Flare (Verey) Pistols & Signal Pistols of the World

Flare Pistols & Signal Pistols of the World (from the AWM collection)

often referred to Very pistols (firing Very Flares or Very Lights) also Line throwing pistols

During the wars that preceded the common usage of telephone lines (as in New Guinea in WW2) or high quality wireless (as in Vietnam) the use of coloured flares was common to send signals to forward troops, from forward troops back to a HQ and illumination (white) flares to light a small area of defence or attack at night-time.

from Robert Welcome, NZ. Edward Wilson Very invented a "new and useful improvement in Pyrotechnic signal cartridges...". US Patent 190263 dated 1 May 1877. Very is predated by one Benjamin Franklin Coston, but Coston's gun retained the flare & was really only an ignition device and the "gun" was waved at arms length. Very's gun discharged the flare in the way we know today. In a quirk of history, Coston's son actually invented the first aerial flare launching cartridge, but his mother, jealous of the invention, lobbied against it being accepted by the Navy. Therefore Very got the credit for inventing the pistol & cartridge. Very's invention was accepted in 1882 by the US Navy & by 1900 Very pistols & cartridges were in use throughout the world.

Circa 1895. German signal pistol with a 'derringer' style break open brass frame stamped G.W.5 and on the butt ST B14.

The brass barrel is half round and half octagonal.

The plain wood grips are held to the frame by a single screw bolt.

Circa 1914. British break open signal pistol with a brass frame and bell mouthed barrel. The frame is stamped on the left side with SPRA within an oval and a London proof mark. The barrel appears to have been cut back at the muzzle and has a British nitro Proof stamp on the left side. The grips are black checkered bone held to the frame with a single screw bolt and it has a lanyard ring on the butt. This pistol was possibly made in Europe by SPRA for the British market.

	1915. Turkish single shot break open breach loading flare pistol with numerous Turkish Arabic inscriptions on barrel near the breach. The pistol frame also has Turkish inspection marks inscribed. Barrel made from brass and the frame is steel.
Black plastic grip with the manufacturers mark of a H within a diamond in the top quarter. The lanyard ring is missing from the butt. Barrel length: 220 (mm); Calibre: 26.5 (mm); Overall length: 310 (mm). This flare pistol was captured on Gallipoli by Farrier Sergeant John Thornhill Belcher of the 5th Light Horse Regiment.

1915. Webley & Scott Mk III break action, single shot signal pistol. Brass barrel and frame stamped WEBLEY & SCOTT Ltd LONDON & BIRMINGHAM over a broad arrow and III.

The grips are two piece plain wood held to the frame with one screw bolt.Barrel length: 4 (in); Calibre: 1 (in); Overall length: 8 (in).

Possibly used at Gallipoli by Major G Ebeling, 8th Battalion AIF, who won the DSO at Anzac in April 1915.

1915. German single shot, break action, all brass construction signal pistol. The base of the butt is stamped ST&B.15 and the serial number. "St. & B." is the abbreviation for "Stantien & Becker", a company located in Luebeck (correct: Lübeck), a big city in the German district of Schleswig-Holstein, about 40 miles away from Hamburg and about the same distance from Kiel. "15" is the abbreviated production year 1915.

The barrel has a bell mouth muzzle and an octagonal breech. The frame appears to have been hand file finished. The plain wooden grips are held to the frame with a single screw bolt.

	Circa 1915. German single shot signal pistol. The frame is stamped with JK over the serial number on the left side and has a crown over "A" proof mark on the right indicating the Amberg Armoury.
The barrel release catch has been removed. The two piece plain wooden grips are held to the frame with a single screw bolt and there is a lanyard ring on the butt. This pistol was captured at Jenin by Trooper Rozipski, of the Fourth Australian Light Horse Regiment.

1916. German single shot signal pistol of crude construction. Breech swings open from the left side and is cocked with a pull lever at the rear of the action. The grips are plain wood attached to the frame with two screw bolts and the left grip is stamped with Kdf?? over 2LLE within a square. This pistol was found at St. Omer in 1916.

1916. German Signal Pistol. Hebel Model 1894. 26.5mm caliber, 14 inches in overall length. Round barrel with an octagonal breech with various proof stamps, 242 and 9.16 on the right. On the left of the frame is an M in a circle over the serial number. The grips are plain two piece wood held together with a single screw through the centre and a lanyard ring is attached to the butt. This pistol was collected by Captain P. H. Cherry, VC., during the First World War.

1917. Webley and Scott break action signal pistol and stock. Left side of the barrel breech stamped 1917 WEBLEY & SCOTT Ltd LONDON & BIRMINGHAM No1 Mark "I".

The walnut stock is permanently screwed to the left side of the pistol grip and has a small lanyard ring screwed into the toe.

The right side pistol grip is checkered brass.

Webley and Scott signal pistol No 1 Mk3. Brass barrel and body, wood grips, 1 inch diameter barrel, in very good condition. 1916.

Proof marked on both barrel and body.
* Crown/a4/13
* Crown/GR/cross/R?
* arrow, '16, and III. Also WEBLEY & SCOTT LTD LONDON & BIRMINGHAM.

Other side winged bullet W&S 45288.

Made by MOLINS MACHINE COMPANY Ltd of London and for aircraft use. It has lugs on the barrel for plugging into a mount in the side of the plane. It is 1½ inch bore and was also made by WEBLEY & SCOTT Ltd later.

No 4 Mk1 with no star * it is extremely rare. In an article in GUNS ILLUSTRATED 1973 it is stated ("This pistol is extremely rare in it's original No4 Mk1 version; the sole known specimen, in fact is

in the John M Browning Memorial Museum"). Well here is another one of them. After a safety was designed and fitted the star was added all earlier models where meant to be called in and modified.

1917. Webley & Scott No 2 Mk 1 single shot, break action signal pistol.

The left side of the breech is stamped 1917 WEBLEY & SCOTT Ltd LONDON & BIRMINGHAM No2 Mark 1 with proof marks and the serial number.

Two screws, the hammer and the trigger mechanism are missing from the frame.

The grips are two piece black checkered ebony and the butt has a lanyard ring

1918. French Model 1918 break action signal pistol. Brass frame stamped 'Modele 1918 MECANICARM' on the left side.

The steel barrel is locked with a lever on the left side. The grips are black painted checkered wood attached to the frame with two screws and there is a lanyard ring on the butt.

1918. French single shot, break action signal pistol. Black painted steel barrel and a brass frame stamped Mlle 1918 Bte S.G.O.G. over Grivolat, Gerest Fils & Cie on the left side.

A barrel release lever is on the left side and the grips are two piece checkered wood. A lanyard ring is attached to the butt.This pistol was salvaged from a burnt out aircraft destroyed by 3 Squadron RAAF during the Syrian Campaign in WW2.

Circa 1940. Japanese double barrel Type 90 Signal Pistol by Kokura Arsenal.

Hinged frame with a release catch under the barrels and a large ring cocking hammer.

The frame stamped P A T over No 93006 over 101355.

The breech top is stamped with the serial number, the Kokura Arsenal mark, an anchor and a proof mark.

The grips are two piece checkered wood and the butt has a square lanyard ring.

Barrel length: 100 (mm); Calibre: 28 (mm); Overall length: 184 (mm). Navy issue.

1940. Walther break action, single shot signal pistol by Carl Walther Waffenfabrik.

Alloy barrel and frame stamped Waffenfabrik Walther Zella-Mehlis (Thur) WALTHER in a banner and 1940 with various Nazi proof marks.

The breech is opened by a spring loaded trigger guard latch. The grips are brown checkered bakelite attached with a single screw bolt and the butt has a lanyard ring.

Brass flare pistol. A US Navy. A rather big beast takes 1½ inch flares and weighs in at just under 4lb. 13 inches overall, length of barrel 8 1/8 inch and it's made of some kind of alloy I think set into brass. Body and grip cast in brass.
Made by the COLUMBIA APPL. CORP. L.I.C. N.Y. U.S.A. marked MOD-3. No serial number as such but does have at base of grip PT 3-793. This is a navy pistol so may have come from PT boat?

1941. German (Air Force) Model L double barrelled signal pistol. sometime also called Fl ("Flieger-Leuchtpistole L" = Aviators Flare Gun L). The L is made of aluminium and first produced by Emil Eckoldt in Suhl.

Frame stamped Fl 24483 and has a makers mark GBW on a triangle. It has a brass lever at the rear to select the left or right barrel and there is a safety catch on the left. A lever at the front of the trigger guard opens the breech. The grips are two piece dark brown checkered plastic held together with a central screw. This type of signal pistol was made for the German Luftwaffe and collected at Tobruk by the Australian Military History Team.

As above but model SLd, also double barrelled and first made by Walther. It is a bigger one and made of inox steel.

Details and image from Dr. Johann Kafka, Austria

1941. British No 3 Mk 1 single shot, double action signal pistol.

Left side of the breech stamped with No 3 Mk I and a proof mark.

The back of the frame near the hammer it is stamped with an arrow S.M. 41.

The black bakelite checkered grips are chipped near the lanyard ring on the butt.

1942. American M2 Pyrotechnic Pistol. All brass construction with a cartridge clip on the left side.

The barrel is stamped PISTOL PYROTECHNIC-M2 (the serial number) INSP.F.A.M. U.S., an ordnance mark and PROPERTY.

The rectangular brown checkered grips have the International Flare-Signal Co. Tippecanoe City, Ohio trade mark in the centre of a winged shield, stating Driggs Faber System, Made in USA with the patent number 1712382 on both sides.

The left grip has a piece broken off at the bottom. A fixed lanyard loop is part of the butt base.

1942. German LP.42 Signal Pistol made by Hugo Schneider AG. Pressed metal frame stamped Wa and the serial number.

The break open barrel is locked by a button on the left side. The brown plastic grips are held to the frame with two screw bolts and the butt has a 'D' lanyard ring.

This type of pistol was often used by tank crews and Luftwaffe personnel.

1942. Australian Mark III* break open, single shot signal pistol made by Colonial Sugar Refinery.

Brass bell mouthed barrel and frame stamped CSR in an oval SYDNEY III* 42 D arrow K and proof marks.

Black ebony checkered grips held to the frame with a single screw bolt and has a lanyard ring on the butt.

Circa 1942. American M8 break action signal pistol. Sheet metal frame stamped WMSC US PROPERTY PISTOL PYROTECHNIC M-8 within a triangle.

The round barrel has four rectangular studs at the muzzle for fixing to the cabin of an aircraft and pull clip on the top to open the breech.

The black plastic checkered grips are held to the frame with a single screw bolt.

This type of pistol was fitted to American Second World War aircraft flown by the RAAF.

Circa 1942. Molins No 1 Mk V (short) signal pistol made by Berridge Ltd. The hinged frame is made from sheet steel and has a broad arrow mark on the left side.

The hammer is stamped BE and the grips are rounded black checkered plastic held together with a single screw bolt.

Retractable lanyard ring on the butt. Barrel length: 3.5 (in); Calibre: 1 (in); Overall length: 7.5 (in)

1944. British No 4 Mark I* single shot, break open signal pistol.

The barrel has four rectangular lugs near the muzzle for locking into the fusilage of an aircraft and it is stamped SMNo4MkI*1944 on the left side.

The brass top release catch doubles as a locking clip for the aircraft mount and breech lock. It has the manufacturers mark of TSM&Co Ltd in a circle with 12 in the centre.

The hammer has a safety pin on the left side of the frame that has to be pushed before the double action trigger can be pulled.

The grips are two piece black checkered plastic and the butt has a provision for a lanyard loop. This type of signal pistol was designed for use in British & Allied aircraft.

	R F Sedgley 1944 signal pistol for US Navy: called US Mk 5 Navy Very pistol.
Image courtesy of http://www.inert-ord.net

Image courtesy of Robert Welcome, http://www.geocities.com/rob56nz/signal.html

Assorted 1 inch and 1½ inch flare (or signal) pistol cartridges. Note the colour coding on the top or sides of the cartridges.

Line Throwing Pistol/s

Some military units, particularly Navy ships, need to have a means of passing a line from 1 place to another. The "pistols" that do this are called "line throwers".