Taking shots with the Argentine Ballester Molina .45 (VIDEO)

By Chris Eger

A mid-20th Century follow-on to the classic Colt 1911, the Ballester hails from Argentina but is actually a very different gun once you get into it.
The gun was a product of HAFDASA, the Argentine branch of European car maker Hispano-Suiza, from a design by a French engineer, Rorice Rigaud. The blended elements of the Spanish Star and the locally-made Model 1916 Colt to form a unique 1911-ish .45 that was adopted by the Argentine military and police forces. They were even widely exported– including some to Great Britain during WWII, where they were used by commando and SOE units.
With the Latin American country switching to Browning Hi Powers in the 1960s, “Ballesteros” have been trickling into the U.S. as surplus for a long time in spits and sputters and Eric with IV8888 goes over a nice example of an Army surplus model in the above video.
Want to see what it looks like on the inside?

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Source: Guns.com