Talk about the right kind of problem to have! In order to meet the order, Gabilondo contracted with four other gunmakers in the city of Eibar: Armeria Elgobaressa y Cia, Echealasa y Vincinai y Cia, Hijos de Angel Echeverria y Cia, and Iraola Salaverria y Cia (the “y Cia” means “and Company”). There is no conceivable way they could have produced anywhere near this quantity of firearms, but now they had a contract for them. One can only imagine the Gabilondo shop receiving news of this staggering order – because at that time they had less than 10 employees (between 5 and 8, depending on which source you read). Note differences in frame shape, sights, slide serrations, etc.

Three Eibar Ruby clones – “Martian”, “Brunswig”, and “Modelo 1916”. The French found the pistol to be well-suited to their needs (cheap and effective), and proceeded to place a standing order in May 1915 for 10,000 of them per month. Gabilondo sent a sample to France, whose government was in need of a huge number of pistols for the recently-begun First World War. 32ACP and with a 9-round magazine (larger than most of these types of pistols). In 1914, the company of Gabilondo y Urresti (later to become known as Llama) built a better-than-average 1903 copy called the Ruby, chambered for. Spanish shops quickly began making their own copies of this very popular pistol, and one of them hit the proverbial jackpot. One of the more successful early automatic pistol designs of the turn of the century was John Browning’s Colt and FN 1903 (which were different guns, but used the same basic design). So new firearms developments were, practically speaking, not patented in Spain and could be copied there without legal penalty. The major arms designers of the time had their factories in France, Germany, Great Britain, and elsewhere, but not in Spain. In addition, a loophole in Spanish patent law gave these small shops an international advantage: a Spanish patent was only valid if the device in question was actually manufactured in Spain within three years of patent being granted.

The area has been known for its metalworking resources and prowess for literally two thousand years, and it is little surprise that firearms manufacture would thrive there. Back at the beginning of the 20th century, Spain had a significant number of relatively small gunmaking shops throughout its northern Basque area.

Forgotten hope 2 weapons