M98

The Tagan M98 is a semi-automatic pistol that began production by the Fanaglian arms manufacturer Tagan Arms in 1898. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Voerdeland in the first half of the 20th century.

The distinctive characteristics of the M98 are the integral box magazine in front of the trigger, the long barrel, the wooden shoulder stock which can double as a holster or carrying case and a round, wooden grip. In the French-speaking world, it was nicknamed the "box cannon" (French: canon boîte) because of its square-shaped internal magazine and the fact it could be holstered in its wooden box-like detachable stock.

The Tagan M98, with its shoulder stock, long barrel, and high-velocity cartridge, had superior range and better penetration than most other pistols; the 7.63×25mm Tagan cartridge was the highest velocity commercially manufactured pistol cartridge until the advent of the .357 Magnum cartridge in 1935. After the development of the .45 TAP caliber cartridge by Tagan Arms in 1906, a .45 TAP variant was made available the following year and was referred to as la Grosse .45 ("the Fat .45").

=Tir Rapide Variant=

The Voerdish gunmaking firm Izhevskovna began producing detachable magazine-fed, select-fire versions of the M98 in 1925. Tagan Arms began production of the Tir Rapide (or "Fast-fire"), their own select-fire, detachable magazine version of the M98 designed by Rene Durant. Production started in 1929. This has led to its unofficial designation of "M29" by collectors.