An original Berloque Pistölchen is now on display at the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum. This 2mm miniature pistol was made in Austria in the 1930s and was first developed by Franz Pfannl, a watchmaker. Pfannl began producing Berloque, or “watch fob,” pistols in 1897. Most were made in Austria until the mid-1930s, when Japan and Germany began producing their own versions of these tiny firearms.
The pistol comes complete with its original box and bullets. It fires pinfire “caps” that make a noise but do not fire a projectile. The Pinfire system was one of the earliest cartridge designs. It featured a pin protruding at a right angle from the cartridge case. When struck by the hammer the pin ignited the powder charge, firing the cartridge.
This marvel was donated by Steve Bates and comes from the collection of and is dedicated to the memory of Robert W. Newman (1910-1989), an avid gun collector from Baraboo, Wisconsin.
