The FN Model 1905 (from its patent date) or FN Model 1906 (in European countries due to its date of manufacture) was a pistol manufactured by

Fabrique Nationale de 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. ...

from 1906 to 1959. It is virtually identical to the

Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket The Model 1908 Vest Pocket is a compact, hammerless, striker-fired, semi-automatic single-action pistol. Manufactured by the Colt's Manufacturing Company from 1908 to 1948, it was marketed as a small concealable firearm which could be easily ...

, which was based on the same John Browning prototype, and was the inspiration for FN's later

Baby Browning The 1931 Fabrique Nationale (FN) Baby Browning is a small blowback-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Belgium-born Dieudonné Saive chambered in .25 ACP (6.35x15 mm). The pistol features a six-round magazine capacity and is a striker-fi ...

design. Although Browning's handgun patents were sold to both FN and Colt, this was the only case in which both companies put the same design into production without any significant modification. The Model 1905 was used by the

Belgian Resistance The Belgian Resistance (french: Résistance belge, nl, Belgisch verzet) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Be ...

in 1943 in the

Attack on the twentieth convoy On 19 April 1943, members of the Belgian Resistance stopped a Holocaust train and freed a number of Jews who were being transported to Auschwitz concentration camp from Mechelen transit camp in Belgium, on the twentieth convoy from the camp. In th ...

, in which more than 100 Jews were saved from a

Holocaust train Holocaust trains were Rail transport, railway transports run by the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn#1939-1945: The Reichsbahn in the Second World War and the Holocaust, Deutsche Reichsbahn'' national railway system under the control of Nazi Germany and Co ...

transporting them to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. The gun is now on display in the Kazerne Dossin museum in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Semi-automatic pistols Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1906 .25 ACP semi-automatic pistols