Engraved FN 1922 Nazi pistol
I recently acquired a Fabrique Nationale Model 1922 pistol that was Nazi issue ( as evidenced by the Nazi WaA140 Waffenamts in the accustomed places). However, what REALLY caught my eye was the engraving. It's not factory work, so I have to assume that someone had it done post-war. My question for the experts here, does anyone recognize this work? Can anyone offer an insight into it?
Right side
Left side
Left slide detail with Waffenamts
Right slide detail of large cat
Right rear frame
Rear of slide
Front grip strap
Front sight detail
Front middle of slide detail
Rear middle of slide detail
Rear sight detail
Right side
Left side
Left slide detail with Waffenamts
Right slide detail of large cat
Right rear frame
Rear of slide
Front grip strap
Front sight detail
Front middle of slide detail
Rear middle of slide detail
Rear sight detail
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There are a lot of engraved WWII German guns.
There were a lot of hungry German engravers after the war and you could get work done very cheaply. A war trophy like this might well have been engraved for some C rations early in the Occupation, cash in Yankee greenbacks later on.0 -
In post war Germany,during the occupation. Work such as this wasn't uncommon. Might have been done for a couple cartons of cigaretts. Or couple lbs of coffee.
The inlaying with a different type of metal, is very interesting though. Don't recall ever seeing other G.I. handguns with that done to them?
Doesn't look like amateur work. The person who did it must have been a pro engraver/jeweler?
EDIT #1,
You can bet your sweet bibbity, MGM. That the engraving wasn't done during the war, by or for any kraut. Doing something like this to wehrmacht property. Would be a one way ticket to the Eastern Front, or worst.0 -
I doubt that gun was engraved in Germany. The engraving is, to put it delicately, terrible. It is not of the style found on German guns.
The gun was probably engraved by a hobby engraver in the US.0 -
+ one I am with Bill on this one The border around that CAT type animal Looks like it was cut with a cold Chisel 0 -
Agree,not that good of a job. 0 -
The buck on the rear of the frame is similar to the style that was used by German hunting organizations. Franz Schnell made a lot of pendants in that style for the Reichsforestampt. Bad engraving job, but likely German in origin. There are Nazi-motif engraving jobs out there which some Germans had applied to their issue pistols, I even know of a CZ27 that was ornamented with custom swastikas, so it can't be discounted that the engraving may be of wartime origin. 0 -
Nor can it be proven. The engraving is not of the quality a
that any commercial outlet or gunsmith would sell. It is utterly amateurish and crude.0 -
I don't think anybody wants to prove it. Wehrmacht sergeants not being flush with Reichsmarks, they probably looked for anybody with a cold chisel and a hammer. [:)] Officers and Party officials, probably not. 0 -
I am thinking more USGI than Wermacht.
Some farmboy with a souvenir got in touch with an apprentice engraver instead of a journeyman or master.0 -
While it is better than any "engraving" I could do, it is poor work.
Looks like someone had spare time and an instruction book.0
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