František Dušek’s Perla Pistol

by Ed Buffaloe

František Dušek is best known for his DUO pistol and its predecessors, the Singer and Ydeal, but he also manufactured a very small quantity of Perla pistols—one of the rarest and most sought after Czech pistols, if we exclude one-of-a-kind prototypes. R. J. Berger says it is “...very similar to the German Menz Lilliput...,” but the design and function of the Perla more closely resembles the Walther Model 9 (though the Menz itself is also modeled on the Walther).

This author looked for nearly ten years before finding a photograph of a Perla. The Military History Institute in Prague acquired a Perla pistol in 2019, and provides more information about the gun than can be found in any other resource.

Perla Pistol - SN 10119

The Perla is similar in many respects to the Walther Model 9, with a fixed barrel, recoil spring beneath the barrel, a manual safety lever that extends under the left grip stock, and a takedown latch at the rear that also serves as the backstop for the recoil spring. There are two main differences: the rear latch works by pressing in rather than extending to the rear, and the magazine baseplate extends past the front of the grip strap. The safety lever itself more closely resembles that of the FN Baby, as does the disconnector lobe of the transfer bar on the right side, which is not completely hidden under the stock like that of the Walther. The size is nearly identical to that of the Walther, but the Perla is 10 grams heavier.

Perla Pistol - SN 10119

The pistol appears to be salt blued, with plastic or hard rubber stocks featuring the word “Perla” in a rectangle at the top and “6’35” in a rectangle at the bottom. The front sight is a raised half moon at the end of the fixed barrel, the rear sight merely a groove on top of the slide. There are fourteen triangular-cut slide serrations on each side. The serial number is stamped on the right side of the slide. The left side slide inscription, in all capital sans-serif characters, reads:

AUTOMAT. PISTOLE »PERLA« 6.35

The number made is not precisely known, but 11 were proofed in 1940, 159 in 1941, and 4 in 1947, making a total of 174. However an additional 223 unspecified pistols were submitted by Dušek for proofing in 1940, and it is not known how many of those might have been Perlas. Known specimens have serial numbers in the 10,000 range, so we may presume that serial numbers likely began at 10,001. Since the specimen at the Military History Institute has the number 10229, we might assume that at least 229 Perla pistols were made. Why production ended is not known. We could speculate that it had something to do with World War II, but DUO production continued uninterrupted and actually increased steadily throughout the war.

Perla Specifications:

Length: 102 mm
Barrel Length: 49 mm
Height: 67 mm
Width: 19 mm
Weight Empty: 270 grams
Magazine Capacity: 6 rounds

Copyright 2024 by Ed Buffaloe.  All rights reserved.

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