POTD: Scarce Francois Pfannl Erika Pocket Pistol in 4.25mm
Sam.S 06.03.22
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Have you ever wanted a big little gun? How about a gun that is capable of delivering a perfect 20 foot-pounds of force from a 4.25mm bullet traveling at 800 feet per second? Well, the Erika semi-automatic pocket pistol produced in the early 20th century is the handgun for you! these little pistols were made by the same gentleman who made the now-famous Kolibri pistol. The Kolibri if you do not know is one of the smallest functioning semiautomatic magazine-fed pistols. The Erika is a big little brother to the Kolibri and actually sold much better than the “smallest” pistol ever did.
“This is a very fine example of an early Erika model semi-automatic pocket pistol designed and manufactured by Francois Pfannl in Austria in 1912. The pistol was produced until 1926, with an estimated 3,500 manufactured in total; however, they are very rarely seen today, especially in the US due to import restrictions. The pistol is a blowback operated design with the recoil spring mounted above the barrel and is chambered for the very unique 4.25 mm cartridge. It has an unconventional design/shape with the magazine directly behind the trigger, in front of the very small grip with the magazine release mounted on the back strap. The shape of the pistol looks unusual, but it is a very comfortable pistol and certainly very compact easily fitting in the palm of an average hand. It is approximately 4 1/2 inches long and 3 1/2 inches tall. It has fixed sights, a two-position safety and has black plastic checkered grips marked with an intertwined “FP” at the top of each grip. It is serial numbered “1434” on the right side of the frame and the magazine. This design was eventually licensed to George Grabner of Rehberg who produced it as the “Kolibri” model pistol.”
Lot 1517: Francois Pfannl Erika Model Semi-Automatic Pocket Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved June 2, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/69/1517/francois-pfannl-erika-model-semiautomatic-pocket-pistol.
