Today on Gus’ Gear I have a small pistol manufactured by the Becker and Hollander firm, commonly called a Beholla. It is a simple blow back action in a very compact size, weighing 1.4 pounds (.64 kg). It is chambered for the 7.65 Browning cartridge and has a capacity of 7 rounds in its magazine. The magazine has the typical European heel release making quick change of magazines difficult.
The left view of the pistol shows its compact size, the safety lever is visible at the back of the frame. Approximately 45,000 pistols were produced between 1915 and 1918. This example does not have a German military acceptance stamp, so it would have been one that was made available to officers for private purchase. The holster is also a private purchase example and lacks any markings. It is a well made holster that offers great protection to the pistol and spare magazine.
The right view of the pistol shows its simple construction, with a good view of the heel release for the magazine at the bottom rear of the grip. It requires two hands to disengage the release and extract the magazine.
t should be noted that this pistol was not designed to be field stripped, disassembly requires a small pin punch to remove the pin that holds the barrel in the frame. This is accessed through the hole in the middle of the slide. Before disassembly, it is important to remove the magazine, clear the chamber and drop the firing pin. I find that if the slide is moved back a few millimeters, the trigger will still engage the sear and the hammer will drop with less force minimizing the risk of damage due to dry firing. At this point the pin can be driven out, releasing the barrel so it can be lifted off. This allows the slide to be moved forward off the frame. The main spring and firing pin can then be removed. It should be noted that this pistol lacks two parts, first, the pin that retains the barrel was missing when I acquired it and there should be a small pin that fits in the end of the firing pin spring much like a scaled down version of the one in the main spring.