FN Model 1900***UPDATE***

[policerevolvercollector]

Anyone have one or know anything about these .32 autos. I've always been fascinated w/ the looks of the pistol. I read somewhere that it was Theodore Roosevelt's choice for a carry gun. I found one for sale and am having a difficult time restraining myself.....

Best,
Charles

 

[alwslate]

They remain popular and nice ones bring a good price on the auction
sites. The American Rifleman magazine has featured extensive articles
on them in past issues if you are able to search it.

 

[policerevolvercollector]

UPDATE

Anyone have one or know anything about these .32 autos. I've always been fascinated w/ the looks of the pistol. I read somewhere that it was Theodore Roosevelt's choice for a carry gun. I found one for sale and am having a difficult time restraining myself.....

Best,
Charles

So much for willpower! I talked the seller down to $260 shipped.







Best,
Charles

 

[Simmer down]

First time shooting this gun. One-handed with Remington 71g at about 7 yards. No recoil with this super-puny round. The recoil spring is above the barrel so that decreases the recoiling torque.

I think I paid $200 for this at a gun show on a whim about 2 years ago. Chrome was after market, I'm pretty sure.

Clean it, oil it, shoot it. You won't lose any money, for sure.

 

[Absalom]

So much for willpower! I talked the seller down to $260 shipped.
Best,
Charles

Jeez! For that kind of money, I wouldn't even have bothered with willpower! Great deal. The ones popping up on GB are frequently in worse shape for at least a couple hundred more.

 

[TACC1]

I'm glad to see you mastered your WANT-IT
in the right direction. That gun will probably be
around for another hundred years, and work just
as well.
TACC1

 

[Stevie]

I bought one some years back. A friend's father had one..and no idea how to take it apart for cleaning. Friend brought the pistol to work and we figured out how to strip the top off it. Was such a cool old pistol I went looking for one.

Not too many FN 1900 pistols on the market..but I found one at an online auction site and got it bought really cheap..however it was minus the magazine and had a bogus mainspring. Wolff had a replacement mainspring and I bought a reproduction mag from Numerich Arms.

Cleaned and with new spring and magazine my little 1900 runs perfect..

 

[DWalt]

I have an FN Model 1900 in near-mint condition. I don't shoot it much any more, but when I did, it was always very reliable, and I would not have hesitated to use it as a personal defense weapon. The only problem is with the grips. I believe they were gutta-percha (a type of rubber) containing wood flour filler, and insects will eat holes in the grips. I kept the damaged originals, but put a pair of plastic replacement grips on it instead. There were a lot of 1900s made, I think about 750,000, so they are not anywhere near rare. But those in better condition don't show up often. You may not know this, but it was the very first commercially-sold pistol operated by the blowback principle, as developed by John Browning. Many were used in the trenches during WWI, and the FN Model 1900 was a favorite of the French Foreign Legion for many years. At one time, it was thought to have been the pistol used in 1914 by Gavrilo Princep to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie in Sarajevo, thereby starting WWI, but that is not correct. Princep used the improved FN 1910 model in .380. The Model 1900 was never chambered in any caliber other than .32 ACP.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Neat toy. Excellent price. I just picked up a 1910 at a decent price and it shoots very well indeed.

 

[policerevolvercollector]

Anyone have one or know anything about these .32 autos. I've always been fascinated w/ the looks of the pistol. I read somewhere that it was Theodore Roosevelt's choice for a carry gun. I found one for sale and am having a difficult time restraining myself.....

Best,
Charles

It arrived today ...can't wait to get it to the range!!!



It feels GREAT in the hand and balances very well!

 

[DWalt]

This is mine. It's easily 98% finish. Grips on it are not original, but I have them, even though with insect holes.

 

[2152hq]

.32's are neat,,,early 32's are even neater.

They made an earlier model,,the Mod 1899. Looks about the same. Slight difference in rear frame outline,,more of a sharp edge at the bottom of the arc off the back of the slide'frame.
Some very slight differences in the mechanics, other cosmetics and the grips were narrower and had a different logo.
1899 grip panels were each held on with a spanner nut.

1899's were made into 1902(01?) so they actually made the the 2 models at the same time. Probably just using up 1899 parts.

I had a 1900 in about the same condition as the OPpistol many moons ago. Shot & functioned really well.

IIRC,,the 1899 & 1900 used the same magazine.
The 1899 had 3 view holes in the sides. The 1900 model had 4 or 5 (or maybe it was 4 or 6!) depending on the era of mfg. The lesser # were 4mmd,,the larger # were 5mm in dia.
The 1899 safety used round circles cut into the thumb tab for grip surface. The 1900 was checkered.
More collector minutia than I care to recall now,,!

 

[DWalt]

The earliest 1900s (and maybe the 1899s also) had a different logo on the grip panels. I once saw one which had aluminum grips. Could have been hand-made, but looked professional.

 

[Cyrano]

Here's mine. They have a minor place in history; they were used in the Houndsditch Affair. The Houndsditch Affair led to the Siege of Sidney Street in London in 1910, in which two Communists fugitives from Russia holed up in a building and kept everybody at bay with two Mauser Broomhandles.

In the Houndsditch Affair the gang of which the two were a part tried for a robbery in the Houndsditch sector of London. They rented an apartment next to a jewelry store and during the weekend tried to break through the wall connecting the two buildings. The noise they made caused neighbors to call the police. When the police arrived, unarmed, they were met by gunfire from the gang who were armed with 1900 Brownings and Dreyses. Three policemen were killed and another wounded, and one of the gang was also hit by the wild shooting and died later. Police investigation led to the two in the house in Sidney St.