8mm pistol??

D

dreamweaver

New member
i bought an 8mm galois palm pistol (not revolver) and can't figure out what ammo it shoots.
Lebel revolver ammo won't work.
Steyr has an 8mm center fire available and there's the short .32's .
the galois was made from 1890-1920.
any ideas? maybe an older reloading manual would have some info?
thanks in advance.
tom
 
I think the French have produced quite a number of 8mm rounds over time. I don't currently have my copy of Cartridges of the World, but that's where I would look first. The other thing to do would be to take a chamber cast and see what might come close that could be converted. Pressure is bound to be pretty low.

Some of the old palm squeezers are valuable. You may also want to loo it up in the Blue Book of Gun Values or some similar reference.
 
The Gaulois cartridge is unique to the gun. The 1911 Alfa catalog lists it as "8mm special" when illustrated with the gun and "8mm Gaulois" in the ammunition charts. It is a VERY short cartridge, even shorter than .32 S&W.
As said, a chamber cast and some careful forming and loading would be required.

One was shown on Sons of a Gun, the Red Jacket handloader managed to turn out a couple of rounds just to show the one they had would actually fire.
They valued the gun at $1200 but I don't know if they actually got that for it.
 
the one in the utube is a chicago. very pricey little guns these days.
the galois preceded it and is a vertical stack 6 shot. i'll post a picture.
thanks
tom
 
here's a pic.
the machine work is amazing!
now if i could just fine some ammo for it!:o
tom

dsc0126t.jpg
 
Wow, I learned something that I didn't even have a clue about. The only 8mm pistols I knew about were some Japanese ones from WWII and the fake ones used in films. (Don't hate me too much on that, an old friend is a in the movie business, having worked up to his current job as an Assistant Director- he tries to make 'gun accurate' movies, really- and he exposed me to the world of Hollywood fakery.)
 
before i got this little toy the only 8mm i knew about were mauser and nambu.
never even heard about gasser or leben and the others.
in looking at other calibers i'm seeing a lot of ammo that was made for a single gun and no longer made (the gun or the ammo). very interesting reading.

tom
 
Just FWIW, the invaluable White and Munhall list the 8mm Gaulois as also being used in the Le Merveilleux and Mitrailleuse*, apparently similar pistols. AFAIK, all were made in France and neither the guns nor the cartridges were ever made anywhere else.

*In French, the word "mitrailleuse" means "machinegun", but I think it safe to say that the word was used as a tradename for a pistol, and that the tiny 8mm was never used in anything that could realistically be called a machinegun.

Jim
 
thanks james!
i was able to find a gentleman who can supply some ammo. he's a custom loader and very reasonable.
i hope to have a range report soon.

tom
 
Just FWIW, the invaluable White and Munhall list the 8mm Gaulois as also being used in the Le Merveilleux and Mitrailleuse*,
Click to expand...

I blew past the Merveilleux because Alfa illustrates it with a 6mm cartridge, but if you read the fine print, Cat. No. 343c says "like 343b except cal 8mm (special cartridge) for 5 shots.'

The Alfa catalog lists the Gaulois as the "Pocket Mitralileuse "Gaulois"".
They didn't have a separate model "Mitralileuse" so I wonder about that designation. Of course they didn't carry everything made (just most) and the Mitralileuse may not have been available in 1911.
 
They also might have been two names for the same pistol, with W&M listing both for completeness. At this point, I doubt we will ever know. I have a Gaulois with parts missing; I don't think I will ever find the parts or even a single round of ammo. But it is neat, even if it doesn't (couldn't) fire.

Jim
 
james i have an exploded schematic of the galois i could email to you.
might help you identify missing parts. i could then give you dimensions off mine.
send me your email if you're interested.

tom
 
I appreciate the offer, but there are just too many missing parts, and trying to have them made would cost more than the gun is worth. Again, thanks.

Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top