POTD: Wood Cored Bullets?! – Schouboe Model 1903
Sam.S 10.23.23
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have the interesting Schouboe Model 1903 pistol. This rare long-barreled Schouboe prototype highlights the Danish gunmaker’s turn-of-the-century semi-auto pistol designs. Inventor Jens Schouboe patented his straight blowback pistol in 1903 initially in 7.65mm. Only a few hundred were made into the 1900s. The simple hammer-fired gun was easy to disassemble but never caught on commercially. Schouboe later developed a .45 caliber version for 1907 US Army trials, using a wood-core bullet to safely cycle the straight blowback action. However, inadequate wounding ability doomed its chances. While the Schouboe saw limited success, its blowback operation and quick disassembly were innovations. This scarce extended barrel prototype shows Schouboe’s efforts to refine his pistol for military use prior to its commercial failure.
“This is a very fine example of an extremely rare “long barreled” prototype Schouboe Model 1903 semi-automatic pistol. This long barreled version is very rare with only a few actually know or seen. The Schouboe pistol was invented and patented by Jens Schouboe in 1903 and was a straight blow back design with an internal hammer, exposed barrel, short slide, chambered for the 7.65mm Browning cartridge (.32 ACP) and was manufactured by Dansk Rekylriffel Syndikat (DRS), Company. This company was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1896 to manufacture semi-automatic rifles. The company is best known for making the Madsen light machine gun and later for the LAR assault rifle. The pistol has a relatively unique design in that it employs the recoil spring in the upper portion of the slide giving it a fairly unique shape. It was very well made and reliable, but note that it did not sell well. It is estimated that few were made between 1903 and 1908.”
Lot 1522: Dansk Rekylriffel Syndikat 1904 Pistol 7.65 mm auto – Extremely Rare Schouboe Model 1903 Semi-Automatic Prototype Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved October 22, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/66/1522/dansk-rekylriffel-syndikat-1904-pistol-7.65-mm-auto.
