In 1914 the French armaments industry had geared up to full capacity to provide rifles, revolvers and machine guns. But it was not enough. Spain was a neutral and was already a supplier of civilian firearms to Europe. Successful Spanish copies of Smith & Wesson revolvers in 8mm were made at the request of the French police.

Spanish variants of the excellent 1903 Browning Hammerless .32 pocket pistol were being made for the civilian market. Gabilondo y Urresti made one of the best with a brand name of Ruby. It soon came to the notice of the French and was adopted for use by the Army. They were issued to officers, some noncommissioned officers, machine-gunners and artillery troops.