Glisenti Metallurgica Brescia Gia Tempini Mbt Model 1910, Blue, 3 SA Semi-Automatic Pistol, MFD 1910-1914, C&R 9mm Luger
SOLD FOR: $1,205.00
LSB#: 180502PT18
Make: Metallurgica Brescia gia Tempini (MBT)
Model: Glisenti Model 1910
Serial Number: P892
Year of Manufacture: 1910-1914 (The original run of pistols was 32000, consisting of 16 lots of 2000 each, each lot preceded by a letter of the alphabet, excluding “J” and “K”.)
Caliber: 9mm Glisenti (Although the same size as a 9mm Parabellum, it uses a reduced charge. 9mm Para. rounds must NOT be used in this pistol.)
Action Type: Semi-Automatic Pistol with Removable Magazine
Markings: The top of the receiver is marked with a scripted “MBT” in a circle and with “RV” inside a small shield. The right side of the receiver is marked “P / 892”. The right side of the frame is marked with “TM” in an oval and a “Crown / FAB / 1910” in a circle (FAB stands for Fabbrica d’Armi di Brescia and 1910 stands for the year of adoption of the weapon. The front face of the frame is marked “892 / P” and the left side of the grip safety behind the trigger is marked “892”. The underside rear of the slide is marked “P”, with a “TM” in an oval and “892”. The grips are marked with a Savoy Crest of a crowned Eagle with a cross on a shield (The King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, was from the House of Savoy.)
Barrel Length: 3 ½”
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a ramped blade fixed to a barrel band at the front of the barrel. The sight resembles an inverted “V” when viewed from the rear. The rear sight is “V” groove in a raised boss at the back of the receiver.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are checkered ebonite with a large Savoy Crest in the center of the grips. There are two divots in the smooth area at the top of the right grip and small marks in the smooth area of the left grip. The checkering is sharp to the touch and without mars. The grips are in Excellent condition.
Type of Finish: The finish is blued. The trigger and slide are nickel plated. The grip safety (at the front of the grip) is knurled and the magazine release is knurled to match the checkering of the grips
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is gray with light wear in the rifling. There is light erosion scattered throughout the bore.
Overall Condition: This handgun retains about 97% of its metal finish. There are a few spots of light pitting under the finish. There is finish loss at the muzzle and thinning on the front edges of the frame and receiver. There is a ding in the left front edge of the frame, with a few tiny nicks in the bottom edge of the frame just below it. There a few light marks in the receiver and a few small dings and light drag lines in the frame. There are small spots on the trigger and the rear of the slide where the nickel finish has flaked-off. The serrations on the takedown thumbscrew show light wear and the serrations on the slide show light to moderate wear. The knurling on the grip safety shows light wear. The markings are clear, with some deeper on one side and shallow on the other as from having been struck slightly off-center. Overall, this handgun rates in about Fine condition.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. This pistol has a grip safety, but not a manual safety. We did not fire this handgun. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance requirements.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This pistol comes with one eight round nickel plated magazine. The lower left side is marked with “TM” in an oval. Both the body and the floorplate show areas of finish loss with dark patina’d metal showing. The magazine is in about Very Good condition
Our Assessment: From Wikipedia: “The creation of a service pistol to supplant the Bodeo Model 1889 began to be rumored in late 1903. The pistol was designed by Italian inventor Bethel Abiel Revelli. Revelli spent multiple years developing a prototype before patenting his design to Societa Siderugica Glisenti of Turin. The Glisenti company acquired the machinery to begin production from the United Kingdom in 1906 but sold the manufacturing rights to Metallurgica Brescia gia Tempini. The Model 1906 pistol was designed to fire a 7.65x22mm bottle-neck cartridge, but this didn’t impress the Italian Army, who wanted a round similar to the 9mm Parabellum. The 9mm Glisenti cartridge was developed as a reduced loading of the 9mm Parabellum, firing a 123 grain bullet at about 1000 fps, short of what a 9mm Parabellum would do, but more powerful than a .380 ACP.”. For more information on this pistol please see: http://luger.gunboards.com/archive/index.php/t-25648.html. This pistol was made before WWI, one of the first batch of 32000. The blued finish is original and the pistol looks great with its black checkered ebonite grips with their large Savoy crest in the center. All of the serial numbers we could find are matching. This pistol should attract a lot of attention from collectors of WWI and/or Italian pistols.
CA Legal or CA Private Party Transferable: This C&R eligible handgun CAN be transferred as a dealer sale in California. This handgun CAN be sold as a Private Party Transfer (PPT) at our Simi Valley shop. All cartridge firing handguns (even C&R’s and antiques) sold to a California resident must be DROS’d. This does not apply to out of state residents.
