Liliput pistol

Pistol

Liliput 4.25 mm, 6.35 mm
Liliput Model I (.25 ACP)
Type	Pistol
Place of origin	Weimar Republic
Production history
Manufacturer	August Menz
Variants	2
Specifications
Cartridge	4.25mm Liliput, .25 ACP, .32 ACP
Caliber	4.25 mm (.167 in), .25 in (6.35 mm)
Action	Blowback

Designed and popularized by the Austrian watchmaker Franz Pfannl. The 4.25 mm Liliput pistol is one of the smallest semiautomatic handguns ever made (the Kolibri is generally considered the smallest). Hence its name, derived from the fictional island of Lilliput, inhabited by tiny people.

The Liliput was manufactured by Waffenfabrik August Menz in Suhl, Germany, from approximately 1920 to 1927. Menz also manufactured a similar .25 ACP pistol introduced in 1925 as the Model 1, and a .32 ACP pistol sold as the Beholla Pistol. Overall length of the Liliput was 4.25 inches and barrel length was 13⁄4 inches.

Because the pistol uses a 4.25 mm (.167 in) cartridge (which became known as the 4.25mm Liliput and which is considered obsolete), the Liliput is one of the few pistols that can be owned in the United Kingdom without a license.^[1]

The Liliput features in a number of novels by Alistair MacLean, though he incorrectly refers to its calibre as ".21".

According to an Allied report, a Liliput pistol was issued to members of the Werwolf resistance force.^[2]

References

^ Firearms Law, Guidance to the Police. Home Office/HMSO London, 2002. Appendix 5, Antique Firearms: Obsolete Calibres
^ "G-2 Periodic Report No. 262, 3 May 1945, XII Corps HQ," reproduced in full in Order of Battle: Hitler's Werewolves, by Ib Melchior, epilogue, pp. 900–917.