Almost certainly manufactured during the violent "warlord" period of the Chinese Civil War. Many Chinese produced pistols of that period were based on existing European designs; with this example taking heavy design influence from the Czech designed "Little Tom" pistol, which was the first commercially successful semi-automatic double action pistol. While the "Little Tom" was widely copied in China during the period, examples like this that emulated the double action mechanism were relatively scarce. The left side of the slide has imitation markings in English along with a faint Chinese character and the serial number inverted ("5042"). The left of the frame is marked "8" and "RUS".The right of the slide is marked "WADE IM RUSSIA" and has the serial number. It is fitted with blade and notch sights and a pair of smooth hardwood grips with interesting brass medallions. This specific pistol is pictured and discussed on p. 470-471 of the book "Pistols of the Warlords: 1911-1949" by Ian McCollum.