# Can anyone ID this pistol? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588 "2017-03-06T22:55:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/1 "2017-03-06T22:55:08Z")
Hello Everyone, I recently came into possession of a pistol, in rough shape, that I am going to attempt to restore. I’m unable to read the markingsnon the side as the finish is in rough shape. I’m going to sandblast it and re blue it. It needs a few parts, so I need to ID it first. It appears to be a 9mm, but not sure if it’s Luger or Makorov. Might not be a 9, but that what I’m thinking. [https://www.dropbox.com/s/s05hkmw66b6ef4w/20170306\_172323.jpg?dl=0](https://www.dropbox.com/s/s05hkmw66b6ef4w/20170306_172323.jpg?dl=0) ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/2 "2017-03-07T01:12:00Z")
Most likely a makorov, 9x18. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/3 "2017-03-07T01:27:48Z")
WAG, a variant of a TT pistol. The barrel is shorter than typical, and they were originally 7.62x25mm, but many variants were in 9mm Luger. So it should be very easy for you to tell apart 7.62 from either 9mm caliber using calipers or something and narrow things down a bit. The design was a little strange as it was single action but lacked a manual safety. On export to the US, often a crappy safety was added for legal reasons, and on your gun it was removed, leaving the hole in the side. Some of the Yugoslavian designs (made by Zastava, now Serbia) seem closest but not identical. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/4 "2017-03-07T01:33:53Z")
You can’t make out what it says on the grip panel? ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/5 "2017-03-07T01:49:50Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > You can’t make out what it says on the grip panel? There’s no writing on the grips. What your seeing is a decrotive design. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/6 "2017-03-07T05:03:27Z")
It’s a version of the WWI French Ruby pistol. Yours had 9 cocking grooves on the slide while the original Ruby had 10, so it’s not French. I would guess it’s an “Eibar Type,” made by dozens of manufacturers in Spain’s Eibar area. > **[Spanish Eibar/Ruby Pistols](https://www.forgottenweapons.com/other-handguns/eibar-ruby/)** > > The Eibar or Ruby was a copy of the Colt 1903 action made in vast quantities for the French Army during WWI by dozens of small Spanish shops. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/7 "2017-03-07T05:12:06Z")
Missed the edit. I said that wrong. None of them were actually French, the French contracted one Spanish company (which I thought was French) to make the original Rubys, but they had to immediately contract out to many other companies. I think the original Gabilondo had 10 grooves, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/8 "2017-03-07T16:56:24Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > It’s a version of the WWI French Ruby pistol. Yours had 9 cocking grooves on the slide while the original Ruby had 10, so it’s not French. I would guess it’s an “Eibar Type,” made by dozens of manufacturers in Spain’s Eibar area. > > [Spanish Eibar/Ruby Pistols](https://www.forgottenweapons.com/other-handguns/eibar-ruby/) Thankyou! Right on the money, the knowledge base here is amazing. With this information hopefully I can get the gun restored. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/9 "2017-03-07T18:27:44Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Thankyou! Right on the money, the knowledge base here is amazing. With this information hopefully I can get the gun restored. A slide stop would be a good place to start. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-pistol/781588/10 "2017-03-08T02:25:16Z")
It’s a pretty cool gun. You might be able to further ID the company by the design on the grip and the landyard attachment but I can’t find any pics that match either one. The length of the extractor may be another clue. Some models extend into the cocking grooves and some don’t, and of course, some have 9 grooves and some have 10. I don’t know how you’d find parts for it. The biggest complaints with these guns were that with so many companies making them, the parts often weren’t interchangeable. You might need a gunsmith to custom make parts to fit it and a spare relative to test fire it the first time.