Rast & Gasser M-1898

     Notes:  This weapon was originally built for the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1896.  It served with Austria until late in the 1920s, leaving production shortly after World War 1 in 1919, and with the Italians until the end of World War 2 (they had been given to the Italians as part of World War 1 reparations).  Today, they most common place to find them are the Balkan states, as they were shipped in large numbers during woalr War 2 to Greek Partisans.  The Rast & gasser was also used by some second-line units and police units. There were also some civilian sales in Europe, but the Rast & Gasser was never able to break into the British or US market, and in those countries few collectors have them now.  In a time when military revolvers were falling by the wayside, increasingly replaced by automatic pistols, the Rast & Gasser was basically obsolete at its introduction; the poor power of the 8mm Gasser round didn’t help sales to other countries.

     The Rast & Gasser has angular lines, including a pistol grip which is ergonomically unsound; the Rast & Gasser does not have anything near natural pointing qualities.  The Rast & Gasser uses an unusual Abadie-type safety, in which the opening gate is opened, and this disconnects the trigger from the hammer and keeps the hammer locked (whether back or forward).  The loading gate on the right side of the cylinder hinges back for loading or unloading.  There is no sort of automatic shell ejection.  The Rast & Gasser uses a 4.8-inch barrel, and uses a fixed V-notch rear sight and a front sight blade in the shape of an inverted V.  Trigger pull length is short, but trigger pull weight is heavy; because the trigger pull length is so short, the heavy pull weight does not detract from accuracy.  The finish is usually blued, and the grips are of checkered walnut. At the heel of the butt is a large lanyard ring. For cleaning or repairs, the entire left side plate is hinged and swings open, exposing most of the working parts.  The trigger guard is pulled down and rotated forward to remove the side plate.  The left side of the grip can also be readily removed for maintenance of the mainspring.