- In addition to the HSc and three other vest pistols, I also got another Pieper Bayard from the same collection. This time, it's a Pieper Bayard in 6.35/.25ACP.
- I got this at the same time as the HSc, but the right side grip panel was missing. Luckily, Triple K makes the appropriate replacement grip panels and almost everything on and in the frame of the gun is the same regardless of the caliber.
- I ordered the panels and in the meantime, started stripping the gun down to get it cleaned up and inspected. Unfortunately, when stripping it down, I realized that the hammer was riding the slide as it went into battery. Nobody likes a full-auto vest pistol.
- I bought an e-book out of Belgium for $7.99 that does a full detail and history on these, so I used it to do a complete strip and when I removed the trigger and related parts, realized that the sear had shattered into three separate pieces. Hence the hammer riding the slide home. The out-of-battery safety prevented the hammer from dropping when the slide was removed, but once it was on, the sear was shot, and so the hammer would drop as soon as it was in battery.
- I checked everywhere. Numrich, Jack First, BRP, Sarco, Hog Island, and even Naturabuy.fr for a replacement sear, but to no avail.
- Then on a whim, I checked eBay. Our lord and savior John Moses Browning himself must have been smiling down on me that day because someone had just posted a bunch of Bayard parts including a sear. I grabbed it at the "Buy it now" price and didn't look back.
- I also found I needed two grip screws. Found some suitable though modern replacements online and ordered those while I was at it.
Today, after much grousing and smashed fingers, I got her all back together. The sear is holding and she fires like she should. I don't think it would have gone nearly as smoothly as it did without H&L Publishing's e-book on the pistol. It was worth every penny.
What's particularly interesting about these pistols is the fact that they seemed to compete with Browning's designs pretty well without resorting to blatant patent theft and infringement. At a time when everyone started copying the various Colt and FN models that Browning designed for pocket and vest pistols (especially the Spanish cottage industry in Eibar), Peiper designed something significantly different in overall design. The Bayard series of pistols has a very low bore axis for the time. The recoil and buffer springs are in the top of the slide while the barrel is bored into the frame where you would expect to see a guide rod. This isn't some pressed-in job like later blowback pistols, it's literally a part of the frame of the gun. Disassembly is also interesting with no lever or cross-pin to deal with. You simply lift upward and backward on the front sight which doubles as the recoils spring guide rod bushing and takedown "lever." They have a sear-blocking manual safety as well as a battery safety to prevent out-of-battery firing, and as I said before, almost all of the parts in the frame will work for ANY of the three calibers they built these in. .25, .32, and .380.
The .25ACP version is easily distinguished by the elongated curve of the trigger guard and lightening cuts on the frame and slide.
Neat little pistol. So without further adieu, here are the pictures of the restored Pieper Bayard in 6.35mm Browning.
First up is the offending sear and its replacement. Q-Tip for scale.
From the left side, you can see the "Bayard" emblem clearly along with the manufacturer's name
A closeup of the emblem and the "Anciens Etablissements Pieper Herstal-Belgium" roll mark.
Cal 6.35 Model Depose
Belgian proofing marks
Note the backward "barrel" above the grip panel. That's not the barrel, that's the buffer spring assembly The barrel is the squared
off part where you'd expect to see a guide-rod.
- I got this at the same time as the HSc, but the right side grip panel was missing. Luckily, Triple K makes the appropriate replacement grip panels and almost everything on and in the frame of the gun is the same regardless of the caliber.
- I ordered the panels and in the meantime, started stripping the gun down to get it cleaned up and inspected. Unfortunately, when stripping it down, I realized that the hammer was riding the slide as it went into battery. Nobody likes a full-auto vest pistol.
- I bought an e-book out of Belgium for $7.99 that does a full detail and history on these, so I used it to do a complete strip and when I removed the trigger and related parts, realized that the sear had shattered into three separate pieces. Hence the hammer riding the slide home. The out-of-battery safety prevented the hammer from dropping when the slide was removed, but once it was on, the sear was shot, and so the hammer would drop as soon as it was in battery.
- I checked everywhere. Numrich, Jack First, BRP, Sarco, Hog Island, and even Naturabuy.fr for a replacement sear, but to no avail.
- Then on a whim, I checked eBay. Our lord and savior John Moses Browning himself must have been smiling down on me that day because someone had just posted a bunch of Bayard parts including a sear. I grabbed it at the "Buy it now" price and didn't look back.
- I also found I needed two grip screws. Found some suitable though modern replacements online and ordered those while I was at it.
Today, after much grousing and smashed fingers, I got her all back together. The sear is holding and she fires like she should. I don't think it would have gone nearly as smoothly as it did without H&L Publishing's e-book on the pistol. It was worth every penny.
What's particularly interesting about these pistols is the fact that they seemed to compete with Browning's designs pretty well without resorting to blatant patent theft and infringement. At a time when everyone started copying the various Colt and FN models that Browning designed for pocket and vest pistols (especially the Spanish cottage industry in Eibar), Peiper designed something significantly different in overall design. The Bayard series of pistols has a very low bore axis for the time. The recoil and buffer springs are in the top of the slide while the barrel is bored into the frame where you would expect to see a guide rod. This isn't some pressed-in job like later blowback pistols, it's literally a part of the frame of the gun. Disassembly is also interesting with no lever or cross-pin to deal with. You simply lift upward and backward on the front sight which doubles as the recoils spring guide rod bushing and takedown "lever." They have a sear-blocking manual safety as well as a battery safety to prevent out-of-battery firing, and as I said before, almost all of the parts in the frame will work for ANY of the three calibers they built these in. .25, .32, and .380.
The .25ACP version is easily distinguished by the elongated curve of the trigger guard and lightening cuts on the frame and slide.
Neat little pistol. So without further adieu, here are the pictures of the restored Pieper Bayard in 6.35mm Browning.
First up is the offending sear and its replacement. Q-Tip for scale.
From the left side, you can see the "Bayard" emblem clearly along with the manufacturer's name
A closeup of the emblem and the "Anciens Etablissements Pieper Herstal-Belgium" roll mark.
Cal 6.35 Model Depose
Belgian proofing marks
Note the backward "barrel" above the grip panel. That's not the barrel, that's the buffer spring assembly The barrel is the squared
off part where you'd expect to see a guide-rod.
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