Beholla
- Category
- Pistol
- Barrel
- 75 mm
- Weight, empty
- 640 g
- Introduced
- 1915
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Beholla is a German blowback semi-automatic pocket pistol chambered in .32 ACP, designed by Becker & Hollander and produced primarily by Waffenfabrik August Menz of Suhl during World War I. The name is a contraction of 'BEcker' and 'HOLLAnder'. Simple, robust and cheap to make, it was adopted as a substitute-standard sidearm for the Imperial German Army when production of the P08 Luger could not keep pace with wartime demand.
Issued to second-line and lower-ranked German troops when Lugers and Mauser C96s ran short, the Beholla's name is simply a mash-up of its two designers' surnames, Becker and Hollander.
Near-identical pistols were produced under the names Leonhardt, Menta, and Stenda after wartime patent and manufacturing arrangements changed; the fixed barrel is pinned in place and requires a tool to remove for cleaning.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Becker & Hollander Waffenbau
- Category
- Pistol
- Country
- Germany
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1915 to 1920
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 75 mm
- Overall length
- 140 mm
- Height
- 105 mm
- Weight, empty
- 640 g
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Striker fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 7
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Slide
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 280 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 180 J
- Effective range
- 25 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Fixed barrel
Striker fired mechanism- Simple blowback design
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 123 .32 ACP pistols | 640 g | 670 g | Lighter than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 124 .32 ACP pistols | 140 mm | 155 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 126 .32 ACP pistols | 75 mm | 87 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 127 .32 ACP pistols | 7 | 8 | Holds fewer rounds than about 80% |
Answers
Questions about the Beholla
How much does the Beholla weigh?
The Beholla weighs 640 g (1.41 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Beholla?
The Beholla is chambered in .32 ACP.
How many rounds does the Beholla hold?
The Beholla holds 7 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
How long is the Beholla?
The Beholla is 140 mm (5.51 in) long overall, with a 75 mm (2.95 in) barrel.
Who makes the Beholla?
The Beholla is made by Becker & Hollander Waffenbau (Germany).
When was the Beholla introduced?
The Beholla was introduced in 1915 and discontinued in 1920.
How does the Beholla operate?
The Beholla uses a blowback action, and its firing mechanism is striker fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Imperial German Army
- 1915
Provenance
Confidence in this record
72%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/beholla' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "beholla", "name": "Beholla", "manufacturer": { "id": "becker-hollander", "name": "Becker & Hollander Waffenbau", "countryCode": "DE", "foundedYear": null, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "449a2b750dd8e737f4f5bbf4faf73ae134341edd156ab32ba7539e59a976942a" }, "category": { "id": "pistol", "name": "Pistol", "description": "Handguns designed to be fired with one or two hands" }, "country_of_origin": "DE", "year_introduced": 1915, "barrel_length_mm": 75, "weight_empty_g": 640, "action_type": "blowback"}