The Ballester–Molina is a pistol designed and built by the Argentine company ''Hispano Argentina Fábrica de Automóviles SA'' (HAFDASA). From 1938 to 1940 it bore the name Ballester–Rigaud.

History

The Ballester–Molina was designed to offer the

Argentine Federal Police The Argentine Federal Police ( or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local law enforcement agency in the cap ...

and other armed forces a cheaper alternative to the "Sistema Colt Modelo 1927", itself a licensed copy of the Colt M1911A1, built under the supervision of Colt engineers. Production of the Ballester–Molina began in 1938 and ceased in 1953. The ''Sistema Colt 1927'' was manufactured until 1966, outliving its intended successor by more than two decades. The company's history dates back to 1929, when two Spanish entrepreneurs, Arturo Ballester and Eugenio Molina, established a branch of

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft engines, trucks and weapons. ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, " Hispano-Argentina S.A.". Years later, HAFDASA hired two engineers, Frenchman Rorice Rigaud and Carlos Ballester–Molina, a relative of the founders. Rigaud became the chief designer of the firm, while Ballester–Molina was appointed

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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Features

Appearance

As the Ballester–Molina was designed to serve alongside the Modelo 1927 that was currently in Argentine service, it bears a striking resemblance to the Colt M1911A1. Although many other parts appear identical at first glance, they are not; only the barrel and magazine are interchangeable.

Internal

The Ballester–Molina is a

short recoil Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used to implement locked-breech autoloading firearms. Recoil operated firearms use the energy of recoil to cycle the action, as opposed to gas operation or blowback operation using the pressure of the ...

-operated semi-automatic

locked breech Locked breech is the design of a breech-reloading firearm's action. This is important in understanding how a self-reloading firearm works. In the simplest terms, the locked breech is one way to slow down the opening of the breech of a self-reloa ...

pistol. The Ballester–Molina and the M1911 share an identical seven-round magazine, barrel, recoil spring, and barrel bushing. The locking system is a near-identical copy of the Model 1911's, with the swinging lock used to unlock the barrel from the slide. The pistol has a two-stage, single action trigger, but unlike that of the 1911 trigger, it pivots rather than slide. The spring housing system is integrated to the pistol frame rather than being a separate part. The

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

is locked by the frame-mounted manual

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, and most notably there is no grip safety. Many examples for sale on the surplus market have seen heavy use but show little internal wear.

Variants

.22 LR

A version of the Ballester–Molina chambered for .22 Long Rifle was manufactured for training purposes. This version was identical externally to the standard Ballester–Molina, except for slide markings indicating the caliber. However, the .22 caliber version is blowback operated to accommodate the less-powerful rimfire cartridge. This version was produced in much smaller numbers and is much rarer today. The Ballester–Molina pistol also came with an extended barrel and a wooden buttstock.

British variants

British contract Ballester–Molinas are identified by serial numbers ranging from 8900 to 22.000, marked with a "B" prefix (''i.e. B1633'') on the right side of the frame in addition to the manufacturer's serial number in the left side of the grip, under the slide and the last three numbers of the serial number marked on the barrel link tab. British Contract B125 displaying HAFDASA Serial Number 9019 is preserved at the Imperial War Museum in Leeds, UK.

Service

The Ballester–Molina was predominantly used by Argentina's security forces. The

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

adopted it as its standard sidearm in 1938. The Ballester–Molina is also known as ''HAFDASA'', after the initials of its manufacturer. About 8000 Ballester–Molina were sold to the United Kingdom during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A number of pistols was issued to agents of the SOE, in order to avoid the use of British weapons for undercover operations in occupied Europe and behind enemy lines.

Users

* * * * * * Italian Partisans - British-purchased examples supplied to partisans. * * *

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *Hogg, Ian; Gander, Terry ''Jane's Guns: Recognition Guide'' London and New York City: HarperCollins Publishers. Fourth Edition, 2005.

*Arbones, Jorge E. "Magnum" Buenos Aires, Argentina magazine: "Ballester Molinas Peronistas y Ballester Molinas Inglesas," September 2007

External links

Hafdasa Website

Argentina's 1911User ManualArgentina's Ballester-Molina pistol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballester-Molina .45 ACP semi-automatic pistols 1911 platform .22 LR pistols Hispano-Argentina Semi-automatic pistols of Argentina Short recoil firearms Simple blowback firearms Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1938 World War II military equipment of Argentina