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The saying goes that bigger is better. Though it seems as if some gun makers didn't get that memo. Why would you want to own a gun that fires a bullet the size of a grain of rice or carry a live pistol in your pocket that has no safety catch? Here's just a few of the smallest guns in history. The Calibri pistol. In 1914, Austrian watch maker France Fanel with some financial assistance from Gayor Grabner designed and produced the Calibri pistol which is considered to be the smallest production pistol in history meaning hummingbird in German. The Calibri is chambered in 2.7 mm a tiny center fire cartridge that was invented specifically for the weapon.
The Calibbri is semi-automatic with a six round detachable magazine and operates on a direct blowback action. The 2.7 by 9 mm cartridge fires a bullet with a muscle velocity of 650 ft pers and the projectile weighs in at a minuscule 3 grains. For comparison, a 9 mm bullet can weigh between 100 and 150 grains. As can be imagined, the recoil is non-existent. The main selling feature of the Calibri, obviously, is its concealability and ease in which it can be fired, measuring in at less than 3 in length and weighing in at 2.4 oz empty and less than 8 ounces loaded. Because of the small size the barrel is smooth for since machining tools of the era were unable to add rifling to
something so tiny. Though it was marketed as an easily concealed self-defense weapon, the Calibri leaves much to be desired. The stopping power of this dimminionive firearm is presumably limited since the bullet is comparable to a grain of rice and it hits with 3 ft-lb of force, less than a pellet from an air pistol. In all, around a thousand of these unique weapons were produced. While a novelty, they are anything but practical with limited use as a self-defense weapon, difficult to find ammunition, low accuracy due to no barrel rifling, no trigger guard, and difficulty maintaining due to the tiny parts. Production ended in 1938. Today, the Calibri can be found at firearm auctions where they can be worth thousands of dollars for eager collectors. The North
American Arms Mini Revolver, founded in 1972, North American Arms is an American firearms manufacturer that specializes in creating small pistols for self-defense and target shooting. One of the main stays of this company is the not so creatively named North American Arms Mini Revolver. As the name implies, the Mini Revolver is tiny, measuring in at 4 in long, and it fails to tip the scales at just over 6 o unloaded. It's chambered in 22 long rifle fed from a five round cylinder. The barrel lengths 1.19 in at the smallest, though there are several variants which can be upwards of 4 in. As the revolver is single action, the hammer must be cocked before each shot.
Reloading the weapon is a bit of a cumbersome process with the cylinder having to be completely detached from the firearm, the empty shell casings removed manually, and then reloaded before being reinserted back into the weapon. Though a hinged cylinder version is available, the obvious selling point here of the mini revolver is its concealability. When used for self-defense, it can easily be hidden in a pocket or other out of the way place and then drawn as needed. Due to the underpowered nature of the round it fires, though, as well as the difficult process to reload, many consider it to be a backup weapon, a reserve of firepower should someone's primary self-defense weapon either be lost, jammed, or in any other way inoperable.
Because of the small size, the ergonomics of the pistol are awkward for those unused to it, and many consider the weapon more suited for plinking than something to rely on in a life or death situation. Bond arms back up. Many smaller firearms have the issue of being forced to use smaller rounds, which lacks the stopping power of more conventional sized firearms. At least one undersized firearm, however, doesn't have this problem. One such gun is the Bonds Arm Backup. A small firearm that packs an oversized punch. The Bond Arms backup is chambered in 45 ACP, a powerful round that is more than adequate for self-defense. The barrel is 2 1/2 in long, making the weapon easy to
conceal and as the name suggests, be used as a backup in dire emergencies. One of the most interesting features of the backup is the design. Taking inspiration from 19th century firearms, the gun resembles a daringer pistol and would seem more at home in a gentleman's coat pocket than tucked behind a police officer's armor. It's doublebarreled in an overunder configuration, keeping it as sleek as possible. To reload, the user breaks open the barrels and then must extract the empty shell casings. This can be done with gravity, though sometimes the brass has to be pulled out manually. The pistol is single action, so the hammer must be cocked between each shot. The backup has a firing pin
selector that automatically moves the firing pin to the next barrel when cocked. Another interesting feature is the gun's modular nature. The barrel and the grips can be interchanged with any other bond arms weapon, giving the option for a longer barrel length, other calibers like 9mm, 357 Magnum, and 40 caliber Smith and Wesson. Because of its simple design with few moving parts, the backup is extremely reliable, making it ideal as a lastditch effort in an emergency. The Beretta 950 Jet Fire. Italian gun maker Beretta has a long history of making highquality firearms dating back to the 16th century. In the 1950s, the company designed a small, easily conceivable pistol for use by
spies, undercover law enforcement, and general self-defense. The result was the Beretta 950 Jet Fire chambered in 25 ACP. The Jet Fire operates on a simple direct blowback action and has a magazine capacity of eight rounds. It has a length of 4.7 in, a width of just under 1 in, and weighs around 10 ounces, making it easy to conceal and carry without obstructing the user. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Jet Fire is the tip up barrel. While it can be loaded like a standard semi-automatic by pressing a lever on the side of the frame, the barrel will tilt upwards. The user can then drop a cartridge directly into the brereech before closing the barrel, eliminating the need to rack the
slide. Though time-conuming, this is much easier than fighting against the spring-loaded slide of the weapon to chamber a round. The 950 also lacks an ejector and extractor, relying on the force of the blowback to remove the empty shell casing from the chamber before inserting a new one. Earlier versions of the 950 Jetfire, called the 950B, didn't have a safety lever, instead relying on a halfcock notch on the hammer to prevent accidental discharge. Due to US gun laws, in 1968, the Jetfire was updated with an external safety lever and designated the 950 BS. Due to its small size, the 950 Jetfire was a popular choice as a concealed weapon for law enforcement, undercover agents, and anyone else in need of a
compact and easily hidden firearm. Hollywood also has a fondness for the weapon and has been featured in many war and action movies since its introduction. The CCAP LWS32. Ludvig Wilhelm Camp was a trained gunsmith in Germany who immigrated to the United States after World War II working for some time at Mossberg before starting his own company. In 1981, the first of a series of mini pistols were produced chambered in 25 ACP. This was discontinued and replaced by a more powerful version, the CCAPS LWS32. First manufactured in 1985. Chambered in 32 ACP, the LWS is designed to be small, much smaller than many other compact
pistols available at the time. It's 4 and a/4 in length, less than 1 in wide, and weighs in at 11 1/2 oz unloaded. The LWS is semi-automatic with a six round magazine that operates on a delayed blowback mechanism which delays the operation of the slide until pressure is reduced to a safe level. At the height of their popularity, the demand for the CCAP LWS32 far outstripped the supply, an issue exacerbated by the small size of the company, as well as the fact that all of the pistols were hand assembled, making production much slower than by larger companies that utilized mechanical manufacturing methods. As a result, the waiting list for a pistol was long and secondhand pistols could cost more than a new gun. While some believe that
bigger is better, these and other small firearms prove that size is not everything and that great things can come in small packages. is
