I have a browning fn 1922, serial # XXXXX that was given to me by my german mother in law. I would like to get some history on this model and when this one was made, and where. 9×17mm Browning 7.65×17mm Browning. The FN Model 1910 was a departure for Browning. An FN M1910, serial number 19074. Browning 32 Auto Serial Numbers. I have a FN browning 1910, 7,65 32 acp, serial number 167251. It s got the Belgian 1922 browning fn. Fn browning 1922 7.65 mm. E/135 - Eagle over number 135.
Ok I know the picture quality is bad but have not purchased this yet and just took pics with my phone. This little model 1910 was brought home from Europe in the 50s. It has no serial numbers.
I read once of a contract for Germany for approx 3k of these for secret police but now cannot find reference and it was so long ago I might have wrong country. If anyone knows the story of no serial number FN model 1910 I would greatly appreciate it. He had some other military left to him and I bought all but this one.
So if anyone know a value I would also appreciate that. Thank you for your help. Ok I know the picture quality is bad but have not purchased this yet and just took pics with my phone.
This little model 1910 was brought home from Europe in the 50s. It has no serial numbers.
I read once of a contract for Germany for approx 3k of these for secret police but now cannot find reference and it was so long ago I might have wrong country. If anyone knows the story of no serial number FN model 1910 I would greatly appreciate it. He had some other military left to him and I bought all but this one. So if anyone know a value I would also appreciate that. Thank you for your helpNo idea of what they would be doing without S/Ns, but doubt for secret police. Maybe for foreign intelligence who might feel the need for a sterile gun, though better to have ordinary civilian guns from the time between the wars - which would be extremely easy to acquire by a government of one of its agencies. Close up pictures would be a great help to us.
My first thought was that it was made right after the Germans abandon the FN factory near the end of the war. That would have also been before the Liege proof house was back up and running. However, I don't know that there were any Model 1910 pistol parts made during the war other than what was interchangeable with the Model 1922. Perhaps an early post-war 'lunch box special'? I seriously doubt that FN would manufacture and sell pistols with no serial numbers.
Any 'sterilization' would have been done after purchase and would have required refinishing if it was for an organization. If it was done by a criminal there would be evidence of that because criminals wouldn't go to the trouble to finish it. The grip logo looks pre-1950.
You might check the BATF laws about owning a pistol with no serial number before you purchase it. Maybe it's legal & maybe it's not. Regards Dan in Texas.
I have also thought on the legal side of this. Even if I did purchase thos pistol I would be required to give it a serial number I believe. But i I for sure will just bring it home. Already spoke to owner and he said no problem. TonyIf the gun was made before 1968, doesn't have to have an S/N as I understand it. That is IF the maker didn't put one on.
IF the maker put one on and somebody removed it, then highly unlawful to transfer or possess, but there are ways to 'paper' that. Not going to go into that, but altered or removed S/Ns are a no-no, but wasn't actually required until 1968 for 'ordinary' guns. I do NOT think you will have to apply an S/N, but you really need to contact ATFE (NOT the local field office; my experience with them is 'I know nozzing'). Get with Tech Branch at HQ and get it in writing.
I see no rounding of sharp edges, washing out of slide stamps, diminishing inspections stamps on the trigger guard. I don't think we are looking at a sanitized gun. It looks like the usual final machining of a typical FN pistol.
No serial numbers, inside or out. No caliber marks.
No firing proofs. It's pre-68, and no apparent scrubbed serial, so it is likely entirely legal to sell, but I am not a lawyer! This is an unfinished gun. My best guess? A salesman sample.
If so, it could be worth more than the average M1910 to an avid FN collector. Anthony Vanderlinden is a member of this forum. You can look him up in the member list. I'd give him a PM. It's right up his alley. Could this be a 'lunch box special'?
An employee wanted a gun and figured he could smuggle out the individual parts and 'make' his own gun at home. No one would miss one part missing from a big box of newly manufactured parts. Getting the receiver, barrel and other parts BEFORE a number would have been stamped on it would ensure that the theft would not be discovered by any of the company inventory checks. Lunch box specials are not common but they do occur. I have a S&W M1917 without a number stamped on its butt which I assume was built part by part as some parts are not finished while other ones are. I doubt it is a factory rebuild as it would not have left the factory in that condition. 922 (k), “It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to transport, ship, or receive, in interstate or foreign commerce, any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered or to possess or receive any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered and has, at any time, been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.” So a firearm without a serial number is legal IF it never had a serial number.
Get a gunsmith to sign a letter saying that there are no signs of a serial number ever having been removed and that the pistol was manufactured without any identifying numbers. Please be sure to state in the letter the date it was imported as closely as you can find out since if it was before 1968 it's in the clear. From what I have read - I've made some AK-47s - it is legal to put your own individual serial number on a firearm which has none. I think it'd be a very good idea to look up the FN 1910 serial no ranges and make up one that's different, like (your initials) 1001. Here's the 2002 requirements for serial nos.Must be conspicuously engraved, cast or stamped (impressed) on the firearm frame or receiver; The serial number cannot duplicate the serial number appearing on any other firearm the importer previously imported; and For firearms imported after January 30, 2002, the engraving, casting or stamping (impressing) of the serial number must be to a minimum depth of.003 inch and in a print size no smaller than 1/16 inch. Big Commander, Firearms are occasionally encountered without serial numbers often older.22's ans shotguns. By 1968 the Government meddlers decided everything should have a S/N so it can be more easily tracked, ownership wise.
If a firearm was made before the law it is accepted without a number, some firearms without numbers were brought home as war souvenirs a practice that has been stopped recently. The pistol in question if produced without a number and being made ptrior to the 1968 law would be lawful to own. I understand and was somewhat blinded by the Belgian law from 1922.
From that year on our citizens needed a permit to possess handguns and military rifles (i.e. Rifles that shot a military caliber, from whatever country in the world!). Our government was afraid of the amount of firearms recuperated/liberated by civilians after WWI. As an amusing note (and due to my age). When a grandfather of one of our teenage friends had passed away we always asked: 'Did he have a handgun in his night table?' Often it was the case and sometimes a handgun and money changed hands. I sure hope you do not decide to add your serial number.
Nothing illegal about owning a gun which never had a serial number! You just mark it down in your book as 'NSN' for no serial number. Guns like the liberator are a prime example.
By adding your own serial number will just destroy the value. It does appear to be a gun smuggled out of the plant. Or it could be a gun made up of armorer parts which were nu-numbered. The gun has the pre-war trigger. The slide legend used from 1930 to 1950 as well as pre-war grips. It could have been in the factory at time of capture by the Germans and was captured and pressed into service. Escaping numbering or just smuggled out of the factory.
Either-way it serves the definition of a curio and is therefore legal to own as is. Now without the liege proofs I would not recommend to shoot it. The fact that it has what appears to be a factory blued finish without serial numbers and proof marks makes me think it isn't a lunch box special. I've seen a few of those and there are usually some or all parts not fully finished. It could possibly be a training aid used to teach assembly & disassembly but those were usually serial numbered and marked as a training aid.
It is intriguing but I doubt that we will really know why it is this way. If I were going to buy it I would offer $300.00 and that only because of it's uniqueness.
I still think it was made right at the end of the war & just after the Germans left the factory. Regards Dan in Texas. I sure hope you do not decide to add your serial number.
Nothing illegal about owning a gun which never had a serial number! You just mark it down in your book as 'NSN' for no serial number. Guns like the liberator are a prime example. By adding your own serial number will just destroy the value. It does appear to be a gun smuggled out of the plant. Or it could be a gun made up of armorer parts which were nu-numbered.
The gun has the pre-war trigger. The slide legend used from 1930 to 1950 as well as pre-war grips. It could have been in the factory at time of capture by the Germans and was captured and pressed into service.
Escaping numbering or just smuggled out of the factory. Either-way it serves the definition of a curio and is therefore legal to own as is. Now without the liege proofs I would not recommend to shoot it.Agreed. No need to add a serial. I've entered many guns as NSN.
Bob, Dating the old FN pistols isn't a science because their records didn't make it through the wars. Yours has the Serif font with the lower case 'de' on the slide legend. This fits with model 1910's made predominantly between 1925-1929. Yours appears to be in great shape. For whatever reason, there is not really any collector interest in Browning's Belgium pistols (at least not like his Colt's). Based on the parts of the gun I can see in your picture, I would estimate the value to be around $250, maybe a little more.
If you are interested in selling, let me know.I may know someone in the market.