Anybody familiar with Martians?

[jwerlc]

I came into possesion of some of my grandad's old guns, and along with the rifles and the Taurus .38, was a little pocket/purse auto marked "Martian Comercial" made in 6.35mm out of Spain. 2" barrel and mother of pearl grips.

Any body know anything about these?

Thanks,
John

 

[AndyC]

According to empirearms.com: "An extremely small pocket-pistol, it was very well-made with a pop-up front-sight (indicating whether or not the chamber was loaded) and a unique method of takedown by pulling down the rear of the triggerguard.

Markings consist of AUTOMATIC PISTOL "MARTIAN" / CAL 6.35mm on left side of the slide along with MAB monogram in oval, black checkered bakelite grips embossed with MARTIAN and MAB monogram. Magazine holds six rounds."

 

[2TransAms]

That's pretty cool!

And here I thought this was a "Best gun for Martian invasion" thread.

 

[Black Majik]

Darn...

....got my hopes up....

 

[jwerlc]

Thanks

As you can see, mine is a little different. No pop up fron sight, the trigger guard doesn't move, and the safety/slide lock is different. But any information is better than none.
Thanks again
John

 

[FirearmEmpyre]

Martian Comercial 6.35mm Full Disasemble / Reassemble instructions

There isn't a lot of info out there surrounding this firearm, however I have a video at the link below that has some details as well as full disassembly / reassembly instructions on the Martian Comercial 6.35mm

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si0VZrPDBsA

 

[kBob]

Hey this needs to be cross posted in the current .25 ACP discussion!

-kBob

 

[Nom de Forum]

There isn't a lot of info out there surrounding this firearm, however I have a video at the link below that has some details as well as full disassembly / reassembly instructions on the Martian Comercial 6.35mm

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si0VZrPDBsA

Well here is a little information about this little gun. The name "Martian" is not only a homage to the manufacture, Martin Bascaran of Spain, it also is a perfect example of exploiting the fashionability and desirability of being associated with the planet Mars. This pistol is of pre-WWII manufacture. Beginning in the 1890's and the popularization of the theory of canals on Mars possibly being created by an intelligent race of Martians, all things Mars and Martian were considered very cool. H.G. Wells' book War of the Worlds was very popular and in the most famous example of Mars and Martians capturing the imagination, Orson Wells did his famous 1938 radio broadcast that many people believed was an actually Martian invasion. Many products prior to WWII used the words Mars and Martian for marketing.

I agree with kBob this thread should be cross posted in the .25acp discussion thread.

 

[Jim K]

And Mars was the Roman god of war, and so his name was associated with war and weapons. At least three different pistols used the name "Mars", including the huge Gabbett-Fairfax long recoil operated one.

Jim