POTD: Hijo de Calixto Arrizabalaga Jo Lo Ar Semi-Automatic Pistol
Sam.S 01.31.22
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Jo Lo Ar semi-automatic pistol (this one chambered for .32 Auto). These pistols were the brainchild of a gentleman by the name of Jose de Lopez Arnaiz where you can see the first parts of his name(s) is used to name the handgun and pronounced as such: “Ho Low Are.” The whole reason that the Jo Lo Ar semi-automatic pistol exists is that Jose patented a cocking lever for pistols in 1919. This made him also want to put it to the test and produce it on a handgun. Unfortunately, it is unhelpful to have this photographic angle of the gun since on the other side there is literally a lever that when pulled down and rearward would cock the slide of the pistol. This would make it extremely easy for a person to cock this pistol one-handed.
“Patented in 1920, the Jo. Lo. Ar. Pistol is an upgraded version of Arrizabalaga’s Sharp Shooter with two mechanical differences. The first is the installation of an extractor. The second is the installation of a side lever, or palanca, as its inventor Jose de Lopez Arnaiz referred to it. Arnaiz, a Spanish gun dealer, sold Arrizabalaga on the idea of the folding lever which would permit operation of the slide with the shooting hand. As the Sharp Shooter lacked any mechanical safety mechanisms, this upgrade was advertised as both a convenience and safety upgrade. The Jo.Lo.Ar is equipped with a fixed blade front sight and notch rear sight on its hinged barrel. The slide is equipped with the palanca, the face of which is checkered. The trigger is checkered with no trigger guard, and the grip straps and panels are also checkered.”
Lot 3449: Hijo de Calixto Arrizabalaga Jo. Lo. Ar. Semi-Automatic Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/66/3449/hijo-de-calixto-arrizabalaga-jo-lo-ar-semiautomatic-pistol.
