Gentlemen, I am confused concerning FN 1922 serial numbers. I understand that wartime serial numbers continued into aprox 155,000 under German occupation. I know that the Germans re-configured the serial numbers to run in blocks of 100,000 with a letter suffix in late 1943 until the end of production in 1944. My understanding is that when the Belgians continued producing this pistol in late 1944 they used an 'A' prefix to distinguish the pistols made after liberation. So, my question is were the FN 1922 pistols utilized by various postwar German Police agencies made during the war of after?
![Browning Browning](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125364835/261295458.jpg)
![Fn browning m1922 serial numbers lookup Fn browning m1922 serial numbers lookup](http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL68/1624602/19115514/315325476.jpg)
They seem to fall into the 1943 serial number range since they do not have an 'A' prefix. Is this perhaps a special postwar contract serial number run without the prefix letter? Here is an example of a pistol issued to the postwar Berlin Polizei in the American Zone of Occupation with such a serial number. It has full Belgian proofs (no Germans ones) and no 'triangle' stamp on the back of the frame or slide. When was it made?
The FN Browning M1922 was a very popular pistol in many Armies and Police forces, till take over of Belgium through the Germans. Serial numbers: 20000 - 215000; 1 - 100000 with suffix 'a', 'b', or 'c'. Serial number: 6-digit number right on frame. 6-digit number inside slide. The FN Browning M1922 was a very popular pistol in many Armies and Police forces. Serial numbers. 6-digit number right on slide extension (not matching).
According to Anthony Vanderlinden's book, all Berlin's police FN 1922 pistols were purchased during the 1950s. The same source (p. 254) also states that 'no specific contract numbers were used for any of the German contracts, all pistols had standard postwar FN serial numbers.' The book depicts several guns in same range as yours, for instance, 129912, 130532, 134257 and 140788. In addition, my guess is the '2' stamped on the trigger bar means '1952' - the manufacturing date. This is the system adopted by FN after the war. Hope it helps.