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EXCEEDINGLY RARE CASED MODEL 1893 BORCHARDT PISTOL BY LOEWE.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:25,000.00 USD Estimated At:50,000.00 - 75,000.00 USD
EXCEEDINGLY RARE CASED MODEL 1893 BORCHARDT PISTOL BY LOEWE.
SN 22. Cal. 7.65mm Borchardt. Spectacular orig early Borchardt with 7-1/2" tapered rnd bbl, pinned triangular shaped front sight and v-notch rear sight at the top rear of the frame. It is mounted with 2-pc checkered walnut grips matching numbered to this pistol. The receiver ring is marked "WAFFENFABRIK / LOEWE / BERLIN" and the toggle link is marked with the German patent no. Left side of bbl has "BUG" proofs and "BU" proofs on the left forward side of receiver. Right side of receiver is marked "SYSTEM BORCHARDT.PATENT." Rear of the spring housing has a stock attaching lug. Accompanied by an orig black leather-covered, green felt-lined trunk case with nickeled brass furniture and stacked leather handle. Bottom is compartmented for the pistol, accompanying the matching numbered walnut stock that has attached orig leather holster, four matching numbered orig wood-based magazines; orig, matching numbered cheekpiece and orig dummy wooden mag/cleaning tool; orig walnut-handle with steel ferrule for the enclosed orig brass cleaning rod and 2 orig screwdriver bits. Also included is an orig Borchardt tinned steel oiler in its orig black Moroccan leather case, 2 small blued steel punches, 2 slave pins and an orig nickeled stripper clip. Also accompanying is a bristle bore brush not for this equipment. The only item that appears to be missing is the leather sling, however, the blued steel keeper stud for the sling is included in the triangular shaped covered compartment. The Borchardt pistol was the design basis for the more famous and durable Luger pistol. There were only about 1,104 of these rare pistols produced before being discontinued. This design was originated and patented by Hugo Borchardt. Mr. Borchardt was a talented designer who became a U.S. citizen in 1875. Prior to that, he had been foreman at the Singer Sewing Machine Co. and went to work for Winchester in 1873 where he designed and patented the machine to cut lubricating grooves in bullets. He left Winchester in 1876 to become Superintendent at the Sharps Rifle Co. where he designed the Sharps-Borchardt single-shot rifle which he licensed to Sharps. When Sharps went out of business in 1880 Mr. Borchardt returned to Europe where he worked at different firearms companies, filing 29 German patents in the firearms field and 10 other unrelated patents. With the successful production of his Model 1893, Mr. Borchardt attempted to garner military contracts but due to the fragile nature of this pistol and the awkward handling, no such contracts were forthcoming. In 1897, the firm of DWM had requested Mr. Borchardt to redesign and improve his pistol, which he stubbornly refused. DWM then assigned this project to a young designer, Georg Luger, who in 1898, was granted his first patent for improving the Borchardt pistol. This created a rift between Borchardt and Luger which never healed. Mr. Borchardt, until his death in 1924, claimed that Luger's designs were not original but had, in fact, been stolen from him. Regardless of the strife between Borchardt and Luger, the orig Borchardt pistols remain today as the truly first commercially successful semi-auto pistol and are in great rarity. PROVENANCE: Consignor provenance indicates pistol was a presentation from Kaiser Wilhelm II to German Attache Adm. Charles Vreeland in the early 1900s during a goodwill cruise of the "Great White Fleet" to which Vreeland was attached. The gun was handed down through his Family. Gun also resided, on loan, in the NRA National Firearms Museum for 5 years until 2008. CONDITION: Extremely fine plus, all matching. Overall retains about 99% crisp, orig factory blue with only faint muzzle edge wear. Trigger and springs along with screw heads retain about all of their orig fire blue and the sear & extractor about all of their bright straw colors. Grips are crisp with no discernible flaws retaining about all of their crisp orig varnish. Stock is equally new with only some minor surface scratches. Cheekpiece and dummy magazine are also crisp and new as are the 4 orig magazines. All other accessories are virtually new. Case is sound with nicks & scratches in the surface. Interior is intact with solid partitions showing light fading and very light soil. This is a truly extraordinary set. 4-47365 JR236