Bergmann Simplex

After a few copies were manufactured in Austria, its designs would be sold to an unidentified Belgian company in 1904. This Belgian company would manufacture 4,000 copies and would discontinue it, after the German aggression against Belgium in 1914. The Simplex proved popular in Spain, to a point it prompted local gunsmiths to start making counterfeit copies of the Simplex. The Simplex, while doing better commercially than its predecessor design, the Model 1896/1897 family, was still not a successful firearm. It was considered under-powered, cumbersome and developed a reputation for poor reliability. Additionally, it did not fare well against the other compact pistols in the market; particularly the FN-Browning designs.

The Bergmann Simplex incorporated experience from the earlier Bergmann pistols. It is nearly identical with the Bergmann Model 1897, but is smaller in size and its original one-piece grips having the word Simplex on them. The Bergmann Simplex was a semi-automatic weapon, operating on the principle of a free-bolt recoil. The lock consists of a simple single-action system, using hammer as a striker, without self-cocking. The Bergmann Simplex was fed from a replaceable box magazine with a capacity of 6 or 8 rounds. The magazine was located in front of the trigger. It fired a relatively weak 8 mm cartridge. This made it possible to construct the weapon with an unlocked bolt. Its barrel was rifled, had six right-handed grooves. Manufacturing quality of Bergmann Simplex was lacking, with issues being found in its "soft" feeling frame, the one-piece rubber grip being fragile and the extractor and the ejector being prone to breaking.