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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  BELGIAN PISTOL FN MODEL 1900 7.65MM SN# 218764
Maker/Manufacturer:	BROWNING, JOHN MOSES
Date of Manufacture:	1900-1912
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1025
Measurements:	OL: 16.5C 6 1/2" BL: 10.7C 4 1/4" 1.3 lbs.

Object Description:

BELGIAN PISTOL FN MODEL 1900 7.65MM SN# 218764
Manufactured by Fabrique Nationale, Herstal, Belgium - Standard Browning Model 1900, blowback-operated, semi-automatic pistol. Concealed hammer, fixed sights, checkered hard rubber grips, with 7-round feed mechanism. 6-groove rifling; right hand twist. Muzzle velocity 950 fps. Weapon weighs approximately 1.3 lbs. AKA: "Old Model." Approximately 724,500 manufactured from 1900-1914.

Markings:
Frame: FN logo/BREVETTE S.G.D.G. Proofs. 218764. FEU.
Slide: FABRIQUE-NATIONALE-HERSTAL-LIEGE. (BROWNINGS-PATENT). Proofs. 218764.
Grips: FN logo.
Triggerguard: W/L. N in sunken square.

Weapon found in one of "29 Boxes of Miscellaneous Foreign Weapons as received from New York Port of Embarkation on 6 March 1946, per SA OOO.4/17 and 28. Note: Itemized list showing quantities and descriptions of individual weapons to be attached and made part of this voucher promptly upon completion of checking in of weapons in Experimental-Laboratory, Building No. 28. Weapon to be retained in Experimental-Laboratory for an indefinite period for examination and study per Mr. P.W. Oliver, 11 March 1946, after which they will be regreased and boxed suitable for storage and place with other Museum Material in Building #19 pending reopening of the Armory Museum."

Exhibit label: "FN/BROWING M1900 7.65 millimeter - The M1900 was John M. Browning's first successful automatic pistol design. It was produced in vast numbers, possibly millions, at the Fabrique Nationale Arms Plant in Belgium and was copied and sold commercially throughout the world. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose death precipitated World War I, was assassinated with a Browning M1900."*

Notes: This was John Browning's first commercially successful pistol. It also introduced the 7.65mm Browning cartridge.
The M1900 was little used as a military weapon. It is believed that some armies, Russia, Belgium, and, possibly, Holland, issued a few of these arms.

"The first successful blowback pocket pistol, over a million were made by 1912 and production continued for several years thereafter. The shape is unique, but it has been widely copied (in cheap materials) in India and China; these can easily be identified by the poor finish and unintelligible markings." - Hogg & Adam

"John Moses Browning first produced an automatic pistol produced an automatic pistol in 1900, but after disputes with American manufacturers he sold the rights to the Belgian firm of Fabrique Nationale (FN), creating a link that would last for decades. This is a tough and reliable pistol, which has the barrel fixed to the frame. The breech block is an integral part of the top slide, which also holds the recoil spring running above the barrel. The slide is pulled back to cock the weapon, then released to move forward and feed a round from the magazine. When the pistol is fired, the slide provides sufficient mass to delay rearwards movement until the gas pressures have dropped. An extractor on the slide also pulls the empty case from the breech and flips it out through the ejection port on the left side." - Graham Smith

"The 1900-pattern FN-Brownings were distinguished by the barrel, which was firmly attached to the frame, and by the return spring above the barrel. The spring not only returned the slide to the battery after firing, but powered the striker through a special intermediate lever. A safety catch lay on the left side of the frame, and a cocking indicator, part of the striker-actuating lever, broke the line of sight until the gun was ready to fire. Some guns were made with elongated barrels, often for sale in markets such as Austria-Hungary where barrel-length restrictions were enforced. These looked strange, as the barrel lay beneath the recoil spring and protruded from the bottom of the slide instead of the top." - Zhuk

"Perhaps the most unusual development in recent years was the North Korean resurrection of the Browning 1900 pistol as their Type 94. Chambered for the 7.65 x 17mm (.32 ACP) cartridge, this weapon appears to have been intended
*"Recent research by Karl Schafer (Germany) contradicts reports that the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand used a 1900 Browning. Official Austrian documents indicate bullets from the victim's bodies were 9mm Short and four 1910 Brownings (sn 19074, 19075, 19120, 19126) in caliber 9mm short were taken from the conspirators. These four pistols were lost from storage in Austria during the chaos of the last war days in 1945." - Jan C. Still

References:
Ezell, Edward. SMALL ARMS OF THE WORLD. 12th Ed. Barnes & Noble. N.Y., N.Y. 1993.
Hogg, Ian & Rob Adam. JANE'S GUN'S RECOGNITION GUIDE. Harper Collins, Glasgow, Scotland. 1996
Hogg, Ian V. & John Weeks S. MILITARY SMALL ARMS OF THE 20TH CENTURY. 7th Ed. Krause Publications. Iola, WI. 2000.
Miller, David. THE ILLUSTRATED DIRECTORY OF 20TH CENTURY GUNS. Salamander Books, Ltd. London, England. 2001.
Smith, Graham. MILITARY SMALL ARMS: 300 YEARS OF SOLDERS'S FIREARMS. Salamander Book Ltd. London, England. 1996.
Still, Jan C. THE PISTOLS OF GERMANY AND ITS ALLIES IN TWO WORLD WARS. Vol. 1. Jan C. Still, Douglas, Alaska. 1982.
Zhuk, A.B. THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HANDGUNS: PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS OF THE WORLD, 1870 TO THE PRESENT. Greenhill Books. London, England. 1995.

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