Tell me more about this old pistol... (Pics added)
A friend of mine invited me over to his house last week to look at some old guns. Some were REALLY old.
The one that interested me the most was a 1911 style (I think) 9mm pistol. I asked for a piece of paper, and wrote down everything I could read off the gun. Here is what I found:
Fabrique Nationale D'Armes De Guerre
Herstal Belgique
Browning's Patent
De Pose
WaA140
MD
Serial Number 91545a
My tired old eyes had trouble seeing some symbols on the gun, but the owner told me that there was an eagle and a Nazi swastika.
I have some pictures that I am going to try to upload, but I am waiting on membership confirmation from the photo hosting website.
The gun has one glaring modification on it, as the original owner replaced the grips with clear plastic or glass grips, and has some foil inlaid pictures and decals under the grips.
Any idea what this gun is? Is it worth anything?
Thanks in advance.
The one that interested me the most was a 1911 style (I think) 9mm pistol. I asked for a piece of paper, and wrote down everything I could read off the gun. Here is what I found:
Fabrique Nationale D'Armes De Guerre
Herstal Belgique
Browning's Patent
De Pose
WaA140
MD
Serial Number 91545a
My tired old eyes had trouble seeing some symbols on the gun, but the owner told me that there was an eagle and a Nazi swastika.
I have some pictures that I am going to try to upload, but I am waiting on membership confirmation from the photo hosting website.
The gun has one glaring modification on it, as the original owner replaced the grips with clear plastic or glass grips, and has some foil inlaid pictures and decals under the grips.
Any idea what this gun is? Is it worth anything?
Thanks in advance.
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Hello Sounds Like you have a F.N. 9 MM but they did not make any 1911 designed pistols in that time frame They did make what is called a Browning High Power . Look at that listing here and see if this looks like the pistol in question. During WW II it was common practice to make Clear grips from airplane wind screens and common practice to put Girl friend's / Wife's picture behind them. Pictures are a must for us to tell you more. 0 -
Browning Highpower with Plex. Glass grips probley from aircraft like Perry said.It was not uncommon for GIs to do this but some were better than others.I have a 1911 that a GI put his girlfriends or wifes pictures under the plex. grips,nice grips but yuk was she ugly.Also seen a Polish Radon with the picture of the Germans wife or girl friend under the grips.Neat because you could see a nazi flag in the background.I tryed to buy it from the vet but he wasnt ready to part with it. 0 -
Is there anyway to know the age of the gun? The value?
Was this really a Nazi gun like the owner thinks it is?
He claims it was used by a relative in WWII. Could he be correct?0 -
It was realy a nazi pistol.It was made after Germany took over Belgium and before they lost Belgium if his relitives were US then the gun was used after its capture from the Germans. quote:Originally posted by sohigh1
Is there anyway to know the age of the gun? The value?
Was this really a Nazi gun like the owner thinks it is?
He claims it was used by a relative in WWII. Could he be correct?0 -
sohigh1....the pistol is a FN M1935 Browning High Power made by FN in Belgium. It is a very well made pistol and one the Germans highly prized. With the serial number that you list it was made during the German occupation of Belgium when the Germans kept the FN factory tuning out the pistol for German Army (and the pistol was really liked by the SS) use. There were three subvariations of German Occupation FN's and this pistol looks like the second variation. It has the correct German waffenmark (E/WaA140) and its serial number puts it in the midrange of production (90000-145000) so it was made probably in 1942 or so. About 92000 of this model were made and it came originally with walnut stocks. The owners "modification" does nothing to enhance the value of the pistol but that was popular to do by "liberation" owners to personalize. Since the pistol was popular with the SS and the Allied campaign in France was against several SS divisions (1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 12th) quite a few of these guns were "broughtbacks." Value? Need closer photos to pin down but if it was mine I would not let it go for less than $600 or so...again closer photos would nail it down. Hope this helps[^] 0 -
Gary, I cannot tell you how interesting I find all that. I love history, and I feel like I have held a real piece of history in my hands having held that gun.
To think about where that gun came from, what it must have been used for, and the mysterious journey it must have taken to end up in my hands here in Indiana, truly astounds me.0 -
I will disagree a bit with Gary. I believe that the plexiglass grips would add to the value somewhat. They are not that common. Given the choice between the clear grips and the standard walnut, I would take the clear anytime. Maybe that's just me though.
Tom0 -
quote:Originally posted by sohigh1
Gary, I cannot tell you how interesting I find all that. I love history, and I feel like I have held a real piece of history in my hands having held that gun.
To think about where that gun came from, what it must have been used for, and the mysterious journey it must have taken to end up in my hands here in Indiana, truly astounds me.
sohigh1....glad the historian could be of some help to you. If guns could only talk.....[^]0 -
I would agree as to the grips adding value. My neighbor is a WWII vet and brought back a Browning 32 that he put clear plexi grips from the wind screen of the first German jet fighter that his unit found in France. He was with the 4th amored division. He said the called in Army Intellengence(sp) and they disassembled the jet completely, boxed it up, and shipped it back to England. He said the left the Wind screen (windshield) so he and some buddies cut it up into pieces to make grips for their captured German hand guns. I ordered him a mag for the 32 and the History behind it was great.
On a side note, I ahve a 1935 Browning HiPower that needs a staked style front sight (my son lost it), ANY ONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND ONE PLEASE e-mail me at:
jjmitchell60@msn.com
No matter the cost!0 -
Minor trivia- the Browning has the distinction of being (I beleve) the only handgun used by both sides at the same time. It was made for the Germany Army in Belgium after the fall of Belgium, and in Canada for the Canadian Army. 0
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