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7/14/2018 11:03:44 PM
 
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Section 8: Handguns Subject: "New" FN 1900 purchase Msg# 1020281
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| Follow up now that I was able to find some more information about the markings. The K.P.D.C. No 3 indicates the following; Königlich Polizeidirektion Cassel (Royal Police Direction at Cassel), inventory ledger No. 3. This belonged to the state police in the city of Cassel in the German state of Prussia, and was pistol #3 in their inventory. I found a pistol listed in a guide to the German contract pistols that was S/N 160702 (3 before mine) and was ledger # 5 for the same police unit. The 1920 overstamp on the side of the frame was to indicate firearms that belonged to official police or army inventories, and were not subject to confiscation of arms from civilians that took place during the post war period. My serial number would indicate that the pistol was likely produced about 1904, based on year by year production quantities I found in a book about the pistol. I already knew the slide and frame markings indicated that the gun was from prior to May of 1907, but this narrowed things down a bit more. | ||||||
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For reference, the above message is a reply to a message where: I went to the OGCA show with my father today, and saw a number of temptations around the show. One of the first tables we walked by had a pair of K31's, one beech and one walnut stocked, for a reasonable price given how scarce they are already becoming. They also had a Chilean 7mm Mauser my dad was quite interested in. I saw several reasonably priced shooter Colt 1903's in .32 auto, along with many pricey collector guns in much nicer shape. Right at the other end of the show I spotted a FN-Browning 1900 pistol in excellent shape for a lower price than I typically see. The gun I almost certainly refinished, but has been done so in a proper bluing, unlike many of the refinished Colt 1903's I've seen. I walked away as I had it in my mind I really wanted the K31 Swiss rifle, and since my father wanted the Chilean Mauser, we headed back. Both were still at the table when we went by, but when we got back after stopping at the ATM both the Chilean Mauser and both K31's had been sold in those few minutes. At this point we wandered back by two of the best condition for a lower price examples of type 3 Colt 1903 .32's I had seen, but the fact that these are still so easy to find swayed me to look at the FN 1900 again. The FN's were never sold in the US and so are far harder to find, though they remain fairly low priced as collectibles go. I usually see $600-800 on decent original guns, though they are quite rare. I've only seen a couple in the few years I've been keeping an eye out for them. As I said, this gun seems to have been refinished, but it was in so good of shape overall, and at $440, I couldn't pass it up. I wanted a shooter with some history, not a collector grade original gun, and what I got is an excellent looker that I won't feel guilty taking to the range. The gentleman I bought this pistol from admitted he is a classic S&W collector, and so didn't know a ton about these pistols, but he had found a nice little quick and dirty history page about the pistols that he had printed out, and some of the information on there explained some of the markings on the gun. First off, based on the slide and frame markings from FN, this pistol is a pre-May '07 production example. The selector markings are in German, likely indicating this pistol was from a German police contract, as this was a special order feature. Lastly, the pistol has a later stamp of 1920, as well as K.P.D.C. No3. I haven't done my own research yet, but the gentleman said from what he could find this may have been from when the firearms were confiscated and logged after Germany lost WWI. I plan to do some more research on this as well as the variety of markings on the slide, frame, and barrel of the pistol, but for now I wanted to share some pictures. I apologize for the picture spam, and the quality on some of these. They were all taken with my phone. Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Pistol  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-160 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 1 Image Info: Right side view of FN 1900 pistol  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-200 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Matching Image Info: Matching numbers on FN 1900 Pistol  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-250 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Markings7 Image Info: FN 1900 manufacturer and other markings.  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/20 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-250 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Markings6 Image Info: Several markings and demonstrating the safety was also the slide lock lever, much like the Browning designed Colt 1903/1908.  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-160 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Markings5 Image Info: FN 1900 barrel markings second focal point.  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-160 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Markings4 Image Info: FN 1900 barrel markings  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/60 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-500 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Markings1 Image Info: Trigger guard marking on FN 1900  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/24 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-250 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: FN 1900 Markings2 Image Info: Magazine and frame base markings on FN 1900  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-250 Image below from Eric Freburg - Image Title: Fn 1900 Markings3 Image Info: Markings on FN 1900 magazine  Camera/Image Info Camera Make - samsung Camera Model - SM-G950U F-Stop - F/1.7 Shutter Speed - 1/60 sec Focal Length - 4.25 mm ISO-200 |
