Browning .22 auto date of manufacture

[imti]

I was presented a .22 Browning Auto sl.# 118349 made by F.N. of Belgium. It has a Top of the grip loading port, takes only 9 rounds of .22 lr and originally had a skinny fore piece which had broken into three pieces. That apart, the rifle is a beautiful shooter, no problems and I love it. Was given to me because soneone had dismantled it and badly fiddled with the barrel tightness/play adjustment collar:- result, it became a single-shot-take-it-apart-reload-shoot gun.Im curious as when this piece was made since I understand that later guns were made in Japan by Miroku and a Licensed copy made as the Remington Model 24 and 241. Any info, guys?
imtinungsang@yahoo.com

 

[dalpra]

Your serial number doesn't seem to jive with the Browning Dates of Manufacture book. The last of the numerical S/N s was 96300 in 1961. After that, alpha-numeric S/Ns were used. Or I'm misreading something.

 

[imti]

the serial number i posted is as i find on the gun..no alphanumeric characters are present on the gun anywhere. any one else?

 

[marsh]

It is possible that the Browning could have a numerical (only) serial number if it was originally sold in a different country. The alpha-numerics are a US (BATF) requirement.