I’m no help, but I’d like to see any pics you care to share.

Mine is a war trophy (Nazi) my grandfather brought back.

 

I’m no help, but I’d like to see any pics you care to share.

Mine is a war trophy (Nazi) my grandfather brought back.

Supposedly the same from some kid I bought it from.

 

I have never seen one and would enjoy seeing photos. What caliber is yours?

There are likely marks which will identify inspectors and year of production which may be the same as marks on High Powers and other FN pistols. If you are able to post detailed pictures of any marks on the frame, I or someone else here may be able to help you narrow it down.

Production was restarted in 1919 following WWl with serial numbers starting at 70,000. Production stopped in 1940 (German Occupation) around serial number 460,000. There were contract pistols made during this time... they may have had duplicate serial numbers or out of sequence serial numbers specific to the contract.

Much of the info I have access to is from the Anthony Vanderlinden book "FN Browning Pistols".

 

I wish I could date any model...

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

Sorry guys. Pictures to come. Date night.

 

Any FN historians?
Looking for date range for an FN Model 1910. Serial 315xxx.

Do you have some pics? Look at this pic. See the proof marks. The Lion over PV is the Provisional Proof. PV stands for Poudre Vive or smokeless proof. Then there is a inspectors mark. It is an * and a letter. This will tell you the name of the inspector. This also gives you a date range for the slide and the frame. This gun is *N so it was inspected by Henri Florkin who was an inspector from 1927-1958.

Then look at this barrel. You will see the same thing.

If you look at enough of the major parts the inspector marks + the serial number can give you a date range for DOB.

 

There are also 7 different slide legend variants associated with different dates of production for 1910s. As with many FN pistols of that time period serial numbers do not tell the whole story because so many of the guns were contract guns where the buyer could specify serial number ranges. Some of the individual contracts have distinct rollmarks. When you get a chance post some pics and I can tell you what is see.

 

I have one of those two and I can send you the serial number if you can help me out I want to decipher it because it’s from an ancestor that was in World War II and I just want to know the truth

 

My best guess, 1943.

 

 

View attachment 646509 View attachment 646511 View attachment 646513 View attachment 646515 View attachment 646517 View attachment 646519 View attachment 646521

Do you have a pic of the barrels proof marks?

 

opcorn:

 

These are my WAGs based on my limited resources. This is a 1919-1930 slide. Post WWI the tells are the lower case "de" and the Sans-serif font. Also the position of the PV Proof and the inspector's mark tells you a time frame. Other periods that used this font and lower case "de" had the inspectors mark first then the PV Proof. The *N is Henri Florkin who was an inspector from 1927-1958.

The other marks under Belgique are not FN proof marks. They are Austrian Hungarian. It was proofed in Vienna most likely upon acceptance. I am not sure about the second serial number. I cannot speak to when it was put on.

The grip are pre WWII and are Horn grips I think. This can be verified by the backing which should be solid. The larger FN logo tells me they are horn grips vs the later WWII plastic.

So using my Vanderlinen FN secret decoder ring I believe this pistol was made between 1927-1930.

 

I feel like I owe you money for this detailed deciphering. Thank you! Great history. I feel bad because the kid I got it from had no interest and claimed his grandfather brought it back.

These are my WAGs based on my limited resources. This is a 1919-1930 slide. Post WWI the tells are the lower case "de" and the Sans-serif font. Also the position of the proof of liege and the inspector's mark tells you a time frame. Other periods that used this font and lowe case "de" had the inspectors mark first then the Proof of Liege. The *N is Henri Florkin who was an inspector from 1927-1958.

The other marks under Belquise are not FN proof marks. They are Austrian Hungarian. It was proofed in Vienna most likely upon acceptance. I am not sure about the second serial number. I cannot speak to when it was put on.

The grip are pre WWII and are Horn grips I think. This can be verified by the backing which should be solid. The larger FN logo tells me they are horn grips vs the later WWII plastic.

So using my Vanderlinen FN secret decoder ring I believe this pistol was made between 1927-1930.

 

They may have been removed or it is a replacement barrel.

 

Nvm. I am dumb.

 

 

View attachment 646533

Yes that is what I would have expected. I spoke incorrectly earlier. The ELG in the crown in the Proof of Liege. The Lion over PV is the Provisional Proof. PV stands for Poudre Vive or smokeless proof. Both of these are seen on the barrel.

 

I love this forum. Thanks guys.

 

Can I hijack this thread to ask about my own FN 1910?

Serial 91XXX

Serif font across the whole slide, with a lowercase "de"

The inspector marking is a star "AR" where the "A" and the "R" are sort of conjoined.

I'm guessing this is a post-WWI but probably pre-1920 pistol?

I appreciate everyone who's willing to share their time and knowledge (or the knowledge of others in books they have!) here.

 

Pic would really help. Some of the info you have posted does not match up to FN Herstal markings. Inspector marks are a * and one letter. A thru Z skipping some letters. The "de" Sans-serif font on the slide might indicate 1919-1930 but pics will tell the story. Post them up and will give you my WAG.

 

Wondering if anyone can take a stab at helping me date my 1910. My grandfather brought it back from WW2. Since it's been in the family, it has only been fired one time. He didn't know it was loaded when he cleaned it for the first time! I'm including pics. One thing that I'm really wondering about is the small "D" ring on the left grip. I haven't seen any pictures on the web with that on there. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks!!

 

The *F is an inspectors mark. It was used by Lambert Alexande between 1927-1953. It has the Lion over the PV Proof but does not have the Perron proof so the gun was made after 1924 which fits with the *F inspectors mark. It has the crown over the PH which is a MAE arsenal Belgian Military acceptance mark.

The font on the slide is San Serif and is consistent with a gun produced between 1930-1950. It is standard on guns made between 1934-1940. Note that the DE before Guerre Herstal is capitalized which was not the case on earlier 1910s.

Are the grips plastic or made of horn? To my eyes they look like pre WWII grips which should be made of horn not plastic.

The H in the circle is an inspector acceptance mark for the part and was used between 1931-1940. It is missing the lanyard ring but you can see the attachment point.

So my WAG is that it was made between 1934-1940 and was a Belgian Military gun.

 

I believe the grips are bone. Thanks so much for shedding light on this!!

 

Hey guys I have a similar story I got this fn from my dad and would appreciate any info you can share on it

 

More pictures

 

Last pic promise

 

I believe that this gun in a 1922 not a 1910. Using what I know and what is published in Vanderlinden's FN Browning Pistols I will offer up my no charge Wild Ass Guess=WAG.

If you look closely you can see a *A that is an inspectors mark. It was used by 3 people.

Nicholas Worit 1911-1940
Louis Cominoto 1951-1954
Antoine Loncin 1960-1960

Another piece to the puzzle is the proofs.

You have the "Lion" over PV. It is on the frame, slide and the barrel. There is also the Perron proof which looks like a tower. They stopped using that in 1924. The finale proof of the Epreuve de Liege the Proof of Liege or final proof is also on the barrel. The slide legend is in this serif fonts with the lower case "de" and the Lion over PV and the Perron proof which would put its production between 1922-1934.

This marking on the magazine are typical FN markings. Mag should have 5 holes since it is marked 9mm.

These are Yugoslav markings. The Cyrillic says "Army State" These were purchased in the 1923-1940 range. The serial number on the gnu from FN did not always match the acceptance number. The S inside the circle is a Yugoslav inspectors mark. This gun is # 47,678 of the contract.

This crest is a version of Yugoslav crest.

The grips are early type ones. The are horn dyed black. One of the tells is the the font and the length of the F in FN. The backside should be flat with no signs of molding.

This pistol was an early pistol one of 60,000+ ordered by the Yugoslave/Serbian Army starting in 1923. It was inspected by Nicholas Worit . It could have shipped anywhere between 1923 and 1934. I would place it in the later part of the 1923-1934 period based on the serial number. My WAG is late 1933-1934.

 

Wow I had no idea thank you soo much ,any idea on value ?

 

I have no idea on value? It is a collector type piece and to get value you need to find the right collector.

 

If I were to sell mine would anyone here be interested?

 

WVsig:
Could I trouble you to take a look at my 1910?
It appears to be a mixmaster of proof/inspector marks.
I've got *E on the Frame, a *N on the slide, and a *G on the barrel. Plus the circled V on the trigger guard.
Sans serif lettering with the lower case "de".
I'm getting nowhere on dating.

First time posting here and I hope all 3 photos get linked.
ETA: I think you'll need to use the scroll arrows on the image.

thanks,
ppknut

 

WVsig:
Could I trouble you to take a look at my 1910?
It appears to be a mixmaster of proof/inspector marks.
I've got *E on the Frame, a *N on the slide, and a *G on the barrel. Plus the circled V on the trigger guard.
Sans serif lettering with the lower case "de".
I'm getting nowhere on dating.

First time posting here and I hope all 3 photos get linked.
ETA: I think you'll need to use the scroll arrows on the image.

thanks,
ppknut

Welcome to the forum.

*E is Auguste Jamart 1924-1959
*N is Henri Florkin 1927-1958
*G is Josef Charlier 1928-1559

So that gives you are range of 1927 to 1958. What are the grips made out of? Are they horn? You can normally tell from the backing. I am willing to bet that they are. The other tell that I can see is the lower case "de" in the slide legend. This tells me it is a post WWI gun made between 1920 to 1930. It is not earlier because the Peron proof the Tower of Liege is not on the slide only on the frame. They use the Peron Proof until 1924. So the slide inspected by Jamart was made in 1924. The rest of the gun was not made until at least 1928.

So my WAG is it left Liege between 1928-1930.This falls into the range of the inspectors marks and the proofs I see. I do not see any military acceptance marks. Enjoy

 

Hi, and thanks for letting me in. I came upon this thread while looking for information on this 1910 pistol I'm buying. It's being shipped to me by mail, so haven't really seen it myself, only pics. I see that the AR proof has been discussed before, and I think there are too many of them for being a double strike or mistake. Anyone have any idea about this proofmark? 1920-1930ish? Thanks 😉