Ortgies/Deutche Werke/Erfurt .25

[Mark75H]

Low serial number (<50k), last (6th) version







Hope it shoots as good as the reputation of its bigger brother, the .32 (renowned as an actual competition gun in its day). Designed in 1919, an early gun to use recoil spring wound concentrically around the barrel and sleek exterior, even the grip attachment is hidden.

Got it mostly as an easy gun for new shooters as a step between a .22 and 9mm and not as so small as a vest pocket.

 

[Alphabrew]

Cool! Looks great and they're fun to shoot!

 

[Alphabrew]

I have a .32 cal model. My dad got it from a man who said his father took it off a German soldier at Anzio.

 

[Mark75H]

Yes, that's the one known to be so accurate. Yours looks nicer than mine and your trigger appears to be very blue, there was a version with a specially hardened trigger.

The provenience could be true, could be made up - they were popular in Europe, but a very large number of these were exported to the US in the 1920's & 30's - possibly 100,000+ The ones made for export have the word Germany stamped near the serial number on the frame.

 

[Alphabrew]

Yes, that's the one known to be so accurate. Yours looks nicer than mine and your trigger appears to be very blue, there was a version with a specially hardened trigger.

The provenience could be true, could be made up - they were popular in Europe, but a very large number of these were exported to the US in the 1920's & 30's - possibly 100,000+ The ones made for export have the word Germany stamped near the serial number on the frame.

Oh, I'm fairly certain that mine says Germany on it in English. I always wondered about that. I guess the war story was mistaken. Oh well! The holster does have a swastica on it, but obviously it's not original to the pistol.

 

[Mark75H]

There are some descriptions of the takedown procedure on some other websites, but I do not feel they are 100% accurate. The other descriptions are close enough that I could get mine apart and back together, but I feel the following is more accurate:

Ortgies takedown & reassemble

Field Stripping:
1. Remove magazine and make sure breech is empty.
2. Draw slide back so middle slide serrations line up with the rear edge of the frame, press the take-down (safety) button, allow slide to move forward, and lift the slide up.* Take care not to lose the striker-spring guide.
3. Draw the slide forward off the front of the barrel.
4. Remove the recoil spring from the front of the barrel.
5. Remove the barrel by twisting counterclockwise until it is at right angles to the slide and lift up.
6. Remove the grip plates by inserting a screwdriver into the magazine well and pressing in on the grip latch.* While holding the grip latch down, pry upward on the rear of each grip.* The wood slot in the rear of the grip that takes the latch is quite thin, so the grip plates should be removed as seldom as possible and with great care.
Reassembly:
1. Make sure the recoil spring has its smaller end toward the rear of the barrel and the larger end forward.
2. Using a small tool, compress the striker spring and its guide rod and push the rear of the guide rod down into the small detent milled into the top of the slide.* While the striker spring is compressed and before you have the slide on the gun, keep a finger over the back of the slide to make sure the guide rod doesn’t get launched into space if it comes out of the detent.
3. Place recoil spring on barrel (small end goes inside frame recess).

4. Hook the slide over the recoil spring and barrel and pull it toward the rear (half of space behind rear serrations even with rear of frame) then depress safety/take down button and move rear of slide down onto frame.

 

[c33m0n3y]

Very cool. I've never shot a .25. How much different is it from the recoil on a .22lr?

 

[Mark75H]

Very cool. I've never shot a .25. How much different is it from the recoil on a .22lr?

The recoil can be quite a bit different depending on the gun. The Ortgies is quite snappy for what it is ... a lot more recoil than the smaller Colt/FN/Browning 1906 Vest Pocket or Beretta Bobcat

You definitely know a .25 is not a .22, but nothing compared to a .380 blowback (which can be worse than a 9mm)

 

[Boom Boom]

Nice. I've got an Ortgies .32 coming tomorrow. Can't wait.

 

[28Shooter]

Neat little pistols!

 

[Docster]

I have an Ortgies in .32 ACP. As well as being popular for marksmanship competitions, I believe they were also one of the earliest guns to have a grip safety.

 

[Alphabrew]

I have an Ortgies in .32 ACP. As well as being popular for marksmanship competitions, I believe they were also one of the earliest guns to have a grip safety.

I really like the grip safety. I'm surprised that didn't catch on.

 

[SteveFinMD]

I sold mine recently. Great gun but I wanted to get a .22 so I could afford to shoot it more.

 

[Mark75H]

I sold mine recently. Great gun but I wanted to get a .22 so I could afford to shoot it more.

I was planning on getting a .22, but the current madness has jacked the price of used .22 autos so high ... the purchase price difference bought a lot of .25 ammo