Ruby Mle.1915

With a pressing need for handguns during the Great War, the French would make use of nearby Spain, and its lax copyright protections, to acquire the needed weapons.

The History

When France entered the Great War in August of 1914 their standard issue sidearm was the Model 1892 revolver; a double action weapon firing a proprietary 8mm cartridge from a swing out cylinder. As solid but underpowered weapon, the nature of combat in modern warfare showed a need for more handguns, one which the French domestic production was unable to meet.

The markings on the pistol, designating the maker, trade name “Destroyer”, and serial number

A solution would present itself via neighboring Spain. With a plethora of small gunsmiths in the Basque Region of the country, and armed with a lax patent law, the country had been a source of cheap copies of several major designs for some time. According to law, a patent holder had to manufacture his creation within the country’s borders within a five year timeframe in order for copyright to be enforced, resulting in most simply not bothering to invest in a Spanish factory.

The safety of the Ruby is a simple lever near the trigger guard, which also locks the slide if it is open when engaged. The large rivet in the slide was sometimes added by the French to prevent the safety from disengaging when the weapon was holstered

The firm Gabilondo y Urresti (today’s Llama) had already been producing a crude copy of the Colt Model 1903 for export when the war began, intended for export. In 1915 Urresti moved to capitalize on the French need for handguns by sending samples of his 1903 copy to French Army representatives for evaluation. The result was better than they could have dreamed: impressed with the cheap, effective weapon the French immediately placed an order for 10,000 pistols each month for the duration of the conflict.

The French stamped the manufacturer’s initials on the rear of the frame in an attempt to keep the non-interchangeable magazines with the proper pistol

That order increased to a staggering 50,000 units per month by the end of the summer of 1915, a total that was impossible for the small Urresti firm to produce, necessitating the contracting of several other local firms to aid production. Observing the massive financial opportunity provided by the ravenous French need for handguns, many others independently began to sell their own “Ruby” pattern pistols to their neighbor country, which happily purchased them despite a general lack of parts interchangeability. Many were identified by various trade names on the slides, with great variety between them. Despite this one used by Urresti, “Ruby” would become the generally accepted name for all such pistols.

The matching manufacturer initials were stamped onto the toe of the magazine, along with the pistol’s serial number. The butt of the pistol was also stamped with a star by the French on each side of the magazine release in some cases

The Ruby would see extensive service in the Great War with France, and fairly large numbers would also see service with the Italians as well. After the war the French reported an excess of half a million pistols in their inventory alone, a firgure that may not account for wartime losses. This number is added to those produced for the Italians, as well as interwar civilian models resulting in an estimate of almost a million produced. The Ruby would remain in French service in dimishing numbers through the Second World War and even as late as the Indochina conflict of the 1950s.

The sights of the Ruby are fairly tall for their time, and relatively easy to read

The Design

The weapon was simplified from its progenitor, notably being more angular in appearance with thicker parts to compensate for lower quality steel. Otherwise aside from moving the safety forward of the grip the mechanism was essentially a cruder copy of Browning’s original. It chambered the .32ACP cartridge, firing from a nine round magazine, notably large for the day. It was a simple blowback design with a hammer concealed in the read of the slide, with a hold open catch on the safety that only was used for cleaning. The weapon thus did not lock open after the last cartridge was fired.

The concealed hammer of the Ruby, seen with the slide removed

The Ruby was a simple, blowback operated handgun, using only spring pressure to lock the weapon, and cycled by the recoil force created when a cartridge was discharged. The weapon was very simple to disassemble for maintenance, increasing reliability under field conditions. The major flaw to the weapons was, as mentioned previously, the lack of interchangeability amongst the vast number of manufacturers. This resulted in a situation where the difficulty of replacing broken parts combined with the vast numbers available to make it generally accepted to simply replace the entire pistol rather than repair it.

The Ruby fieldstripped

This Example

The Ruby pistol used for this writing was produced by Isidrio Gatzanaga, and is marked with the trade name “Destroyer” on the slide. Gaztanaga was one of the contractors used by the French, and this example is marked with both the typical French stampings. The intials of the manufacturer, IG, are stamped both on the frame, as well as the magazine floorplate. Two stars are also visible stamped (albeit lightly) on the butt of the pistol on either side of the magazine release. The finish is in excellent condition, and the pistol appears almost unfired. The serial numbers, stamped on the slide, frame, magazine and barrel all match.

The Ruby’s nine round magazine was notably larger than most of its contemporaries, if only by one round

Opinions

The Ruby is a very simple handgun, and is very easy to use. It has a bare minimum of controls, and its sights are rudimentary but actually fairly good for their time. The weapon has a manageable trigger pull and is fairly accurate, and the .32 ACP cartridge produces light recoil as well as low power. In all, it is a solid backup weapon for trench fighting, being small and light, and its low power is somewhat offset by having an extra cartridge in its magazine.

As a collectible, the Ruby presents a dizzying variety to the collector, with so many made with so many different names stamped onto them. In addition, due to their innocuous nature and vast numbers they remain quite obtainable as well as affordable to the average collector, generally retailing for $200.00 US or less, and are fairly commonly found. The pistol is a great starting point for a collection, as well as an important piece of Great War history in its own right.

French trench raiders pose for a propaganda photo. The second man from the left is holding a Ruby

Observed Values and Frequency

Updated: February, 2024

AVERAGE VALUE (USD): $150 - $300

FREQUENCY: Common

COLLECTOR’S NOTES: Very common with a wide variation in conditions being encountered