The Czechoslovak Army had a varied collection of short firearms among its armaments, but the first officially introduced pistol was a design by Josef Nickl (1872–1946), designer and workshop manager of the German arms factory Mauser. The Czechoslovak State Arms Factory in Brno purchased manufacturing facilities both for rifles and pistols of the Nickl system at the end of 1919.
The mass production of pistols, originally designated by the letter N after the designer’s name, began in 1921. The first 2,759 units that were produced were given to the gendarmerie. Quality problems resulted in design modifications, and the factory gradually produced the pistols in three different designs. In April 1922, the military administration ordered a total of 19,000 pistols, and they were introduced into the armaments under the designation “M 22 army pistol” following a motion by the Armaments Commission of 19 June 1922. The Brno-based arms factory continued producing pistol intermittently until the beginning of 1924, when it made about 21,000 pieces.