UBB.threads Forums General Militaria Historic and Period Firearms Forum German "Cyclist" Pistols

Hi all - Does anyone have any information or photos of these? I've had one for years, but just recently heard the term and would like to know the story behind it. - Cheers, Bob

From my understanding, they were produced by many different companies or gunshops and used like the cyclist pistols in the 19th century U.S. as protection against dogs while out riding.

Bob i have a french model called the " velodog "
.25 calibre fold in trigger and hammerless; as timbooo states to shoot dogs while out cycling,
regards steve

If a cyclist shot my Beagle, he'd better keep his head down and pedal like h e l l!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Denny Gaither:
If a cyclist shot my Beagle, he'd better keep his head down and pedal like h e l l!!!

Yeah, he'd soon have that "run-down feeling", if I saw it happen.

Thanks for the responses, guys; more than I knew before! Here's the better side of mine. The barrel is a little over 5". I think the front sight is missing, as there's a hole for one on top of the muzzle. I got it from a local lady whose father took it off a German POW in Italy. Apparently had it in his boot...She had sent it to Ottawa already to have a serial # engraved under the grip, and later received the half inch thick application to license it and learned she'd need to take all the advanced firearms handling courses in order to keep it. So, I got it very cheap....The only thing someone had told me about this pistol was that at the turn of the 1900's there was a fad of well-off folks target shooting balloons or glass balls, often from or on their verandas, and this is typical of the type of firearm used. The dog protection story is a surprise; I think the sound and shock of it would chase most dogs off, hopefully.

Here's where I first saw the cyclist reference; a collection at the J.M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum in Claremore, OK.

Thanks again. - Bob

Here is a little more information or story that I hope helps explain this pistol for you. Louis Nicholas Auguste Flobert developed and patented in France a self contained bulleted cartridge and the firearm �mechanism� in which to use it in. It's a weak mechanism which was very cheap to make, used in both pistol and rifle but adequate for low power cartridges, like the .22 rim fire. These pistols are described as Flobert-pistols due to the mechanism Flobert invented, not necessarily due to who made them. Most of these type pistols where manufactured in Belgium.

IMO don't believe all these type Flobert-pistols shown above would fall into the category of "cyclist pistols". IMO it was savvy marketing by a few distributers who took advantage of the market in promoting one of many small/concealable defensive firearms at a time when bicycling was so popular and that most depended on for work and transportation. The "cyclist pistol" description comes from the fact that two that I know of with these characteristics and small barreled type Flobert-pistols was marketed as such and called names like "the Radfahrer-Taschenpistole" meaning, �bicycle rider-pocket pistol� or if you will �cyclist �a broader term. Another Flobert-pistol with the same characteristics, both with short barrels of 11-12 cm, roughly between four and five inches. The only difference with this pistol is when fired the gases were expelled out the top front of the barrel. It was marketed and named "the Radler Freund-Alarmpistole-Hunde-Dressur and Startpistole fur Sportzwecke" meaning, �bicycle rider friend� or if you wish cyclist friend-Alarm pistol-Dog conditioning? - Start pistol for the purpose of sports�.

So see it was marketed with a few ideas in mind and names for its use but seems one stuck. We see this happening a lot in our hobby. IMO just more of a good marketing tool to sell their product than anything. You could certainly use them to shoot a pesky tire chaser and I'm not stating they weren't used for that purpose, but could have been used for a number of defensive situations.

Other flobert-pistol models with the characteristic longer barrels are described and promoted as something other than a �cyclist pistol �if you will, like �Salonpistole, Kunstschutzen-Scheibenpistole, Jagd pistol� meaning, �skill shooting-disk pistol-hunt pistol�. It seems for the most part these were used for disk/target practice of one type or another. Also, these pistols weren't purchased and utilized only by the rich because like I stated above, these models were cheap to manufacture and very affordable for the average "Joe the public" to purchase for the fun sport of target shooting/practice.

Do you have the mechanism that attaches to the large screw? Thanks for showing this very nice pistol!

Thank you Mikee, very comprehensive. So maybe the hole in the muzzle wasn't for a sight? I don't have any attachments for that screw. Is there something missing there? - Bob

Hi Bob,
If the hole is located at the business end of the barrel than yes it would be for the sight. Notice how much of a gap you have between hammer and barrel. If you look close at the collection of "cyclist pistols" you posted you can see better what I'm refering too. Would you mind posting a picture from the other side of your pistol. Thanks very much.

Thanks again! Here you go....I see what you mean about the missing part. Was it the shell extractor?