The FN Browning M1900 is a single action,

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...

designed c. 1896 by

John Browning John Moses Browning (January 23, 1855 – November 26, 1926) was an American firearm designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms many of which are still in use around the world. He m ...

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 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 ...

History

The design was presented to arms manufacturer

FN Herstal 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. F ...

in 1898, 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. Eugen Schauman, a Finnish nationalist activist,

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

the Governor-General Nikolay Bobrikov (the highest Russian authority in the Grand Duchy of Finland) with a Browning pistol on June 16, 1904, in Helsinki. 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. An Jung-geun, a Korean-independence activist, assassinated the Resident-General of Korea Itō Hirobumi with this type of gun on October 26, 1909 in Harbin railway station. 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. State-run arsenals produced serialized production runs for warlord militias, and local craftsmen produced one-off handmade versions. LA2-Blitz-0150 Browning-Selbstladepistole

LA2-Blitz-0150 Browning-Selbstladepistole

The 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.

Ammunition

The weapon is chambered for the

.32 ACP .32 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol, also known as .32 Automatic) is a centerfire pistol cartridge. It is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled cartridge developed by firearms designer John Browning, initially for use in the FN M1900 semi-automatic pi ...

, also known as 7.65×17mm Browning SR, "SR" denotes semi-rimmed.

Users

* * :Bought by the Federal District police * * :First acquired by police before 1917, in total up to a thousand were bought. The pistol was very popular in the civilian market and among early Finnish nationalist movement ''Voimaliitto.'' Also used by the State Railways and the Bank of Finland. * :Bought by police agencies * * :Popular sidearm with officers * :Issued to police forces and military officers

Conflicts

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

World War I Russian Civil War Finnish Civil War Warlord Era Chaco War Chinese Civil War World War II

Synonyms

This model is known by several names, including: *FN M1900 *FN Mle.1900 *Browning M1900 *Browning No.1

References

External links

FN 1900 pistol (Infographic tech. drawing)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fn M1900 .32 ACP semi-automatic pistols M1900 World War II infantry weapons of China 19th-century semi-automatic pistols