Fn Browning 1906 Serial Numbers

The new Baby Browning was nearly a half-inch shorter than the FN Model 1906 and weighed four ounces less. The fact that the new Baby was called a Browning might seem a bit surprising, since John M. Browning had no part in its design.

1. Fn Browning 1906 Serial Numbers
2. Fn Browning 1905 Serial Numbers
3. Fn Browning 1906 Vest Pocket
4. Fn Browning 1906 Pistol

When was a fn browning 1910 pistol sr no480931 manufactured?

See the Browning website- customer service. Date of production by serial number listing.

When was a FN Herstal 9mm Browning pistol serial number 89652a manufactured?

Impossible to answer without a detailed description.

What year was a Fabrique Nationale Browning model 1910 pistol with serial 171805 manufactured?

What is the year of mfg. of FN pistol Model 1910, with serial number 583500

When was a FN Herstal 9mm browing pistol serial number T340741 manufactured?

You will have to call Browning. The sn you list goes beyond published data.

What year was a browning 1955 pistol with serial 604960 manufactured?

You can access the date of manufacture of many Browning firearms at the Browning website, under Customer Service.

What year was a Fabrique Nationale Browning model 1922 pistol with serial A0149 manufactured?

You must call Browning. SN does not follow normal convention.

What is the age of a 9MM Belgian Browning pistol serial 514878?

Exactly how is the pistol marked? 9mm browning serial number 72C44338

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What year is the browning nomad 22cal pistol with serial number 43626P71?

Your Browning model nomad 22cal pistol was made in the year 1971.

How old is a Browning 9mm pistol serial 70C26169?

This gun was manufactured in 1970..so, 39 years old.

How do you date a browning pistol?

Go to the Browning link below and date the gun by serial number.

What is the age of this browning pistol by it's serial number 245py85135?

The PY in the middle of your serial number dates your pistol to 1982.

What year was a Browning 1955 pistol with serial 529083 manufactured?

Browning.com has a sn function listed under customer service.

When was a browning 1910 FN pistol serial number 525995 manufactured?

Browning records of serial numbers on the 1910/1955 model are vague before 1966. They estmate that number 500,000 was made around 1965, and that 550,000 was the beginning of serial numbers made in 1966. Yours is probably 1965.

What is the manufacture date of a Browning High Power pistol serial number T197327?

Your browning hi-power was made by browning in 1967.

What is the model number for a Browning rifle with the serial number 245NX75416?

The serial number you have provided is for a Browning High Power Sport Pistol made in 1993

What year was the browning nomad 22cal pistol with serial number 92433p70?

Your Browning Nomad was made in the year 1970,with the serial number that you have provided.

What is the year of manufacture of 22 LR browning pistol serial 85516P7?

The suffix of P7 to your serial number indicates that you have a Browning Nomad model pistol,which was made in the year 1967.

What is the value of a Browning 380 pistol ser number 71N12729?

Your browning 380acp pistol is going for between 300-450 dollars depending on the overall condition of the wood,metal,and bore.your browning 380 was made in 1971.

What can you tell me about a Belgian browning 32 serial no 132767?

I would need to know the Browning model number besides the serial number to get you any info on your semi-auto browning pistol.

What is the value of a Browning 1973 U73 22 pistol walnut handles made in Belgian?

The exact value of a Browning 1973 U73 22 pistol made in Belgian is actually dependent on a number of factors. Most importantly, the condition of the pistol.

What is the value of browning 22 caliber pistol with gold trigger?

The exact value of a Browning 22 caliber pistol with gold trigger is actually dependent upon a number of factors. Some of these factors would include the gold content, year and condition of the pistol.

How old is my Colt25 semi auto pistol serial?

In order to tell how old your Colt 25 semi auto pistol is, you will need to offer the serial number. This number gives you an idea of when the pistol was manufactured.

What year is 245 PX Browning pistol?

We cannot tell from the information you gave us, but if you go to the Browning website, under customer service, you can look it up in their on line records. You will need the serial number from the pistol.

When was feinwerkbau model 80 air pistol serial number 206069 manufactured?

They were manufactured from 1977 - 83. Or you can contact them at the link below.

We cannot tell from the information you gave us, but if you go to the Browning website, under customer service, you can look it up in their on line records. You will need the serial number from the pistol.

When was feinwerkbau model 80 air pistol serial number 206069 manufactured?

They were manufactured from 1977 - 83. Or you can contact them at the link below.

What is value of browning pistol serial number 395070?

Impossible to value based on the information provided.

What year was your browning High power pistol serial?

No way to answer since you did not provide the serial number.

What is age of a 380 Belgian Browning Pistol Serial 535121?

See the Browning website- customer service. Date of production by serial number listing.

What is the value of a browning 380 pistol serial number 71N13474 made in belgium?

Made in Italy by Beretta for Browning. 100-500 USD or so

What is the model for your browning 380 semi-auto pistol with serial?

Fn Browning 1906 Serial Numbers

They refer to this handgun as the browning model BDA (browning double action auto) pistol.

What is the value of a Browning pistol serial number 599058 made in belgium?

It is not possible to value a weapon with just the serial number.

What year was the browning nomad 22cal pistol with serial number 92433p7?

92433 is the number and P7 means it was made in 1967

Browning pistol with serial 32726u70 need year and model?

This would be a Browning Challenger .22 pistol made in 1970.

What is the model of a Rugar pistol with serial number 164667?

You probably have a Mk. I pistol, manufactured circa 1958. If this is the case, it would be a semi-auto pistol, chambered in .22 Long Rifle.

The 1906 FN Browning and the 1908 Colt:
The First 'Vest Pocket' Pistols

by Ed Buffaloe

On 7 July 1897 John Moses Browning and Fabrique Nationale (FN) signed an agreement giving FN the right to sell Browning-designed weapons in much of Europe, but specifically excluding them from markets in the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland where Colt's had been licensed to sell Browning's designs. The agreement was modified on 1 July 1912 to allow FN to sell Browning's designs in Great Britain, Ireland, and Canada provided they paid a royalty fee to Colt's for each gun sold. In turn, Colt's received exclusive rights in North and Central America.

Fn Browning 1905 Serial Numbers

The Cartridge

John Browning asked William Morgan Thomas of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company (U.M.C.) to develop a new cartridge suitable for a small blowback operated vest pocket pistol. Thomas worked on the cartridge in 1903 and 1904. In June of 1904 Browning asked Thomas to manufacture 500 rounds for him to use in testing his prototype. The cartridge was introduced commercially in 1906 by FN, and has always been referred to in Europe as the 6.35mm Browning. The cartridge was introduced into the U.S. in 1908, where it is known as the .25 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).

Fn Browning 1906 Vest Pocket

The FN Browning of 1906

Browning's vest pocket pistol was essentially a miniaturized version of the Model 1903 with a striker to ignite the cartridge (in place of the hammer used in the earlier design) and with no manual safety. Browning offered the diminutive pistol to Colt's as early as 1904, but they turned him down, so he took the design to FN, who manufactured it as the Pistolet Browning 6.35mm. FN received Browning's prototype in 1905, and the first production pistols went on sale in July 1906.

The first variant of the FN Browning Model 1906, like Browning's prototype, had no manual safety and featured only a grip safety. There was no mechanism to hold the slide open, either for reloading or for disassembly. The early trigger was a narrow, flat piece of machined metal, curved in front to fit the finger, with a smooth surface. Approximately 150,000 of the first variant guns were manufactured between 1906 and 1909.

For the second variant a manual safety lever was added. This change took place during 1909, but was not consistent--new slides with safety levers were installed in some guns with earlier serial numbers, while some guns with later serial numbers received older slides with no safety. Some say the safety lever was primarily intended to hold the slide open for field stripping the gun, and only secondarily served as a safety. However, the safety was patented by FN on 10 November 1906, only a few months after the pistol went on sale. In 1911, around serial number 220,000, the trigger was modified to have a larger front surface--it was given little flanges on either side, and was grooved in the center. According to Gangarosa, only about 30,000 of the second variant guns were made, making them relatively scarce.

The third variant gun was known at the time as the 'Triple Safety Model,' and is distinguished externally from the second variant by a slightly larger manual safety lever and different style slide detents. But the real internal difference was the addition of a magazine safety. I have not had the opportunity to examine a Model 1906 to determine how its magazine safety differs from the Tansley magazine safety on the Colt (see below).

The Model 1906 was originally referred to by FN as 'Pistolet Browning 6.35mm,' and sometimes as the 'Modèle de Poche,' or pocket model. The gun was often popularly referred to as the 'Baby Browning,' and when FN later created a new version they officially named it the 'Baby Browning' and even put the word 'Baby' on some of the early grips. Though it is often referred to as the 'Model 1905,' after its patent date, 'Model 1906' is the preferred designation for the older gun to distinguish it from the later official 'Baby' model.

The FN Model 1906 was issued in a standard polished blue finish with checkered animal horn grips with the FN logo in an oval at the top. Special order versions were available in six different levels of increasingly more elaborate engraving and gold inlay, most with either pearl or ivory grips. After 1940 standard grips were made of black plastic.

The slide legend for the first year of production was in sans-serif characters as follows:

FABRIQUE NATIONALE D'ARMES de GUERRE HERSTAL BELGIQUE
BROWNING'S PATENT

From 1907 through much of the 1930's the slide legend was in serif characters, with the word 'Depose' added, to indicate that the patent had been registered:

FABRIQUE NATIONALE D'ARMES de GUERRE HERSTAL BELGIQUE
BROWNING'S PATENT DEPOSE

Vanderlinden indicates that some minor variants of this inscription may exist.

From sometime in the 1930's through the end of production, the legend was again in sans-serif characters.

FABRIQUE NATIONALE D'ARMES DE GUERRE HERSTAL-BELGIQUE
BROWNING'S PATENT DEPOSE

The Colt Model 1908 Hammerless

Colt's took up its option on the Browning Vest Pocket in 1906, the same year FN began production, but Colt's prototype was not completed until late in 1907. Colt was intent on somehow distinguishing their gun from FN's. Their first prototype was a scaled down version of the Model 1903, complete with internal hammer and a newly designed manual safety lever from John M. Browning. However, the gun was judged to be too complicated for its size (something John M. Browning himself had probably already decided), so a second prototype was made that was mechanically an exact duplicate of the 1906 FN, with the addition of Browning's new manual safety lever. This gun went into production at the end of 1908. Its first appearance in the Colt's catalog of 1909 was as the 'Colt Automatic Pistol, Pocket Model, Calibre .25, Hammerless,' though within the company, the gun had been known as the Model N. Today it is usually referred to as the Colt Model 1908 Hammerless. The early advertisements for the Model 1908 stated that the gun '..has no equal in its size for Power, Accuracy and Effectiveness.' And also: 'Accidental Discharge is Absolutely Impossible with the Colt Automatic Pistol.'

The gun was marked COLT'S PAT. FIRE ARMS MFG. CO. HARTFORD CONN USA. PATENTED AUG. 25, 1896 APR 20. 1987. DEC. 22. 1903 on the left, and COLT AUTOMATIC, CALIBRE 25 on the right. The first patent listed had no real bearing on the gun, but was probably intended by Colt's to give the impression that the gun had more patent protection than it actually had in the U.S. The manual safety on the Model 1908 differed from that on the Model 1903 (and the FN Model 1906) in that it was rotated clockwise to engage the safety and counterclockwise to hold the slide open. This safety was patented by John Browning in 1910 and the new patent date was added to the Colt's inscription sometime after serial number 20,000: COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD. CT. U.S.A, PAT'D AUG. 25. 1896 APR. 20. 1897 DEC. 22. 1903 JAN. 25.1910.

In 1916 or 1917 a magazine safety, designed by George Tansley, was added somewhere near the 141,000 serial number range. Tansley was granted a patent for the magazine safety on 31 July 1917. The slide inscription was changed at approximately serial number 284,000 to read:

COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD. CT. U.S.A.
PAT'D AUG.25.1896.APR.20.1897.DEC.1903.JAN.25.1910.JULY 31.1917.

Fn Browning 1906 Pistol

There are a number of minor variations in the M1908, including width of the rear sight, size of the trigger, lettering variations, manual safety spring, trigger bar spring, and others. These are carefully detailed in Donald Simmons' article 'The Littlest Colt Automatic Pistol.'

As early as 1920 Pollard wrote that the FN Browning '..lacks the better finish of the colt factory.' W.H.B. Smith states boldly that the Colt is better made than the FN. I wouldn't hazard an opinion, since FN is well known for very high standards of production and I don't have a Model 1906 for comparison purposes. However, there is no doubt that the Colt is extremely well made. It features color case hardening on the trigger, grip safety, and manual safety lever, and the overall fit and finish is superb.

At the range, the Colt 1908 functioned flawlessly with both hard nose and hollow point ammunition. I was able to shoot pretty consistent three-inch groups at 25 feet.