Baby Browning Serial Number
I read through the numbering scheme at the Browning Web site and searched through the boards but can't figure out the serial number on a Baby Browning .25 I'm looking at in a local gunshop.
The number is VA05XXX. Since these weren't imported after 1969 and the two-letter serial number prefixes weren't adopted until the 1970s, I'm wondering what year this gun was made and what the two letters indicate- or whether it found its way here post-1969 and whether it is a truly an all made-in-Belgium gun.
It's got faux black pearl grips and appears to have a nickel or chrome-plated slide over an alloy receiver.
Is there a good Web site that lists or illustrates all the variations on the Baby Browning? I haven't been able to find one.
Many thanks for your help.
Bill
The number is VA05XXX. Since these weren't imported after 1969 and the two-letter serial number prefixes weren't adopted until the 1970s, I'm wondering what year this gun was made and what the two letters indicate- or whether it found its way here post-1969 and whether it is a truly an all made-in-Belgium gun.
It's got faux black pearl grips and appears to have a nickel or chrome-plated slide over an alloy receiver.
Is there a good Web site that lists or illustrates all the variations on the Baby Browning? I haven't been able to find one.
Many thanks for your help.
Bill
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Wouldn't you know ---
I went on the Precision Small Arms Web Site, which I've read through several times before, and saw a photograph that flashes on the site of one of their Baby Browning licensed copies, and the serial number has the two-letter prefix VA followed by a five-digit number. The VA must stand for Virginia, where the company was once located.
The gun I'm looking at has Browning Arms Company and Made in Belgium on the slide, which kind of fooled me.
I read in the history of PSA that they supplied Baby Brownings with the Browning mark when they first started.
I'll e-mail PSA to find out.
Bill0 -
The one with the alloy frame and nickel slide is called the Lightweight Baby. I remember them having white grips though? Can't help with SN, my WAG is that it's of fairly recent manufacture. Who knows how it got into the States? 0 -
Thanks for your reply Rufe-Snow.
I e-mailed PSA and received this reply from Lenn Kristal, the president of the company:
We make pistols for Browning's parent company in Belgium and the Slide of these pistols is marked "Fabrique Nationale" - and we use a different numbering sequence than the one you have disclosed - which is a numbering sequence dedicated to those pistols we distribute here in North America. The pistols on the PSA website that have VA serial numbers do not (if memory serves me correctly) say "Browning". They are labeled either "PSP-25" or "PSA-25". Every now and then when we do over runs of pistols for Fabrique Nationale, we will sell them to parties here in the USA, but most of these units have been shipped off-shore to places like Thailand. There are some but not many floating around here in the USA, but even then the Slide is marked "Fabrique Nationale". No other language appears on these Slides.
Sounds like someone has mated a pre-1967 Slide with a post-1983 Receiver.
Happy Holidays.
Interesting info - and impressive that the president of the company got back to me so quickly.
Merry Christmas to all,
Bill0 -
And there's more....
I went back to the shop this afternoon because my curiosity was killing me.
I asked whether it came with a box, and the clerk produced a small, grey PSP-25 box, and on the side was a label for that particular gun of "PSP-25 Chrome."
The slide is chrome-plated and, once again, had Browning Arms Company and Made in Belgium on the left side, and on the ejection-port side are Belgian proof marks.
I took the gun apart, and there isn't a serial number inside the slide or on the barrel, nor are there any other proof marks.
So, could it be a pre-1967 slide that was put on the gun at the PSP/PSA factory from leftover parts during an early production run of the PSP-25?
It's certainly an oddball piece, but I don't know if it's worth buying at a $489 price tag. Is it?
It's not in unfired condition, as there was powder residue on the inside.0 -
Not worth the price. Lay down three Ben Franklins and an three Andy Jacksons and ask them would they rather have the money or the pistol.[8D] 0 -
My bet is that it is a PSP or one of these:
http://www.iverjohnsonarms.com/3001/3094.html0 -
Bad - I was thinking something along those lines....
And Bill, thanks for the link. It seems that there are some weird Baby Brownings floating around.
Merry Christmas!
Bill0
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