The Portuguese Army purchased 5,000 7.65mm Luger pistols in 1908, and the Navy followed suit the next year – but the Navy opted for 9mm ones, with 100mm barrels. A contract for 350 was placed in November 1909, with the guns delivered in 1910. These were in a standalone serial number range starting at 1, and they had a crown over anchor crest on the chambers in recognition of King Manuel II. Manuel was overthrown in 1910, however, and the followup order for an additional 300 guns were delivered with “RP” over anchor crests, for the Republic of Portugal (the final delivery was August 1912). These pistol were ordered with holsters, lanyards, double magazine pouches, and three magazines with each gun.
Light MGs
Portugal’s MG-13: the M938 Light Machine Gun
The MG-13 is a transferrable machine gun being sold as lot #746 in the upcoming May 2019 Rock Island auction. The MG13 was an interim machine gun used by the German military in the 1930s […]
Semiauto Rifles
Semiauto Portuguese AR-10 on a Sendra Receiver
So, you would like to get an original AR-10 rifle to shoot? Well, the original Armalite AR10 rifles were almost all manufactured by Artillerie-Inrichtingen in the Netherlands, and they were virtually all machine guns. They […]
Revolver
Portugal’s Model 1886 Trooper’s Model Abadie Revolver
Isaac Abadie’s gate-loading system was a significant improvement in revolver technology in the 19th century, and Portugal was one of the first to adopt it. The initial Portuguese model was adopted in 1878 specifically for […]
Few people know that it was Portugal, not Russia, that was the first nation-state to become a socialist republic by armed revolution. Their revolution in 1910 predated the October Revolution by nearly eight years.
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