It seems that the word "kolibri" is found in many European languages. It means "hummingbird".
Back in 1914, an Austrian watchmaker named Georg Grabner marketed an autoloading pistol under that name. It has the distinction of being the smallest auto pistol ever made.
(Click on all pics to see if there is a larger image available.)
That is a 5 round magazine next to a 3mm cartridge. That translates to a .11 caliber bullet.
The tiny 3 grain bullet has a muzzle velocity of about 650 feet per second. That means that the gun has about 1/2 the power that my air pistol produces. The projectile is so small that it would certainly penetrate if you shot someone's bare skin, but it also means that I really can't conceive of it doing anything but pissing an attacker off. Unless you managed to shoot his eye out, of course.
Famed firearms expert Ian Hogg had this to say about the Kolibri.
"Grabner decided to make a miniaturised version and promote it as a self defence-gun for ladies, capable of being carried in any handbag or purse. What the lady was to defend herself against is open to some question; the 3-grain bullet produced about two foot-pounds of muzzle energy, which would probably have proved decisive against an enraged cockroach."
This might all seem terribly silly, like a kid in a super hero costume thinking they can actually fly. But it is a bit more logical when one considers the time when the pistol was originally offered.
Autoloading firearms were considered to be the ultimate high tech weapons, which makes sense when one considers that revolvers and bolt action rifles reigned supreme. Some of the most popular self defense weapons were small hideout pistols, and they were selling like hotcakes. The idea clearly was that any deficiencies in power or size would be overcome through sheer firepower. Pepper the attacker with a fusillade of small bullets to produce the same damage that a very large, powerful revolver would do.
This is not very sound thinking, but it seemed to make sense at the time. There certainly is no denying that small autoloaders chambered for the decidedly disappointing and underpowered .25 ACP cartridge were flying off the gun shop shelves, and they were extremely popular with soldiers heading for the front line trenches in the opening days of WWI even if the nature of what was then modern warfare made such weapons more of a danger to their owners than the enemy.
In this sort of environment it made perfect sense to push the limits of the technology and offer something that was as small as possible, even if it was pretty much useless from a defense standpoint. It would sell if nothing else, and that is the whole point of going into business in the first place.
(I found the pictures here. Plenty of stuff to see, so go ahead and click on over.)
Comments (10)
Hey, what if the bullet is made of polonium?
Posted by Bob Hawkins | January 21, 2007 8:42 PM
Posted on January 21, 2007 20:42
If you can afford polonium bullets, then you can afford to buy a bigger gun.
James
Posted by James R. Rummel | January 21, 2007 9:40 PM
Posted on January 21, 2007 21:40
This was also before antibiotics. I think this has been brought up before: many kinds of penetrating wounds had a good chance of killing you slowly and painfullly from incurable infection even if they couldn't kill you instantly.
Of course, if you're using a weapon like this in self defense, then it's basically a revenge weapon. He will live long enough to rape/kill you; about the only thing you can hope for is that he'll follow you to hell a week or two later.
That said, those bullets really aren't very impressive. I'm not even sure I believe they could penetrate a reasonable thickness of cloth. They'd have to hit bear skin in order to cause any kind of bleeding wound that could potentially get infected later.
Fact is, this was a novelty even then, a case of selling someone what they wanted, not what they needed.
Posted by Steven Den Beste | January 21, 2007 11:57 PM
Posted on January 21, 2007 23:57
I remember that Hogg book. Is he still alive?
The kolibri is a neat little novelty. I remember reading about other parlor guns being chambered in that caliber.
I would think an contact eyeball or gonad shot would have to be the rule in any self defense situation.
Posted by Hammer | January 22, 2007 4:36 AM
Posted on January 22, 2007 04:36
Every time I hear "kolibri", I think of this:
http://www.classicgaming.com/Shmups/reviews/kolibri/
Posted by Mulliga | January 22, 2007 7:53 AM
Posted on January 22, 2007 07:53
Was that an auto mag that the Kolibri is laying next to in the last picture?
Posted by Chris | January 23, 2007 6:15 PM
Posted on January 23, 2007 18:15
Was that an auto mag that the Kolibri is laying next to in the last picture?
Yep, that big ol' pistol is an Automag.
James
Posted by James R. Rummel | January 23, 2007 7:40 PM
Posted on January 23, 2007 19:40
THATS COO
Posted by Anonymous | December 19, 2007 5:06 AM
Posted on December 19, 2007 05:06
I think that sometimes we get too caught up in the whole "bullet size makes a bigger hole" or the "one shot stop ratio".
Just pulling out a gun can make most criminals take off regardless of the size. I don't think there is anyone who wants to be shot no matter how big the round is.
Posted by Tristan Bennett | January 28, 2008 10:20 AM
Posted on January 28, 2008 10:20
Tristan, there is a saying for that:
If you ever shoot me with a .22 or .25 and I find out about it, I will kick your *ss.
Posted by Vote for David | March 4, 2008 11:01 PM
Posted on March 4, 2008 23:01