" of the 1903 Browning but the navy contract and later models were open hammer. They were also made post war for police and private sales/export.

    This one is a navy contract open hammer type, no import marks with the original grips.

    The slide marking says "9 coup" or "9 shots" in French. The right grip says "9 schuss" or "9 shots" in German. Court 7.65 is the same as .32 acp.

    I plan on "before and after" pics to be posted.

    Too bad a lot of history does not always equal value. Either way this is an empathy purchase because the poor thing deserves to be in better condition than it is now...
     

    Mongo59

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    Well, my memory must be going because I thought it was a navy gun but it has the concealed hammer.

    I was looking at an old Savage pistol that same day and guess the open hammer on it got stuck in my brain pan.

    Should have before picks in the am.
     

    Mongo59

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    Here it is...

    Once again, it is an early model than the first post stated. It is not an navy contract but is a occupied French gun used by the Germans.

    Below the serial is the German WaA251 mark. Not shown in the Nazi "proof" mark on the barrel.

    This is not a restoration, the sole purpose was to clean and stabilize the surface of the weapon. Most of the old pistols had some form of "rust bluing" from the factory. This one looks like some well intentioned person used a rust remover on it at some time in it's life.

    I disassembled, cleaned and prepared the surfaces in 90min on Thursday morning and it took 90min this morning to blue using the Blue Wonder product. No file, sandpaper or emery cloth touched it, just steel wool and gun cleaner. All the bumps, drops and other character is intact but not in risk of rusting away.

    The right side of the slide reads: "7,65 COURT 9 COUP 'UNIQUE' " underlined by MADP (but spelled out) and the city of factory location.

    In the before pick of the right grip you can see they had applied some type of hardened putty over the "7,65 m/m". I was pleased to find out that after the putty was removed the original script was still intact.

    This was purely an "empathy buy" and I consider it a "save". Others may view it differently...
     

    Mongo59

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    Nicely done, and a great save, neat little gun. How will you find a holster for it so it can become a BUG? :):

    They say the Walther holsters will work. I will probably be passing it on to fund my next save. Have to shoot it some first. Should be a good shooter as it is tight and heavy with a low recoil round.
     

    DoggyDaddy

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    Aug 18, 2011
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    Nice gun and nice job on the save! I never thought I would be interested in .32's, but I just ordered another one (Beretta 81). Have an Ortgies, and have shot a Colt 1903, but don't have one yet. But some of the old European guns are just neat guns.
     

    Mongo59

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    The fit on the gun is excellent, the finish... not so much. Original from the factory they had milling marks but beauty was not what they needed at the time.

    I plan on shooting it today and will let you know how it goes.

    If I were planing on defending myself it wouldn't make my list. Weighs close to the same as a 1911 but only .32 acp, this thing will definitely pull your pants down but there is nothing to "catch" when pulling it out of a pocket.

    The poor thing has both German and French on the same pistol, it is a wonder it doesn't declare war on itself...
     

    warren5421

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    May 23, 2010
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    I like .32ACP and would use one for close in work if loaded to old specks. The bring backs after the war is why the .32ACP was down loaded. Some of the guns at the end of the war were so poor put together they were not safe to shoot so the United States ammo makers backed the powder off.
     

    Mongo59

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    This one is a shooter!

    I need to tweak the mag catch. It operates off the hammer spring but with recoil the mag drops just enough to make the feeding round stovepipe. It might be my fat hand rubbing the release but either way it will be fixed. It could have spent 50 years cocked in the sock drawer for all I know.

    The typically small European sites of that time can be difficult to use but when used "what you see is what you hit..."
     

    AmmoManAaron

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    Feb 20, 2015
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    They say the Walther holsters will work. I will probably be passing it on to fund my next save. Have to shoot it some first. Should be a good shooter as it is tight and heavy with a low recoil round.

    This one is a shooter!

    I need to tweak the mag catch. It operates off the hammer spring but with recoil the mag drops just enough to make the feeding round stovepipe. It might be my fat hand rubbing the release but either way it will be fixed. It could have spent 50 years cocked in the sock drawer for all I know.

    The typically small European sites of that time can be difficult to use but when used "what you see is what you hit..."

    Nice save Mongo! I have one of the post-war external hammer models and it is amazingly accurate and very pleasant to shoot. It's one of my favorite handguns. Hopefully whoever the new owner is, they take it out and enjoy shooting it regularly.
     

    actaeon277

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    Nov 20, 2011
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