What is it?

[Mark in Rochester]

Any ideas what this is?

it is marked Kal.12mm Gas

German

Information

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[Jim K]

I can tell you in general, but without further info I can't help on maker. It is most likely German and from the 1920's-1930's. In that period between wars, Germany had a high crime rate but also tight gun laws. One answer was the manufacture of pistols that shot not bullets, but tear gas. (This was before the invention of the aerosol spray can, of course.)

The cartridges were usually small, containing barely enough gas to bother an assailant, but rounds as large as 12mm were a respectable deterrent. The gun appears to be a double barrel derringer type; the arm on the side works the extractor when the gun is opened. It is double action only, firing the barrels in turn. 12mm Gas cartridges, AFAIK, are unobtainable. Those guns are usually made of alloy and live ammo should NOT be fired in them.

Jim