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Ruby Pistol
Ruby Pistol
The Ruby pistol, also known as the Eibar-type pistol, was a type of pistol first developed in Spain by Spanish firm Gabilondo y Urresti (later Llama) in 1914, heavily based on the Browning Model 1903. It was adopted by the French Army in World War 1 as Pistolet Automatique de 7 millimètre 65 genre Ruby. From 1915-1918, Gabilondo mass-produced Ruby Pistols for the French military. The Ruby was issued to telephonists, stretcher bearers, Chauchat (machine gun) gunners along with loaders, 37mm mortar crews, and tank crews. It served in the French military until the 1930s (longer still in colonies like Indochina and Algeria). Ruby pistols were also supplied to Italy, Russia, Greece and Serbia, and after WW1 to Poland and Finland (from French stocks).
When Gabilondo was unable to keep up with the French demand for pistols, they subcontracted the contract to other production shops in Spain, who in turn subcontracted those to other even smaller workshops. This meant that the Ruby was produced by large amounts of manufacturers (about fifty) under a large amount of trade names, like Cebra, Liberty, Destroyer, et cetera. This caused issues with part interchangeability and even a casual comparison will show vast differences between manufacturers, but the French Military needed a lot of small arms fast, and therefore were in no position to argue this point.
Specifications
(1914 - 1919 (military contracts), late 1920s (commercial))
- Type: Pistol
- Caliber: 7.65x17mm (.32 ACP)
- Weight: 1.9 lbs (0.85 kg)
- Length: 6.7 in (17 cm), 8.3 in (21 cm)
- Barrel lengths: 3.1 in (8 cm), 4.7 (12 cm)
- Capacity: 9
- Fire Modes: Semi-Auto
The Ruby Pistol and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Film | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Blue Express | British diplomat | 1929 | ||
| Westfront 1918 | French soldier | 1930 | ||
| Road to Life (Putyovka v zhizn) | A commune member | 1931 | ||
| Dragnet Girl | Jôji Oka | Jyoji | On Promo Images | 1933 |
| La Bandera | Pierre Renoir | Capt. Weller | Gabilondo Ruby | 1935 |
| Jean Gabin | Pierre Gilieth | Gabilondo Ruby | ||
| Daybreak (Le jour se lève) | Jean Gabin | François | "Destroyer" | 1935 |
| Pépé le Moko | Jean Gabin | Pépé le Moko | 1937 | |
| Gabriel Gabrio | Carlos | |||
| Gilbert Gil | Pierrot | |||
| Line Noro | Inès | |||
| Gangsters and Policemen | ||||
| Saboteur | Norman Lloyd | Fry | 1942 | |
| Robert Cummings | Barry | |||
| Lad from Our Town (Paren iz Nashego Goroda) | Nikolai Kryuchkov | Colonel Sergei Lukonin | 1942 | |
| Kotovsky | Mikhail Astangov | Karakozen | Unknown version | 1942 |
| Mikhail Grodskiy | White Army officer | |||
| Fighting Film Collection No. 8 (Boyevoy kinosbornik No. 8) | Lavrenti Masokha | Max | 1942 | |
| Pyotr Aleynikov | Yugoslavian resistance fighter | |||
| Vasiliy Zaychikov | "The waiter" | |||
| Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror | Reginald Denny | Sir Evan Barham | 1942 | |
| Meade's henchman; London criminals | ||||
| In the Name of the Fatherland (Vo imya Rodiny) | Nikolay Kryuchkov | Capt. Ivan Safonov | 1943 | |
| Maria Pastukhova | Valya Anoshchenko | |||
| Mikhail Chepel | Kozlovsky | |||
| Terror by Night | Alan Mowbray | Col. Sebastian Moran | 1946 | |
| Boyd Davis | Inspector MacDonald | |||
| Colin Kenny | Police constable | |||
| Dennis Hoey | Inspector Lestrade | |||
| The Secret Brigade (Konstantin Zaslonov) | Gennadiy Michurin | Councillor Hirt | 1949 | |
| The Witch (Noita palaa elämään) | Toivo Mäkelä | Hannu | 1952 | |
| Hillevi Lagerstam | Greta | |||
| Razzia (Razzia sur la chnouf) | François Patrice | Jo | Supposedly Victoria Model 1911 | 1955 |
| Seen in a pile of guns, various models | ||||
| Baltic Glory (Baltiyskaya slava) | Adolf Shestakov | Captain 1st Rank Ivan Berngardt | 1957 | |
| The World in My Pocket | Rod Steiger | Frank Morgan | Cebra model | 1961 |
| Monsieur Gangster | Robert Dalban | Jean | Suppressed, Hermanos Liberty, another model | 1963 |
| Maigret Sees Red (Maigret voit rouge) | Jean Gabin | Commissioner Maigret | 1963 | |
| Guy Decomble | Inspector Lognon | |||
| Marcel Bozzuffi | Inspector Torrence | |||
| Police detectives | ||||
| The Black Abbot | Werner Peters | Fabian Gilder | 1963 | |
| Klaus Kinski | Thomas Fortuna | |||
| Charles Regnier | Inspector Puddler | |||
| The Great Spy Chase (Les Barbouzes) | Francis Blanche | Boris Vassiliev | 1964 | |
| Fantômas | Jean Marais | Fandor | Cebra Model | 1964 |
| Weekend at Dunkirk | Jean-Paul Belmondo | Julien Maillat | 1964 | |
| Catherine Spaak | Jeanne | |||
| The Monocle Laughs (Le Monocle rit jaune) | Olivier Despax | Frédéric de La Pérouse | Supposedly Victoria Model 1911 | 1964 |
| The Last Adventure | Hans Meyer | The Mercenary | Suppressed | 1967 |
| Bonnot's Gang (La bande à Bonnot) | Jean-Pierre Kalfon | Octave Garnier | 1968 | |
| French police detectives | ||||
| Adelheid | Petr Cepek | Lt. Viktor Chotovický | 1970 | |
| State of Siege (État de Siège) | Guerrillas | 1972 | ||
| Battles Without Honor and Humanity | Tsunehiko Watase | Toshio Arita | 1973 | |
| Tatsuo Umemiya | Hiroshi Wakasugi | |||
| Bunta Sugawara | Shozo Hirono | |||
| Hiroki Matsukata | Tetsuya Sakai | |||
| Yakuza | ||||
| Lacombe, Lucien | Seen on the table | 1974 | ||
| Vabank | Leonard Pietraszak | Gustaw Kramer | Alkartasuna model | 1981 |
| Jan Machulski | Henryk Kwinto | |||
| Crime and Punishment (Rikos ja rangaistus) | Markku Toikka | Antti Rahikainen | 1983 | |
| Aino Seppo | Eeva Laakso | |||
| Hannu Lauri | Heinonen | |||
| Black List (Liste noire) | Annie Girardot | Jeanne Dufour | Cebra model | 1984 |
| Vabank II | Witold Pyrkosz | Dunczyk | Alkartasuna model | 1985 |
| Jacek Chmielnik | Moks | |||
| The Shore of Salvation (Bereg spaseniya) | Kwak Men So | Harata | 1990 | |
| Baise-moi | Raffaëla Anderson | Manu | Garate, Anitua y Cia model | 2000 |
| Karen Lancaume | Nadine | |||
| Hacène Beddrouh | La frère de Manu | |||
| A Very Long Engagement | Bastoche | Jérôme Kircher | 2004 | |
| Black Book | Thom Hoffman | Hans Akkermans | Suppressed | 2006 |
| Yakuza Busting Girls: Final Death Ride Battle | Rena Komine | Junko | 2010 | |
| All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) | French Army Officer | 2022 |
Television
| Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission: Impossible | Barbara Bain | Cinnamon Carter | Victoria Model 1911/ "Fakeout" (S01E12) | 1966 |
| Francis Lederer | Senko Brobin | Victoria Model 1911/ "A Cube of Sugar" (S01E27) | ||
| Kurt Kreuger | Polya | Victoria Model 1911/ "A Cube of Sugar" (S01E27) | ||
| The Strogovs (Strogovy) | Seen among Shtychkov's guns; Ep.7 | 1976 | ||
| Three Days of June | Guy Marchand | Colonel Valadon | 2004 | |
| Marc Berman | Captain Rollet | |||
| Lieutenant Samboura | ||||
| French soldiers | ||||
| Les Fusillés | A French soldier | 2015 | ||
| Spy City | Ep. 02 | 2020 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears As | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten Hope | 2003 | ||
| Battlefield: 1918 | 2004 | ||
| Forgotten Hope 2 | "PA Ruby Mle 15" | Added in v2.6 (2022) | 2007 |
| Battle of Empires: 1914-1918 | "Ruby" | 2015 | |
| Verdun | "Pistolet Automatique de 7 millim.65 Genre Ruby" | 2015 | |
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | "Ruby Pistol" | 2016 | |
| Battlefield V | "Ruby" | 2018 | |
| Beyond The Wire | "Ruby M1915" | 2022 |
UNION pistol
The UNION pistol is a trade name used by French, Spanish, and American companies for a clone of the Ruby, first made in 1925. They came under a variety of specifications, with versions coming in different calibers (generally .32 ACP, some in .25 ACP and some 7.65×20mm Longue models used for French military trials), capacities, barrel lengths, and some even having select-fire capabilities.
Perhaps one of the more famous attributes of the pistol is a 35-round horseshoe-shaped magazine patented for the gun in 1930 in France. French UNION makers were experimenting with large magazines for the machine pistol version, and the straight magazines they came up with ended up being too large to easily use, so the magazine was wrapped around to the front of the gun.
The UNION pistol appears in the following movies, TV shows, and video games:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears As | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | .32 ACP French UNION with 35-round magazine, long barrel, no iron sights, automatic capability. | 2016 |