Browning 1910 FN

F

FilthyHarry

Moderator
Hey guys...

What would you date this pistol? This thing is like brand new mechanically. Wanna place a value on it?

I know y'all enjoy looking this stuff up as much as me!
 

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The gun that Pricip used to assassinate the Archduke was numbered in the 19,000 range. If the gun was actually introduced in 1910, and they made ~5000 per year, the number 400,000 would have been made eighty years after introduction . . . but production apparently ended in 1983.
So much for that theory.
 
Apologies to Tamara

Girl's name... Should I have addressed the forum "Ladies and Gentlemen?"

I know it is before WW II... Tamara knows her stuff!
 
The gun that Pricip used to assassinate the Archduke was numbered in the 19,000 range. If the gun was actually introduced in 1910, and they made ~5000 per year, the number 400,000 would have been made eighty years after introduction . . . but production apparently ended in 1983.
So much for that theory.
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According to the newest American Rifleman magazine the pistol wasn't actually introduced until 1912. FWIW
 
There's a good article on the little browning in the current American Rifleman. Talks a bit about the start of WWI more than the gun but a good read.
 
That article is what made me look!

This little, historic "Moze Browning" design had been looking at me as I bought a couple of guns around it. Local pawn had it for several months... It had some kind of schmutz on the grips... Kind of like dried mashed potatoes, looked like they might have been ruined, but cleaned right off.

Research revealed the early date and BAM... I'll take it!
 
Browning

That Browning is one of my favorite guns. Hard to aim with little or no sights but great to carry. Luckily I found one and I have purchased 3 more mags for it. I don't shoot it much but I'm glad I have one.
 
Vanderlinden reports 358455 as made about 1931 and 393512 as part of a 1936 Dutch Ministry of Finance contract. That narrows things down a bit.

The FN pistols compare very favorably with the Colt pocket model, even though the firing system is different (striker in the FN, hammer in the Colt). I think the workmanship in the Colt is superior and it is more aesthetically pleasing, but that is only my opinion.

Jim
 
Compare to Colt 1903/08...

Spacecoast, I was thinking they were the same design, sold by Browning to Colt and FN at the same time.

The Colt is an awesome looking gun, but I have never shot one.
 
Spacecoast, I was thinking they were the same design, sold by Browning to Colt and FN at the same time.
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Given the earlier origins of the Colts, I would imagine the design was licensed for production by FN later, not sure how many design changes there are. They are similar in appearance, but not identical by any means. My .380 ACP (mfd. 1922) is one of my favorites to shoot, and is shown below with my Vest Pocket .25 ACP (1913), also a fun and surprisingly accurate little pistol.

Correction - did some more reading, the design is quite different from the 1903/1908 Colts, including a recoil spring which surrounds the barrel. Hence the lack of a lug beneath the barrel to contain that spring.

DSC01546.jpg
 
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Some folks don't know how Browning worked. He was a "free lance" designer who developed his designs, usually made working models, then sold the idea to whichever gun company gave him the best deal. His earlier Winchester designs were sold outright to the company, for a lump sum. Later, on his autoloading shotgun, he tried to work out a royalty deal, where he would receive a certain amount for each gun made. Winchester refused, which resulted in the A-5 being produced first by FN, then later by Remington and Savage, after Browning made separate deals with those companies.

On the pocket pistols, Browning sold his first design to FN in a royalty arrangement, which made him a wealthy man. Then, around 1902, FN wanted a more powerful pistol to compete with the German Luger, but didn't care for the Colt design. They asked Browning to come up with a new pistol that would have good power but be simple and easy to manufacture. The result was the FN Model 1903 in 9mm Browning Long, essentially a shortened .38 ACP. It was fairly successful, but no world beater.

Browning interested Colt in the design, but Colt felt that the current dual-link guns were adequate for the holster pistol market and asked for a pocket pistol. Browning took the FN M1903 design and scaled it down, making the Colt M1903 in .32 ACP, using the same cartridge as in the FN M1900, called the 7.65mm Browning in Europe.

Later, there was a customer demand for a more powerful pocket pistol. So Browning and Colt worked to modify the M1903 hammerless pocket pistol to fire a new cartridge, the .380 ACP. The added "0" distinguished the shorter round from the older .38 ACP. Since by this time, Browning had learned about Luger's idea of supporting (headspacing) the cartridge on the case mouth, the new cartridge was rimless and untapered. The .380 pistol, called the M1908 by collectors, came out in that year.

Meantime, FN was experiencing lagging sales of the Model 1900 which was becoming outdated, and looked it. So they asked Browning to produce a new pocket model for them. Using pretty much a different system, Browning came up with the Model 1910, available in both the 7.65 (.32 ACP) and the .380 ACP, called the 9mm Browning Short in Europe. Later, in response to military requests, the grip was extended and the barrel lengthened to produce the Model 1922. The slide was lengthened by adding an extension in place of the bushing.

Sometime in those years, Colt and FN made an agreement to not tread on each other's toes. They divided the world into three areas: in North and South America, Colt would reign, and FN would not sell their guns; in Europe and the Middle East, Colt would give way to FN; most of Asia and Africa, both companies would sell in competition. That agreement lasted until after WWII, explaining why FN-made guns were very scarce in the U.S. until the 1950's, except for WWII GI "bringbacks".

Jim
 
Sometime in those years, Colt and FN made an agreement to not tread on each other's toes. They divided the world into three areas: in North and South America, Colt would reign, and FN would not sell their guns; in Europe and the Middle East, Colt would give way to FN; most of Asia and Africa, both companies would sell in competition. That agreement lasted until after WWII, explaining why FN-made guns were very scarce in the U.S. until the 1950's, except for WWII GI "bringbacks".
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This was JMB's licensing plan BTW.
 
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