This is a repost from the night the server went down.
I'm trying to determine date of manufacture for my FN P35. I've been to the more obvious sites like "fnhipower.com" and some others and they all seem to have the same serial number list, which I suspect may be for "Browning" marked guns. Using the list they show would indicate my gun was made pre-1957. I'm going to list what information I have and maybe someone can point me in the right direction.
1, It's a standard blued HP that came with fixed sights and has the usual Belgian proof marks.
2, It has a 5 digit serial#, 45XXX, stamped on slide, frame and barrel. There are no letters or other symbols in the number. The "fnhipower.com" list starts at 1957 with ser.# 70000
3, I bought it, in Germany, in 1972,"unfired, second hand" from the original owner, who stated that he had bought it new at the base US Army Rod and Gun Club in Germany approx 2 years before. This leads me to suspect that there "may" have been different serial# blocks for european market HPs
4, The slide is marked with the standard European "Fabrique Nationale d'Arms De Guerre - Herstal Belgique - Browning's patent depose" and has the disassembly notch on the right side.
5, The extractor is the old style(like a 1911 colt), the only mention I've found of date of implmentation of the newer, pivoting style extractor is "sometime post war", I suspect somewhere in the 1960s. I seem to remember reading about the changeover sometime in the distant past, but that was too long ago to be certain.
So, does anyone have any ideas here? Was this HP made pre-1957 and unsold until 1970 or is there another explanation? Any help would be appreciated.
Don in Ohio
I'm trying to determine date of manufacture for my FN P35. I've been to the more obvious sites like "fnhipower.com" and some others and they all seem to have the same serial number list, which I suspect may be for "Browning" marked guns. Using the list they show would indicate my gun was made pre-1957. I'm going to list what information I have and maybe someone can point me in the right direction.
1, It's a standard blued HP that came with fixed sights and has the usual Belgian proof marks.
2, It has a 5 digit serial#, 45XXX, stamped on slide, frame and barrel. There are no letters or other symbols in the number. The "fnhipower.com" list starts at 1957 with ser.# 70000
3, I bought it, in Germany, in 1972,"unfired, second hand" from the original owner, who stated that he had bought it new at the base US Army Rod and Gun Club in Germany approx 2 years before. This leads me to suspect that there "may" have been different serial# blocks for european market HPs
4, The slide is marked with the standard European "Fabrique Nationale d'Arms De Guerre - Herstal Belgique - Browning's patent depose" and has the disassembly notch on the right side.
5, The extractor is the old style(like a 1911 colt), the only mention I've found of date of implmentation of the newer, pivoting style extractor is "sometime post war", I suspect somewhere in the 1960s. I seem to remember reading about the changeover sometime in the distant past, but that was too long ago to be certain.
So, does anyone have any ideas here? Was this HP made pre-1957 and unsold until 1970 or is there another explanation? Any help would be appreciated.
Don in Ohio