Ruby 1914, 7,65 mm Browning (7,65x17 mmSR/.32 Auto)

Type: Semiautomatic pistol Produced: 1915-1916(?) Caliber: 7,65 mm Browning (7,65x17 mmSR/.32 Auto) Action: Blowback Trigger: Single action Safety: Thumb lever (frame), slide lock Magazine: 9 rounds, box single Sights: Rear, open sight fixed, V notch; Front, ramp shape fixed Grooves: 6 grooves, left-hand twist, one turn in 10.6" (270 mm) Barrel length: 3.47" (88 mm) Overall length: 6.1" (155 mm) Muzzle energy: 129 ft-lb (95 J) Muzzle velocity: 980 ft/s (298 m/s) In 1914, just before the start of the WW I, Gabilondo started manufacture of a sturdy self-loading pistol based on the Browning Model 1903 and chambered for the 7,65 mm Browning/.32 Auto cartridge. Unusual for the time, the magazine capacity was nine shots instead of the usual six or seven. The pistol was intended for export to the Americas, and despite the small calibre it was designed with military and police sales in mind. Other Spanish manufacturers had copied the Browning since around 1905. The Ruby, apart from the extended magazine, appears to be a direct copy of a pistol called the "Victoria" made by Esperanza and Unceta. It used features patented by Don Pedro Careaga Garagarza (1884-1964) in 1911 and by the Esperanza and Unceta company in 1912. These patents may have covered the frame-mounted safety (instead of a grip safety), and an internal striker (instead of a hammer). In 1915 Gabilondo sent examples...