German .25 Auto's Sportwaffenfabrik, Reck, Hawes, Spesco, Falcon, Gecado, Hy Hunter

[Arods Guns Shop]

Hey Y'all
So for the last few months I Have been researching the little mysterious German 25 auto's.

What I have found
some of the different named 25's have inter-changeable parts
if you can see the proof marks on yours you need to look for a crown with a N stamped above it that means it really was made in Germany.
there is two other proof marks as well one of the is the year stamp mine has a 68 stamped inside what looks like a badge i,e, made in "68"
the other one on mine is a proof mark only used after 1934.

The one i have happens to be a numbers matching
Rhoner Sportwaffenfabrik G.M.B.F.
on the side it reads autom. kal. 6.35 (25 auto) SM 11
the other side reads Made in Germany
you will also find a SM stamped inside the mag well.

a lot of people don't care for these little guns because they are cheap and hard to find parts for. and they are not real reliable,
And they are not worth but $225 top dollar.
but I myself find them fascinating, also if you look under different names you can find some parts for them at www.gunpartscorp.com

also if you have not figured it out yet the break down is really easy
Step 1 clear the gun as with any auto.
Step 2 pull the trigger to release the presser on the firing spring/break down spring.
Step 3 push the release button in as shown in pictures.
Raise rear of slide up away from handle.

if you have any question I'll try to help you out with them.

Have a great day
Drew

[45Auto]

Hi Drew,

Welcome to the forum, and thank you for your posting. I have also found these little pistols interesting and I have repaired several of them.

The pistol you have posted images of looks a little like one sold under the name: "PIC." Are they the same pistol under a different name?

[Jim K]

For most of those guns, I would question that $225 figure. Most won't bring $100 and many gun shops refuse to even sell them since they are junque and parts are not available. Like other cheap guns, there are a few folks who like to collect them, but mostly they have little value.

Most of those were imported in the 1950's and 1960's before GCA 68 effectively banned them. Most were made of cheap zinc castings and even some of the barrels were zinc with thin steel liners. Parts were soft and springs of poor quality. They sold for between $15 and $29, a bit higher than the SNS revolvers made by some of the same companies.

It might be possible to track down the interrelationships among those companies to see who actually did make what, but there is so little interest that I can't see a book or even a magazine article coming out of the research.

Jim

[Lanrezac]

Arod, you may want to talk to wonderwhippet:

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=105607