Developed in 1878, the Zig-Zag revolver was the first handgun designed and developed by Paul Mauser and his firm. A competitor to be the first centerfire cartridge-fed handgun adopted by the German military, the 1878 scored high marks in overall performance, though concerns about the complexity of the design led them to choose the 1879 Reichs revolver instead. At the heart of the mechanism is the combination of an angular track (the titular 'Zig-Zag') machined into the side of the cylinder and a toothed reciprocating bar linked to the hammer, which serves to both advance and lock the cylinder, in contrast to the more commonly seen pawl/sprocket and stop arrangement. Additionally, the spring responsible for resetting the cocking bar also powers the hammer, replacing the grip frame mounted leaf spring commonly seen in that era. For loading, the barrel assembly is hinged at the rear of the top strap, automatically pushing the hammer back to the safety notch when opened, with the closure latch doubling as the lever for a star-pattern extractor assembly. Sights are fixed, with "WAFFENFABRIK MAUSER OBERNDORF a/NECKAR" on top of the barrel rib, "crown/crown/U" on the left side of the barrel shroud, and "176" on multiple components. With a pair of finely checkered hard rubber grip panels with raised foliate designs.

Very fine. 90% of the period refinished blue remains, showing some edge wear, mild dings, and scattered shallow pitting. The grips are also very fine, with a few tiny chips near the frame and sharp detail in the checkering and decoration. Mechanically excellent.