The 1931
Fabrique Nationale
Fabrique Nationale Herstal (), trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe.
...
(FN) Baby Browning is a small
blowback-operated
Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge.
Several blowback systems exist ...
semi-automatic pistol designed by Belgium-born
Dieudonné Saive
Dieudonné Joseph Saive (; 23 May 1888 – 12 October 1970) was a Belgian small arms designer who designed several well-known firearms for Belgian armsmaker Fabrique Nationale, including the Model 1949 and the FAL (''Fusil Automatique Leger'' o ...
chambered in
.25 ACP
The .25 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol) (6.35×16mmSR) is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled centerfire pistol cartridge introduced by John Browning
John Moses Browning (January 23, 1855 – November 26, 1926) was an American firearm designe ...
(6.35x15 mm). The pistol features a six-round
magazine capacity and is a
striker-fired
A firing pin or striker is a part of the firing mechanism of a firearm that impacts the primer in the base of a cartridge and causes it to fire. In firearms terminology, a striker is a particular type of firing pin where a compressed spring ...
,
single action
A trigger is a mechanism that actuates the function of a ranged weapon such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow, or speargun. The word may also be used to describe a switch that initiates the operation of other non-shooting devices such as a trap ...
, blow back mechanism. The manual thumb operated
safety
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are two slightly dif ...
locks the
slide
Slide or Slides may refer to:
Places
* Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998
* ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018
*''Slide'', by Patrick Glees ...
in the closed position when engaged using side thumb pressure.
History
FN produced under license from the American arms designer John Browning the revolutionary
Model 1905 pocket pistol. Despite the name FN used for this pistol, it was later marketed as the FN 1906, the V.P. .25 (V.P. denoting Vest Pocket), and most confusingly, the Baby.
The .25 ACP cartridge became widely available during this time. The term ACP stands for "
Automatic Colt Pistol
Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) denotes various John Moses Browning cartridge designs primarily used in Colt and Fabrique Nationale de Herstal semi-automatic pistols. All of these cartridges are straight-sided and appear similar. The .32 ACP, .38 ACP ...
". This cartridge was among the first automatic pistol cartridges to be utilized worldwide. It was designed with a semi-rimmed shell casing made of brass. The rim of the shell casing had a slightly larger circumference than the base of the cartridge and an extractor groove was cut directly above it. The shell casing was
headspaced on this small rim; however, the utilization of the rim in this design complicated the mechanics of the cartridge because, while still in the magazine, the rim of one cartridge would sometimes get hung up on the extractor groove of the following cartridge (also known as "rim lock").
The 1905 Vest Pocket pistol incorporated a
grip safety
Close-up shot of a safety of an M16A2 rifle
In firearms, a safety or safety catch is a mechanism used to help prevent the accidental discharge of a firearm, helping to ensure safer handling.
Safeties can generally be divided into subtypes suc ...
mechanism and also a small safety lever on the left side of the frame, which locked the trigger. In addition, this safety lever locked the slide about a half inch back from the front of the pistol to enable easy disassembly.
Design
Pressured by the proliferation of unlicensed copies, FN began work in earnest on a successor product to the 1905 Vest Pocket pistol. Its basic design was used as a starting point for a new design. FN's Director of Operations, Dieudonné Saive (who would later design the
Browning Hi-Power pistol and the
FN FAL rifle) developed the new version during 1926–1927.
His design was smaller, lighter, and incorporated several refinements and improvements to the 1905 Vest Pocket pistol. The grip safety was eliminated and the small safety lever on the left side of the frame was extended under the grip plate toward the trigger, so that the thumb of a right-handed shooter could easily engage and disengage it. This feature enabled the user to manipulate the safety without having to release his grip on the pistol. The frame has a full-length dust guard extending to the end of the slide, and an area behind the trigger was relieved to allow the user to maintain a more substantial grip than with the 1905 version. The new design also introduced an auto-safety mechanism similar to the one utilized on the
Colt Vest Pocket of similar vintage, which prevented the pistol from being fired if the magazine was removed. A cocking indicator was also incorporated and is attached to the firing pin spring opposite the firing pin. It protrudes through a pin hole in the rear of the frame when the pistol is loaded.
The new version was marketed under the name Baby – and some of the original thermal hardened plastic grip plates were molded with both the initials "FN" at the top of the grip plate in a circle and the word "Baby" at the bottom of the grip plate under a raised crescent. This particular pistol came to be known worldwide as the Baby Browning pistol and is the pistol shown in the top picture, except for the "Browning" marked grip plates which indicate a more recent (circa 1960 and beyond) production run utilizing nylon impregnated black polymer grip plates.
During the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
it was issued to MACVSOG teams with a wallet-like concealment holster as a last resort gun.
Production history
European production
FN manufactured and marketed the Baby Browning from 1931 until 1979, though exports to the US only took place between 1953–1968. About 550,000 units were produced, including the hand chiseled engraved "Renaissance" and the "Lightweight" version. The Lightweight utilized a 6061 T6 aluminum frame and hexavalent chrome-plated (over electro-less nickel) slide and external detail parts. With the exception of special order nickel-plated units and the above-mentioned versions, all of the 1931 Baby Brownings were finished in chemical hot blue. The halt to exports to the US in 1968 was mandated by the
Gun Control Act of 1968 – which was precipitated by
Robert Kennedy's assassination
On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan shortly after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. PDT the following day.
Kennedy was a senator from New York and a candidate in ...
involving an
Iver Johnson
Iver Johnson was an American firearms, bicycle, and motorcycle manufacturer from 1871 to 1993. The company shared the same name as its founder, Norwegian-born Iver Johnson (1841–1895).
The name was resold, and Iver Johnson Arms opened i ...
manufactured revolver. This piece of legislation was signed into law by then President Lyndon Johnson. It forbade the importation of certain firearms, among them the 1931 Baby Browning – but it didn't forbid the domestic production of these same weapons. FN transferred production of the Baby Browning to
Manufacture d'armes de Bayonne
Manufacture d'armes de Bayonne (sometimes also called Manufacture d’Armes Automatiques de Bayonne) was a French pistol manufacturer. The company was founded by Léon Barthe in 1920. It survived the German occupation during World War II, and after ...
(MAB) during 1979. Based in Bayonne, France, MAB produced the pistol from 1979 until 1983 when bankruptcy forced it to discontinue production. Production of the Baby Browning ceased in Europe at that time.
North American production – FN-licensed
During 1982, discussions began between FN and its North American-based representative Jim Stone focusing on securing a North American-based contractor to manufacture the Baby Browning on a turnkey basis. In 1984 a Canadian Swiss screw machine shop,
Precision Small Parts, Ltd
Precision, precise or precisely may refer to:
Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general)
* Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter
* Significant figures, the number of digit ...
(PSP) entered into a technology transfer and production agreement with FN to manufacture the pistol. It was based in Aurora, Ontario and maintained a subsidiary in Charlottesville, Virginia.
FN issued an order to PSP for 40,000 of the pistols, all to be exported to Austria for onward distribution under the Browning logo. PSP's owner Joseph Maygar Sr. had a long working relationship with FN dating back to the days of the
Hungarian Resistance Movement of WWII. PSP produced firearms parts as well as sub-machine guns for FN. In 1985 the Canadian federal authorities forced PSP to transfer production of the Baby Browning pistol frame (the essential part according to the legal definition of a firearm) to its Virginia, US facility, though the Canadian side of the company continued to manufacture the slide and detail parts for the pistol (except for the magazine, which was contracted out to Mec-Gar of Italy). When the US subsidiary of PSP applied for a federal export permit with the Department of State to transfer the pistols to FN via its Austrian intermediary, the permit was denied. At that time, Austria was known to be a trans-shipment point for armaments for the Middle East, and presumably the State Department did not want a large number of Baby Browning pistols ending up in that region.
This action on part of the State Department caused PSP to become insolvent. The insolvency of the company eventually precipitated a sale to a US/Canadian-based investor group in 1991 orchestrated by San Francisco, California based merchant banker Lenn Kristal. During 1995 the technology and inventory of parts of the FN Baby Browning project was spun out by the investor group into a new entity under Kristal's control and direction, which became known as Precision Small Arms, Inc. (PSA), and the pistol was rebranded at that time as the PSA-25 Baby.
, PSA offers 27 versions of the original 1931 Baby Browning, including exhibition grade versions which incorporate orange, green and yellow gold, hand chisel engraving and rare materials.
All metal parts of the PSA-25 Baby are machined using 4 and 5 axis computerized numeric controlled machining centers and process dimensional control probe technology. All metal parts are hand finished. In 2008 a 303 stainless steel version of the pistol was introduced, and in 2009 a hand drop forged 7075-T652 aluminum framed version (the "Featherweight"). Limited edition runs are made of
damascus steel
Damascus steel was the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of Wootz steel either imported from Southern India or made in production centres in Sri Lanka, or Khorasan, Iran. These swords are characterized by ...
and
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
. As of November 2017 primary machining, finish work and assembly of all of PSA's versions of the Baby Browning has been undertaken in Minden, Nevada.
The US Patent Office issued a Configuration Patent to PSA for the configuration of the Baby Browning in 2015.
PSA and its former parent company PSP have been the only licensed manufacturers of the Fabrique Nationale 6.35 mm pocket pistol since 1984, although a copy has been produced in the US (see below).
North American production – unlicensed
![Bauer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Bauer_.25_Auto_pistol.jpg)
From 1972 until 1984, Bauer Firearms of
Fraser, Michigan
Fraser is a city in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,480 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Metro Detroit region.
History
The Village of Fraser was incorporated by an act of the state legislature in ...
manufactured and marketed the
Bauer Automatic
The Bauer Automatic is an American-made copy of the Baby Browning. Made of stainless steel, they are chambered in .25 ACP with a six-round capacity detachable box magazine. The Bauer was manufactured in Fraser, Michigan
Fraser is a city in ...
which is a copy of the Baby Browning machined from 416 investment cast stainless steel.
From 1984 to 1986 this pistol was marketed as the Fraser-25.
The Bauer Automatic is an approximate copy of the Baby Browning and was designed as such in order to avoid copyright infringement claims from FN, which at that time still had US patent protection on various components of the 1931 Baby Browning. For example, the Bauer Automatic was produced using 416 stainless steel investment castings while the FN Baby Browning slide and frame were originally produced from 8620 carbon steel bar stock. (However, with the purchase of a European-based investment casting operation during the early 1970s, the FN pistol frame and slide were produced from 8620 Carbon steel investment castings).
The Bauer Automatic utilized a different auto safety spring and the barrel was removed (and the slide released from the frame) by twisting it clockwise 45 degrees, rather than counterclockwise, as is the case with the FN Baby Browning. The Bauer Automatic has engraving on both sides of the slide, whereas the FN Baby Browning has engraving only on the side opposite the ejection port.
This copy of the Baby Browning is not known for its consistent machining tolerances. Many parts interchange with the FN Baby Browning, including grips, magazines, and various internal parts.
See also
*
Astra-Unceta y Cia SA
Astra Unceta y Cía was a Spanish weapons manufacturer founded on July 17, 1908, under the name Esperanza y Unceta by Juan Esperanza and Pedro Unceta.
Initially based in Eibar, the centre of the Basque arms industry, the company moved in 1913 t ...
*
Galesi-Brescia
Galesi Arms was an Italian gun manufacturer formally named ''Industria Armi Galesi'' which was founded in 1910. It was based in Collebeato, on the northern outskirts of Brescia.
History
The company was founded by Galesi Giuseppe Nicola, and was in ...
*
Fabrique Nationale
Fabrique Nationale Herstal (), trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe.
...
*
Walther Model 9
The Walther Model 9 was a striker fired semi-automatic pistol produced by Carl Walther CmbH and chambered in .25 ACP. The decision to use a striker vs. that of an internal hammer like on the Walther Model 8 was to reduce overall size of the g ...
References
External links
PSA-25 Operators ManualPrecision Small Arms, Inc.
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
.25 ACP semi-automatic pistols