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Dreyse Waffenfabrik was founded in 1841 by Johann Niklaus von Dreyse(1787 - 1867) of Dreyse Needlegun(patented 1894) fame. His son Frans von Dreyse(1819 – 1894) superintended the factory after 1860. The business steadily declined after the 1880s and was sold to Rheinishe Metallwaaren- & Machinenfabrik in 1901. Rheinische Metallwaaren und Maschinenfabrik, Sommerda, Germany was founded in 1889. (later adopted the name ‘Rheinmetall’ and in 1936 combined with Borsig GmbH to form Rheinmetall-Borsig Dusseldorf, which is still operating) It purchased the bankrupt Waffenfabrik von Dreyse in 1901. The latter company was founded in 1841 to make the famous Dreyse needle gun. It also made pistols on the needle gun principle, and later made percussion revolvers and a few Mannlicher pistols in 1889/90. The Dreyse 1907 was invented and designed by Louis Schmeisser, an engineer and designer with Rheinische Metallwaren und Maschinen-fabrik.This was his first design for a pistol using a standard cartridge, and it appears that it was developed in final form in about 1906, but not put in production until 1907. Von Dreyse had been dead for many years, the reason for the Dreyse name on the pistol stems from the fact that but the name Dreyse was very familiar to the Germans and was synonymous with fine weapons. In the about six or seven years that this firearm was produced, nearly a quarter million copies were made. It is a very unusual design. This is an unlocked blowback-operated, semi-automatic pistol which is striker fired. It utilizes a detachable box-type magazine that holds eight rounds and incorporates a cocking indicator that projects from the rear of the slide. The pistol is of all steel construction and is very well made. However like many of Schmeisser’s designs, it is unduly complicated, and in turn, this causes great weaknesses. For one, retracting the slide on order to cock the pistol and load it requires a great deal of strength because of a very stiff recoil spring and a mechanical inefficiency in cocking it. It is also awkward to retract the slide for two reasons besides the stiffness: The slide serration that are used to grip the slide for retraction are at the front by the muzzle, and as your are withdrawing the slide, projection from the frame midway down the pistol comes up and act as a skirt around the slide. The trigger pull is rough because of the safety feature of the lock-work. When the slide has cocked the striker, pulling the trigger does not free the sear from engagement directly. Instead, it draws the back against the mainspring pressure until the striker can override the sear. This feature is reminiscent of a semi double-action trigger pull. (Ref. ‘Pistols and revolvers’ by JE Smith, ‘Price guide for collector handguns’ by R H Balderson, ‘Pistols of the world’ by Hogg and Weeks p193, Dictionary of guns and gunmakers by John Walter p156)

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