And then came the Spanish Gun

And sometimes, archival research yields surprises! This pistol was manufactured and registered in 1911 by the Basque firm Esperanza y Unceta. Known as the “Victoria,” it is an adapted copy of the popular Browning 1906 model. Gunsmiths in the Basque Country excelled at imitating and improving foreign designs, capitalising on weak patent laws and booming global demand. By the early 20th century, Spain had become one of the world’s leading centres of small arms production—with the district of Eibar alone surpassing key arms-making hubs like Birmingham (England) and Saint-Étienne (France), by producing over 450,000 firearms annually. The result? Compact, functional, and export-ready pistols. A defining example of the so-called “Eibar-type” pistol—flexible production for an armed world.

[Source: Archivo Gernikazarra, FONDO Astra Unceta y Cia]