FN M1900

The FN Browning M1900 is a single action semi-automatic pistol designed c. 1896 by John Browning for Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN) and produced in Belgium at the turn of the 20th century. It was the first production handgun to use a slide.

M1900/Browning No.1
Browning 1900 .32 ACP
TypeSemi-automatic pistol
Place of origin
  • United States (designed)
  • Belgium (manufactured)
Production history
DesignerJohn Browning[1]
Designed1896
No. builtc. 700,000[1]
VariantsModele 1899, Mle. 1900
Specifications
Mass625 g (1.378 lb)[1]
Length17.2 cm (6.8 in)[1]
Barrel length10.2 cm (4.0 in)[1]
Cartridge.32 ACP (7.65×17mm Browning SR)[1]
ActionBlowback operated
Feed system7+1[1]
SightsFixed

History
Browning 1900 .32 ACP S/n 330049

The design was presented to arms manufacturer FN Herstal in 1897, with production commencing the following year (then under the designation Modele 1899). In 1900, an improved design featuring primarily a shorter barrel and wider grips was introduced as the M1900. These designations were applied retroactively after FN began manufacture of other Browning pistol designs; initially the M1900 was marketed as simply the "Pistolet Browning" (Browning Pistol). Production ceased only 11 years later, with a total of about 700,000+ units having been produced.

United States President Theodore Roosevelt owned a mother of pearl-gripped Modele 1899, which he regularly kept on his person and in his bedside drawer. It now resides in the NRA Firearms Museum.[2]

Eugen Schauman, a Finnish nationalist activist, assassinated the Governor-General Nikolay Bobrikov (the highest Russian authority in the Grand Duchy of Finland) with a Browning pistol in Helsinki on June 16, 1904. The act was followed by spontaneous anti-Russian celebrations in the streets of Helsinki and after the 1917 independence Schauman was considered to be a national hero of Finland.[3]

An Jung-geun, a Korean-independence activist, assassinated the 1st Prime Minister of Japan and Resident-General of Korea Itō Hirobumi with this type of gun on October 26, 1909 in Harbin railway station.[4][5]

Socialist revolutionary Fanny Kaplan also used a FN M1900 in her attempted assassination of Lenin on August 30, 1918.[6]

The pistol was popular in China from its introduction through World War II and was often copied and used as the basis for other designs.[7] State-run arsenals produced serialized production runs for warlord militias, and local craftsmen produced one-off handmade versions.[8]

Cutaway view

The North Korean Type 64 pistol is a copy of the M1900. Specimens examined by western authorities were marked with the date of 1964. A silenced variant was produced that featured a shortened slide to allow the threaded barrel to protrude far enough to attach the silencer.[9]

Ammunition

The weapon is chambered for .32 ACP, also known as 7.65×17mm Browning SR ("SR" denotes semi-rimmed).


Users

Conflicts

Mexican Revolution[17][18]

Balkan Wars[19]

World War I[20]

Russian Civil War[6]

Finnish Civil War[13]

Warlord Era[21]

Constitutionalist Revolution[22]

Chaco War[15]

Chinese Civil War[6]

World War II

Synonyms

This model is known by several names, including:

  • FN M1900
  • FN Mle.1900
  • Browning M1900
  • Browning No.1

See also

Underbarrel pistols

References
  1. "FN / Browning M.1900 (Browning No.1) pistol (Belgium)". Modern Firearms. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  2. Jim Supica; Doug Wicklund; Philip Schreier (2012). The Illustrated History of Firearms. BOOKSALES Incorporated. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-7858-2989-8.
  3. Zetterberg, Seppo (1988). Viisi laukausta senaatissa – Eugen Schaumanin elämä ja teko. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 246-247, 268, 281. ISBN 951-1-09266-9.
  4. Lee, Sung Joo (2019). 우라웍스 (ed.). 안중근, 사라진 총의 비밀 : 이토 히로부미를 저격하고 빼앗긴 M1900을 찾아서. 청림출판. ISBN 9791155401569.
  5. Lee, Jeong Hyun (24 October 2019). "안중근은 이토 히로부미를 어떻게 완벽히 저격했나". YTN. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. Vlander, John (20 March 2015). "Pistols in the land of ten thousand guns: China was awash in firearms of all kinds in the 1920s and '30s, but these six pistols were coveted above all others as Communists, Nationalists and warlords squared off". Shotgun News. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. A mainstream Soviet movie from the 1940s, once famous in China, called Lenin in 1918 shows Lenin's bodyguard Wassily using an FN 1900. Also interestingly, in the same movie, the female agent from the Kerensky government named Fanny Kaplan tried to kill Lenin using the same pistol
  7. "Browning 1900". Forgotten Weapons. 3 October 2014. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  8. McCollum, Ian (2021). "FN 1900 Copies". Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911 - 1949. Headstamp Publishing. pp. 334–461. ISBN 9781733424639.
  9. Hobart, Frank (1974). Jane's Infantry Weapons: 1975 (First Year of Issue). Jane's Information Group. p. 37. ISBN 0-3540-0516-2.
  10. "The military and police handgun cartridges of Belgium: from 9.4mm to 5.7mm. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  11. "Military and police handgun cartridges of Brazil. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  12. Ian McCollum (2021) Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911 - 1949, Chapter 1: Domestic Chinese Designs, pp. 30-39
  13. "FINNISH ARMY 1918 - 1945: REVOLVERS & PISTOLS PART 4". www.jaegerplatoon.net. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  14. "Oddball German 7.65mm pistols of WWI and WWII: Taschenpistolen/Behelfspistolen im militarischen dienst: Part 1. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  15. "La guerra del Chaco: the bloodiest Latin American war of the 20th century: Part I. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  16. "Russian/Soviet: military handguns part 1 from Lefaucheux to Luger. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  17. "Guns of the Mexican revolution: revolutions devour their own, and nowhere was that more true than in Mexico. Being a leader tended to be very bad for your health. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  18. Jowett, Philip S. (2006). The Mexican Revolution, 1910-20. A. M. De Quesada, Stephen Walsh. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-0718-2. OCLC 881164009.
  19. Jowett, Philip (2012). Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912-13 : the priming charge for the Great War. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-299-58155-2. OCLC 842879929.
  20. Small Arms of WWI Primer 013: Belgian FN Model 1900 Pistol, archived from the original on 12 June 2023, retrieved 16 December 2022
  21. Ian McCollum (2021) Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911 - 1949, Chapter 1: Domestic Chinese Designs, pp. 82-111
  22. "O Museu de Polícia Militar de São Paulo". Armas On-Line (in Brazilian Portuguese). 25 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2023.

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