Outwardly, the Argentine local pistol attempt mimicked the form of the classic John Browning design for it was only internally that the Ballester-Molina proved more Argentine in execution. The slide still made up a large portion of the gun body and the hammer remained exposed at the rear. Iron sights were fitted at front and rear along the top of the slide in the usual fashion. The "prawl' gave noticeable overhang at the grip for an improved hold. The original Browning hammer design was only slightly revised and the grip safety removed (a manual, frame-mounted safety was provided instead). The trigger was also revised, working in a two-stage fashion but now pivoting along an upper axis instead of the original's sliding function. The hand grip pattern was revised to now be made up of vertically-slanted lines while the grip itself was made slightly smaller to fit better in the hand.
The actual internal working components, however, were wholly Browning - including the original's locked-breech firing operation. Additionally, the barrel (6-grooves, right-hand twist), recoil spring, and 7-round detachable box magazine (inserted into the base of the hand grip) were the same as used in the M1911. The Ballester-Molina was also chambered to fire the large .45 ACP cartridge and muzzle velocity was rated at 860 feet-per-second. The gun's unloaded weight registered 2lb, 8oz. Despite its relation to the original Browning design, some of the internal parts of the Ballester-Molina were not interchangeable with the M1911.
While a capable product in its own right, the Ballester-Molina suffered in the way that most other copies of an excellent original suffer - the quality of the finish was generally regarded as inferior. In operation, however, the pistol proved reliable and accurate, comparable to the M1911A1 and its many clones. The Argentine Army began fielding the gun in 1938 and other Argentine services eventually followed including police forces.
Beyond participation in World War 2, the Ballester-Molina was featured in the upcoming 1980s Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom. Only one major variant of the Ballester-Molina was spawned, this being a low-quantity gun chambered to fire the .22 Long Rifle cartridge through a blowback operation.
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