Alois Tomiška is best known for designing the first commercially successful double-action semiautomatic pistol, the “Little Tom”. But he also designed this pistol for very early Czechoslovakian military pistol. The first trial in the program was in 1920, and the winner of the trial was Josef Nickl with what became the vz.24 pistol. Tomiška and the South Bohemia Arms Factory continued to develop their gun for the next several years until 1924. The pistol we have today is an intermediate modulating from about 1922. It has a lot of features, including a magazine safety and automatic ejection of empty magazines. Tomiška really thought his gun was better than the Nickl design, and he spent a lot of time trying to get the trial results overturned. By 1924 he had made so much of an annoyance of himself in this endeavor that the South Bohemia Arms Factory fired him, and he spend the next four years working on the Little Tom commercial pistol instead.
Thanks to the Czech Military History Institute (VHU) for graciously giving me access to this one-of-a-kind prototype to film for you! If you have the opportunity, don’t miss seeing their museums in Prague:
https://www.vhu.cz/en/english-summary/
The best firearms reference books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com
And what was he thinking when he designed the magazine drop with a magazine safety? Leaving one round useless in the pistol every time you get to the last round is idiotic.
Shevchenko PSh https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/ukraine-semi-automatic-pistols/shevchenko-psh-eng/ has somewhat similar feature …very special sort of slide stop, that locked slide open once there was ONE cartridge left in the gun…
Like this one it did not advance beyond prototype stage.
I’ve always thought why Horns system wasnt employed in a handgun but here it is, Shevchenko!
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Daweo, have you heard about the serbian inventor-made pistol that functions as a revolver ?
Loading it with the pull of a trigger
https://securityarms.com/20010315/galleryfiles/3000/3022.htm
As Czechs are notoriously stupid with firearms design I’m sure it never occurred to him.
More useful might be to have the magazine drop free after the last shot, same time as the slide locks back. But, as Ian says, you lose the magazine.
I always feel a bit sorry for the pestering, almost successful inventors like Tomiska whom the market has rejected.
Even worse though must be the inventor whose work triumphs but who has no share in its success, like Aaron Dennison.
Pointing out design flaws isn’t piling on the unfortunate. In the instant case–a military handgun that makes losing magazines easier—it is a reminder to consider un intended consequences of a design’s unique selling point.
Why are you censoring opinions in the comments section? Keeping up with our current political climate?
Unless I missed it somewhere, is this chambered in .380 like the vz.24?
The magazine auto eject could have been worse, apparently the “Little Tom” magazine could be removed from the top of the gun via the ejection port. (imagine something with a bit of muzzle flip throwing the mag back at the shooter) https://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/ATLT/atlt.html