Bayard Automatic Pistol

[Gurn]

A friend of mine offered a Bayard “1908” pistol to me at a nice price and I jumped on it.  This one is in the less common 380 caliber. It was rusty and missing the safety toggle. I disassembled as far as I felt safe doing. There is not a good exploded view of how it is put together. At least none that I can find. Cleaned up the rust and got it cycling smoothly. For more on these interesting early autos see here.https://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/Bayard/bayard.html   Will replace the safety at some point. 

[Gurn]

[gregintenn]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Snaveba]

Very interesting low bore on that pistol. Looks like the recoil spring is above the barrel. 

[Gurn]

22 minutes ago, Snaveba said:

Very interesting low bore on that pistol. Looks like the recoil spring is above the barrel. 

It is . The front sight is pulled back to remove the flat coiled spring and rod. There is another spring in the tube that acts as a buffer. Supposed to reduce felt recoil and muzzle rise. 

[Gurn]

It’s smaller than my Bodyguard yet 3oz.  heavier. 

[gregintenn]

That's tiny for a 380. It sure is an interesting design. Have you been able to source a safety lever?

[Gurn]

17 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

That's tiny for a 380. It sure is an interesting design. Have you been able to source a safety lever?

There are a couple on eBay now. $60-$70 seems kind high. Will watch for a cheaper one. No rush, it functions without it. 

[History Researcher]

Never seen a recoil spring above the barrel! Very interesting.