F.N. mod. 1922

cal. 7.65mm (.32ACP)

In 1923 the government of the 'kingdom of serbs, croats and slovenes (later known as Yougoslavia) ordered 60.000 pistols from FN with 114mm barrel and eight round magazines. The quickest way to meet the demands involved lenghtening the 1910-pattern frame to accept a larger magazine and adapting the standart slide to cover the long barrel.

A single-stack semi-auto with a 4.5-inch barrel and weight of just 24-ounces, the FN Model 1922 was a popular gun with European armies and gendarmes in the 1930s and 40s. Product Information & Specs Wow, Original World War 2 Nazi Belgin FN 1922 With WaA613 Waffenamt inspection proof marks (this is the FIRST stamp used right after Belgin was invaded!) These where all.
The FN 1922 model was used by German law enforcement in the post-war era and especially by the railroad police. These pistols are marked 'BAHNPOLIZEI US ZONE' or simply 'BAHNPOLIZEI'.
Fn Model 1922 Pistol Stamps

FN 1922 Bahnpolizei

It acts of a weapon of the German police force of the railroad (Bahnpolizei). Indeed, these weapons were provided to the German police officers of the US zone (area occupied by American after WW2

See the book 'The Belgian Pistols Browning', page 158:

..German Purchases

Fn Browning 1922

The FN 1922 model was used by German law enforcement in the post-war era and especially by the railroad police. These pistols are marked 'BAHNPOLIZEI US ZONE' or simply 'BAHNPOLIZEI'...

Browning Model 1922 Pistol

DZ

Many small nations obtained their independence when the Austrian Hungarian Empire dissolved with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was a newly independent state. The Serbian army was the military stronghold in the unification. The Serbs were longtime customers in the Liege area. The new nation placed orders for 60.000 pistols and six million 9mm short cartridges. Orders for the FN pistol 1922 continued until the late 1930s.

Many of the FN pistols were captured by the Germans during W W II These pistols were reissued to secondary type forces Bulgarians, Italians, etc. The Yugoslavian 1922 pistol got the Nazi designation P641 (j). Large quantities remained in hands of the partisans. It became known as the pistol of Tito's partisan army. As a rule we can assume that the bulk of army pistols were requested in a special contract range. Few pistols however have been noted tot have army markings as well as standard FN production serial numbers. The top of the slide shows the Yugoslavian crest. The markings on the slide indicate standard military issue (translation: Army State)'

Fn 1922 For Sale

Photos Littlegun

Browning Fn 1922 Pistol Value

I'm about to get a pistol which as far as I can tell was made for the Yugoslavian Army.. It has the cyrillic writing on the side indicating 'Property of State' Serial number 69657. There is no German markings on the gun that I can tell.. What I'm confused about is the 2 proof marks on the trigger guard.. Normally there is an FN inside an oval in this area but this gun has a crown over M and a crown over B (Belgium perhaps?)..
Apparently the serial numbers for these guns can be quite confusing because of all the different contracts they were manufactured for... I'm pretty sure the gun was produced and delivered prior to the German takeover of the factory in 1940 or 41... but who knows?
My grandfather passed it down to my dad... I hear my Grandfather won it in a gambling bet from the guy who brought it back from WW2...
I'm just curious as to the history of the thing..And am hoping someone on here knows a lot about them and can help me because there were many made and floating around Europe... Any help would be greatly appreciated..[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]