The Zehna Pistol
Part 1, History and Prototypes

by Ed Buffaloe

There is not a lot of information available about the Zehna pistol. Most sources agree that it was made sometime between 1920 and 1928.

Emil Zehner, His Family, and His Company

Christian Emil Zehner (1845-1919) Wilhelm Albert Alexander Zehner (1894-1967)

Christian Emil Zehner was born in Suhl on 22 August 1845. He married his wife, Albertine Maria Amalie Arnim, in Finland in 1882, and the couple’s first four children, Emil, Albert, Otto, and Friedrich, were born in Kuokala, Finland between 1883 and 1888. They may have lived in St. Petersburg for a time before moving the family to Suhl in 1890. Their two youngest children, Nelli Caroline Mathilde Zehner and Wilhelm Albert Alexander Zehner, were born in Suhl in 1891 and 1894, respectively.

Christian Emil Zehner had a brother who was the father of Christian Friedrich (Fritz) Zehner (1866 -1946). This is the  Fritz Zehner who became the chief weapon designer for Sauer & Sohn and was responsible for all their handgun designs from 1913 through 1938

In 1893, at the age of 48, Emil Zehner patented a machine for the manufacture of drill bits. (The book Patentblatt: herausgegeben von dem Kaiserl. Patentamt, Volume 18, p. 296 lists the following patent: “Z.1767. Maschine zur Herstellung von Spiral-bohrern durch Ziehen im Drall [machine for the production of drill bits]—Emil Zehner in Suhl i. Th. 14 September 1893.”)

On 14 September 1901, at the age of 56, Emil Zehner filed a patent for “gas-permeable core pieces for metal casting”, which was a device and method for eliminating gas bubbles in the casting of metal tubes. This patent (German patent 137084) was granted on 12 December 1902.

The original company sign, still in the possession of the Zehner family.

There is evidence, from the online Archive of Thuringia, that Zehner founded his company, Emil Zehner Metallwarenfabrik und Tempergiesserei [Emil Zehner Metalware Factory and Cast Iron Foundry], in 1909. He may have owned a different company before this or quite possibly he worked for someone else.

Emil Zehner’s daughter, Nelli Caroline Mathilde Zehner, age 22, married Hugo Schmeisser on 8 November 1913. Hugo was 29 and working for Theodor Bergmann. Hugo was the inventor of the Bergmann MP18 machine pistol (or submachine gun) which was introduced at the very end of World War I in 1918, and he went on to design the MP-43 submachine gun during World War II. Hugo’s brother, Hans, is credited with the design of the Haenel Schmeisser 6.35mm pistol. Hugo was taken to Russia after World War II to work on weapon designs for the Russians. He was repatriated in 1952 and, in poor health after his time in Russia, died in 1953. He is buried in the Zehner family cemetery in Suhl.

Sitting on the bench, from left to right, are Wilhelm Albert Alexander Zehner, his sister Nelli Zehner Schmeisser, and her husband Hugo Schmeisser. Behind them is a wartime comrade of Albert’s. The photograph is from the early 1930’s.

John Walter, in his Dictionary of Guns and Gunmakers, has the following listing: “Emil Zehner, Suhl, Thüringen. This German ‘gunsmith’ is recorded in the 1914 Deutsches Reichs-Adressbuch as a specialist screw maker.” Die Werkzeugmaschine: Zeitschrift fur praktischen Fabrikbetrieb [The Machine Tool: Journal of Practical Factory Operation], for 15 March 1916, features an advertisement for the Metallwarenfabrik und Tempergieißerei Emil Zehner, Suhl im Thüringen. The advertisement states that the company specializes in quality casting, precision machine work, screws, fittings, and drill bits.

This advertisement for Emil Zehner appeared in der Werkzeugmaschine, Volume 20, 1916. Translation: Metalware Factory and Cast Iron Foundry recommended for quality casting for various purposes in any desired finish at competitively low prices Specialties: 1. Execution of work suitable for precision machine tools, 2. Screws and fittings made from any metal on automatic machines in a precise execution according to a sample or drawing; furthermore drill bits for metal, made on special machines, as well as 3. Bulk articles of any kind for the metal industry, according to sample or drawing.

Emil Zehner died in Suhl on 21 July 1919. His youngest son, Wilhelm Albert Alexander Zehner, took over the company upon his father’s death. It was certainly Wilhelm Albert Alexander who filed the 1920 and 1921 patents mentioned below, and possibly the 1919 patent as well. He continued operating the company, under his father’s name, until the arrival of the Russians after World War II, who took everything.

In 1924 Wilhelm Albert Alexander Zehner founded the company Emil Zehner Motorradbau to manufacture a light motorcycle designed by Otto Dehne, who filed patents between 1921 and 1924 for an adjustable handlebar, gearbox, and belt drive, some of which were incorporated into the 197cc Zehner motorcycle. This company only lasted through 1926, so the motorcycle is extremely rare.

Zehner Motorcycle in the Farzeugmuseum in Suhl..

We may never know the details surrounding the similarities between the Zehna, Haenel Schmeisser, and 6.35mm Dreyse pistols, but I think we can assume that some arrangement was reached, between Schmeisser family members and Zehner in-laws, to allow similar guns to be made from the same basic frame and lockwork design. In each case, the patented portion of the gun is the method of barrel retention and disassembly, and that is the only major difference between the three. The frames of the three pistols are virtually identical, and many other components as well.

Frame Comparison - Dreyse, Haenel Schmeisser, and Zehna 3rd Variant

Patents

Of the three patents that Emil Zehner filed for guns in Germany in 1919 and 1920, one, patent number 350727, was filed under the company name “Emil Zehner, Metallwarenfabrik u. Tempergießerei in Suhl i. Th. [Metalware Factory and Cast Iron Foundry in Suhl, Thuringia].” This is identical to the name in the above advertisement. In the other two patents, numbers 358103 and 378452, the company name is simplified to “Emil Zehner, Metallwarenfabrik in Suhl i. Th. [Metalware Factory in Suhl, Thuringia].” This is how the box for the Zehna pistol is marked.

Zehna Pistol Box

On 17 May 1919, Hans Schmeisser filed a patent for “Laufbefestigung für Selbstladepistolen mit feststehendem Lauf” which translates as “barrel attachment for self-loading pistols with a fixed barrel.” Less than four months later, on 6 September 1919, Emil Zehner filed his first firearm patent for “mit Federbolzen versehene Laufbefestigung, insbesondere für Selbstladepistolen mit feststehendem Lauf” which translates as “barrel attachment with spring bolts, especially for self -loading pistols with a fixed barrel.”

Schmeisser Patent Zehner Patent

Zehner filed additional patents, on 20 February 1920, and on 13 May 1921, for a pistol with a rigidly fixed barrel which was never manufactured. I suspect he was looking for a way to simplify his design, perhaps to further distinguish it from the Haenel Schmiesser and Dreyse pistols.

In fact, internally, the Zehna pistol is an almost exact copy of the 6.35mm Dreyse pistol. Its trigger, sear, safety, striker, transfer bar, and disconnector could easily have been made from leftover Dreyse parts. The Haenel Schmeisser has some differences in the way the sear is mounted and has different springs for the sear and magazine release, but the trigger, sear, safety, transfer bar, and disconnector are nearly identical between the three pistols. The Schmeisser has a cocking indicator which is lacking on the Dreyse and the early Zehna pistols, but it was added to the late Zehna pistol.

The Prototype Zehna Pistol

Mathews provides the following information: “The Zehna pistol...was designed by Emil Zehner in about 1919-1920 and prototype forms were made in 1920 and perhaps in early 1921. When commercially produced, in mid-1921, the pistol differed somewhat from the prototypes.” Mathews does not provide photographs or any further information about prototypes, nor does he give a source for his information. If Zehner filed his patent on 6 September 1919, it seems likely that he had a working prototype at that time.

I own a prototype Zehna pistol, and I have photographs of another that sold on Gunbroker.com. There are probably more yet to be identified.

Zehna Prototype

The Zehna pistol is a striker-fired design with a pivoting trigger and a transfer bar that runs inside the frame on the left side. As with many such pistols, the disconnector is simply a projection at the top of the transfer bar that is depressed when the slide is out of battery. The Zehna has a removable backstrap to which is attached the sear and its spring, the magazine release and its spring, and the spring which tensions the transfer bar and trigger. The backstrap is secured in the frame by a small pin at the bottom and by the safety lever at the top. The safety lever locks the sear when turned to the rear and has a hook which is used to lock the slide open in order to disassemble the gun.  There is no magazine safety on the Zehna.

Zehna Prototype

Of the two prototypes I have documented, both have the word Zehna  hand engraved in script on the left side in front of the slide serrations. Neither has an external serial number, but one has parts stamped with the number 8 and the other with the number 9. Both have the standard crown over N German nitro proofs, but no other markings. Neither gun came with the EZ monogram grips.

Top:  Dreyse 6.35mm               Bottom: Zehna Prototype

Both the 6.35mm Dreyse and the Zehna have a lug at the rear of the barrel which fits into a hole in the frame. Both guns have flanges on the sides of the barrel which sit on top of the forward slide extensions. Both guns have nearly identical safety levers with checkered circular areas for turning by the thumb.

There are differences, of course: the early Dreyse pistol had a magazine safety (visible in the magazine well); the backstop for the striker spring is longer on the Dreyse; the frame and slide of the Zehna are longer than those of the Dreyse; and the Dreyse does not lock the barrel to the frame. Whereas the Dreyse barrel is connected to the breech block portion of the slide by what the British patent calls a “sliding or otherwise movable locking bar,” the Zehna locks the barrel to the frame at the bottom, both front and rear, both in the prototype and as shown in the patent.

Patent drawings for Dreyse & Zehna Pistols: Left: Dreyse Barrel                  Right: Zehna Barrel

On the Zehna prototype, the spring-loaded rod, which secures the lug at the rear of the barrel, passes through a tubular sleeve. Inside the sleeve, and surrounding the rod, is the spring which tensions it. The sleeve itself runs through the center of the recoil spring, serving as the recoil-spring guide rod. Since both springs are compressed during recoil, the gun effectively has dual recoil springs. A rectangular end-piece, at the front of the rod, has a thickened area that fits into the hole in the front barrel lug and fixes it in place. Another small pin fits into a hole in the front of the frame. With the slide locked open, the end-piece of the rod can be pulled forward and turned slightly; this unlocks both the front and rear barrel lugs and allows the barrel to be lifted upward. With the barrel removed, the slide can be unlocked and drawn forward off the frame.

Zehna Prototype Barrel Retention Details

Why Zehner chose to redesign the prototype gun is impossible to know for certain. The man I bought my prototype from told me he had shot it for years and it had always functioned perfectly. We can see that the parts diagram from the Zehna manual shows a locking piece that looks more like the prototype than any later design and also shows evidence that, perhaps, the front lug was erased from the illustration of the barrel. It appears that Zehner had every intention of producing the gun shown in the patent drawing.

Zehna Parts  1. Barrel  2. Barrel holder complete  a) Closing spring sleeve  b) Closing spring  c) Barrel holder bolt  d) Barrel holder spring  e) Grip plate  3. Extractor  4. Extractor spring  5. Extractor pin  6. Firing pin  7. Firing pin spring  8. Firing pin spring guide rod  9. Slide 10. Frame 11. Safety lever 12. Trigger 13. Trigger pin 14. Trigger bar (transfer bar) 15. Grip backstrap (mount for sear) 16. Sear 17. Sear spring 18. Sear pin 19. Magazine release 20. Magazine release spring 21. Magazine release pin 22. Safety spring 23. Trigger bar spring 24. Magazine 25. Magazine follower 26. Magazine spring 27. Left grip stock 28. Right grip stock 29. Grip stock screw and nut

In any case, the only changes necessary to make the first variant production gun were removal of the front barrel lug, a redesign of the plate at the front of the recoil spring, a redesign of the front of the barrel, and an additional hole drilled in the front of the frame to accommodate the repositioned pin on the back of the plate.

Zehna Prototype Field Stripped (this gun is missing the recoil spring guide rod)

The Zehna Pistol, Part 2, The Production Pistols

Copyright 2008-2022 by Ed Buffaloe.  All rights reserved.
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