Early 45 ACP Ruby 

The first Llama, 1911 clone, I purchased was chambered in .38 Super/.38ACP. I made that purchase in 1976 and discovered it to be surprising accurate with the available factory ammo of the day including the early "+P" hollow points which fed like ball ammo in my particular pistol. The biggest external difference that jumped out at any observer was the slightly protruding muzzle and the slick wooden grips otherwise it was identical in take down and reassembly to the 1911 to the extent that with only slight hand fitting, many internal (Colt's) parts would interchange. About a year later I purchased, in .45ACP, the twin to the .38 Super, and it too would feed anything I stuffed in the magazine and was also surprisingly accurate. Both pistols appeared to be well made and I enjoyed shooting and carrying them. I later traded both pistols for other (American made/brand name) handguns but I still hold fond memories of those Llamas and enjoyed this video a lot.

And here is a1st year production 1911 I carry around just in case I need it for comparison...

the linkless barrel assembly ten years before the GP 35 and the captive recoil spring puts these pistols way ahead by the 1920"s

I've been watching Forgotten Weapons for several years now and have enjoyed the history, mechanics discussion et al. I became a patron but feared you would run out of material soon. Ian, if there is anything to worry about, it's not that. You have shown me that there are few human endeavours that are as deep and varied as firearm development and production. Your passion and interest in the subject is phenomenal and so attractive. Thank you.

This hearth backdrop is all sorts of cozy to watch obscure gun history and disassembly in.

It looks like a tokarev and a 1911 had a illegitimate child

I had a 1911 type Llama pistol that was chambered for the 9mm Largo( 9 mm Bergmann) And found out l can also Load 9mm Parabellum in its magazine intermittently. It fired without a hitch. Spanish designs are carried into another level...one fine example are the Astra Pistols.

Where did the negativity about Spanish pistols come from? Star pistols are excellent, and I haven't heard much bad about Llama or Astra.

I love seeing how different countries do things differently and how some forces require different specs than others, more interesting than ak or ar variants you see in use today.

0:22 No, when most people think of "Ruby", they think of a red colored gemstone. At least I did :-P

I almost like the Spanish pistols simplicity better than the 1911

Rare pistol...thanks for showing it Ian!

The trigger design is a different animal than a 1911 and is a booger to take apart and reassemble. Early eLlamas, Stars, and Ballesters are built like the Ruby you have. Never seen a 45 Ruby though. Pretty cool. It looks like the earliest Stars

So true about trade names. My Dad's Ruby is an Astra "Victoria."

Ian You could do a awesome series about different types of operating systems in guns and how do they work,for example straight blow back , long recoil etc etc. That would be very interesting, although i know it is a massive topic to cover...

I have an old Ruby 38 special 4 " " ala smith & W " very nice gun about late 1950s

As a big fan of .45 Auto and the 1911, I think this Ruby is really cool. That first year of production 1911 though...absolutely gorgeous.

At one time I wanted to get the full line of Llama's. I began my collection with a .380 and it was a great little pistol. I took an old combat boot left over from my Army Days and cut out a flap holster from the upper, used a nail and board to open up the holes for sewing her up and came up with a great looking copy of the US Flap Holster from my Army Days only on a smaller scale to fit the pistol. I carried it for an off duty weapon for a month or so till a fellow officer saw it and talked me out of the set. I never got back to my planned collection, but the idea was always in the back of my mind. Sadly now days the cost of even the old Llama's have gone insane and the idea is forever forgotten because on Social Security, there is little left over for gun purchases. Food and medicine outweigh the dreams of yesteryear. I did have the pleasure of buying several Star pistols and they were cool guns 2 9mm and one Star PD in .45ACP which was a cool off duty pistol. Now days I have the cut down Citadel M1911A1 as a conceal carry and while she is a heavy little gun, the elastic conceal carry strap works great especially for wear under T-Shirts.

his gorgeous hair can probably cure cancer..

Really enjoy your videos Ian, thank you. Greetings from New Zealand.

Man I love this pistol. What a beauty!

You are good at what you do man. Great videos. I cant get enough of them

Yep. You got me. A Ruby I had known nothing about. Very interesting. Thank you. :)

Has Ian ever talked about his favorite guns?

600 likes, 0 dislikes! bloody hell you're good

Ian, Llama is not pronounced like the animal. It stands for flame, which is pronounced something like Jama

I wonder why this didn't do better commercially. It's got a few features that are definitely an improvement over the original.

Fireplace dude has got some gats!

The most notable difference visually is the middle finger resting space. Where i thought it stuck out more here after reviewing images the space is actually larger on 1911s. I'd assume they wanted a faster trigger pull on the ruby than the 1911 so they brought the trigger closer, or maybe they had smaller hands in mind. But the space between a Ready index/trigger finger is cloaer here. I've only handled copies of 1911s and that was the first thing i noticed.

I like it. It is a simplistic version of the 1911. They removed a lot of parts to make a more stream line design. Improving on a Browning design is a rather big deal being Browning was...well Browning.

Not to pressure you, I know you're a busy dude and all but when are we going to get a closer look at that alop's(sic?) self loading shotgun conversion you showed off in a q&a a while back? I've been dying to see a closer look since you mentioned it.

Wow, nearly 2000 likes without a single dislike. You don't see that very often! I find that, typically, if you have 99% thumbs up then you're doing REALLY good. 100% likes though, and with this many votes? Almost unheard of. Awesome stuff, and no, I didn't know there was a .45 cal Ruby pistol :P Wow, this vid is over 3 months old, too! Quality stuff!

Known as the Star Model P for the .45 ACP model.

I've got a couple of more recent Llama 1911 near-clones that I bought new... The .45acp Commander type has been a solid shooter since day one. The .40 S&W Officer's size took a lot of work to get reliable. I think, at least in later years, they had quality control issues, and let enough lemons slip through to hurt their reputation in America. Making the .45 copy closer to the Colt to improve sales really makes sense. That Ruby .45 wouldn't be able to use 1911 mags and replacement parts.

bet if John Browning ever got his hands on one of these he kicked himself for not coming up with that captive spring idea. The market wanted straight knockoffs but this gun is a refinement of the design.

Awesome video as always

Just for precision: The Spanish language word ' llama ' is pronounced 'Yama" (two 'l's making the 'Y' sound) and mean at least two different things. One is the furry four legged critter used to carry load in the Andes Mountains of the South American continent (not this time, though). The other meaning is 'fire' in the meaning of a bonfire or camp file. This is the trade name. One notes the logo featuring a flame shape in the background. They also used the head of the four legged variety late in the history of the organization. Once disassembled, the Llama pistol looks a lot - in the trigger and firing pin controls - like the later Argentine "Ballester-Molina". Is that another story? One also notes the Browning link system was used by Llama until the company finally went bankrupt in the early 2000's. One such pistol was a scaled down version in .380 ACP, initially having a locked breech. Later the pistol was altered into a blowback, in that a locked breech was not needed for the pressure involved and cost, no doubt.

Appears more like a .455 Browning Brigadier than a 1911 to me

I have inherited one of these, how much would it reach in the secondary market?

Ian, any chance we'll see a Browning Hi Power video? This is the best channel on youtube, keep up the good work

Hey Ian, I have a Kar98 that I would like to have some clarification about. First off, the receiver is marked 1917 and was manufactured by DWM, it has a bent bolt handle that is not quite the same as on a standard kar98, and just about none of the serial numbers match. When I bought it, the guy at the store told me it was a converted gewehr 98 that was converted to kar98 specs by the Germans during the interwar period since they were not allowed to manufacture carbines under the treaty of Versailles. How likely do you think this is? I myself am fairly sure it's just a shortened gewehr 98 with a bunch of mixed matched parts thrown together, but I was just wondering if you'd ever heard anything like what the guy at the store had told me. Thanks.

Does that have an eibar style trigger group like the Star 1911 you did a video on a while ago?

Is there a typo in the quotation mark at the end of the RUBY in the slide legend? PATENT "RUBY' CAL 45 instead of PATENT "RUBY" CAL 45

Hi Ian, I know this is off-topic, but are you doing a Halloween Special this month? I'd love to see you firing some Cap and ball revolvers dressed as a Civil war Cavalryman! Excellent videos too! Nice to see you shooting some guns again!

Do you cut to a different frame and fade audio while you're still talking because you tend to ramble? I know that would be the reason if it were me presenting the pieces. Keep up the excellent work.

Before school gun knowledge

Did Gabilondo patent his captive spring in the United States?

that is a cool pistol, simplified compared to the 1911

Wow, he's not at an auction company. Odd

I assume that the Spanish government bought the rights to the design. Once a design is owned by the government, it's considered public domain, and anyone can produce them, and said governments will encourage them to do so. They always need more guns. That's one reason government owned designs are so popular, like the 1911. I'm talking about the classic Ruby pistol, and how so many companies came to produce them.

Excellent video . Where can i get a, Eibal IG spanish spain.GRIP.."DESTROYER"

Hello Ian, a while ago, someone told me about "silent" cartriges that trap the hot gasses inside the shell and have zylindrical projectiles. I would really appreciate it if you could make a video about them (if you ever come across one). Those things are really strange, i. e. why they use zylindrical projectiles instead of "normal" shaped ones. Oh and by the way; Is there ever going to be a video about the M1887 I once saw in one of your video?

Bestigui hermanos needs to make a copy of this in full auto.😂

The Ruby with this cartdrige was best than Colt, simply by one more shot. Obs.: I'm not Spanish, hahahaha !

Ian, got a question, is the sterling sub gun the end development of the sten gun or a separate design? i never have either way? and if possible i'd love a history on the two if you don't mind.

All things considered, I like the Ruby better.

Again, I'm afraid wrong flag :)

Me: a .45 Ruby? Coo- oh its just a 1911.

Would love to see a welrod pistol.

i really want one of these. some how my pocket book never supports my wants :(

How on earth did you manage a 1958-0 like ratio?

I'm guessing the Star Super B was modeled after this.

huh 45 ruby that's different

You just thought me something new

why DIDN'T they add a grip safety? It's foolproof, soldier proof, civilian proof, and yet they never put that on. Was it because of production capacity, or extra cost? it's really intriguing...

Jesus...they could just make that disassembly pin into a slide stop/relase.

You should do a video on a German/Prussian Needle gun.

are you going to do a rap up of final prices after the auction?

this video was year ago and 0 disslikes ; - ; woooow

Do you actualy buy/bid on some of the guns you make video's on?

It´s mutch more fun when the copys are realy bad. I am not shure if this even fits in a Mysery copy Collection.

What did Browning had to say about this? Or was his patent not valid in Spain?

Do you know if the semi auto disconnector is spanish style or colt style?

Dude, watching this viceo I realized I always trim my moustache and beard assymetrically. God damn it! How does one even fix that?

Hinged trigger on the Ruby as well, right? What are the (2) other semi-circular cuts on the left side of the slide? (one is right above the safety)

Or on a matchlock musket

Do you listen to metal?

looks alot like a glock to be honest. mainly in grip angle

0 dislikes? Who broke the Internet??

Llama means flame.. pronounced Yama ! Just spreading some information about the pronunciation

No dislikes, what?

When I think of Ruby and guns I think of Jack Ruby. Look him up, learn a little something. 👍

Every time Ian has an old or strange gun i.imgur.com/ATtdbfN.jpg

Full30.com: Firearms & Shooting Videos- What is this channel?

Like anything done in Spain, there are times to do some of the best and there are times they make some of the worst. Just people that have problems with bulls. 😂

Where are you?

I wonder if Francisco Franco had one as his side arm.

That's just a 1911 with extra steps