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35 Posts
Good morning,
Presuming you are talking about an internal extractor model High Power with the scalloped 'thumbprint' on the slide... it is difficult to discern any info from just the serial number. If you post photos of each side plus closeups of marks, stamps, serial numbers and anything you find unusual, some here might be able to give a good guess.
Look for a number in a partial box. This will be tiny and poorly stamped and may appear on the front of the trigger guard, the firing pin retaining plate, the foot of your barrel. This will indicate when the part stamped was inspected.
There should also be a letter below and asterisk likely stamped on the left side of the frame and above it on the slide. This is a code for the inspector, Controller of Proof.
There is some meaning for pistols whose serial begins with an E... I will look that up while I await your photos.
In the meantime, your pistol was made probably between 1946 and 1960.
Cheers,
Tim
Comments from other forums:
Hi, Anthony Vanderlinden's "FN Browning Pistols" says that the "E" series were pistols that began with an "E" prefix. He says that these we sent to England but not exclusively. Some other numbering prefixes and commercial pistols were also sent. He shows a picture of a "T" series that was sent to England.
If I am reading (Vanderlinden's book) correctly, in the '50s, as serial numbers neared 100,000 an "E" was added as a prefix and did not stand for English or Export. The British contract of the time may have been the first to include these, Germany and Austria also received pistols with the prefix "E".
Presuming you are talking about an internal extractor model High Power with the scalloped 'thumbprint' on the slide... it is difficult to discern any info from just the serial number. If you post photos of each side plus closeups of marks, stamps, serial numbers and anything you find unusual, some here might be able to give a good guess.
Look for a number in a partial box. This will be tiny and poorly stamped and may appear on the front of the trigger guard, the firing pin retaining plate, the foot of your barrel. This will indicate when the part stamped was inspected.
There should also be a letter below and asterisk likely stamped on the left side of the frame and above it on the slide. This is a code for the inspector, Controller of Proof.
There is some meaning for pistols whose serial begins with an E... I will look that up while I await your photos.
In the meantime, your pistol was made probably between 1946 and 1960.
Cheers,
Tim
Comments from other forums:
Hi, Anthony Vanderlinden's "FN Browning Pistols" says that the "E" series were pistols that began with an "E" prefix. He says that these we sent to England but not exclusively. Some other numbering prefixes and commercial pistols were also sent. He shows a picture of a "T" series that was sent to England.
If I am reading (Vanderlinden's book) correctly, in the '50s, as serial numbers neared 100,000 an "E" was added as a prefix and did not stand for English or Export. The British contract of the time may have been the first to include these, Germany and Austria also received pistols with the prefix "E".
Joined
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35 Posts
* An addition:
It is likely your pistol was sold to Austria or Germany in the '50s. The Austrian pistols were likely to have additional inventory marks applied in Austria. The German pistols may have been issued with serial number matching leather holsters. The prefix " E " is likely an inventory control mark from FN, much like the later " T " series pistols.
Good sharp photos of marking will further assist.
Cheers,
Tim
It is likely your pistol was sold to Austria or Germany in the '50s. The Austrian pistols were likely to have additional inventory marks applied in Austria. The German pistols may have been issued with serial number matching leather holsters. The prefix " E " is likely an inventory control mark from FN, much like the later " T " series pistols.
Good sharp photos of marking will further assist.
Cheers,
Tim
it is a intrual
yes internal extractor model High Power with the scalloped 'thumbprint
yes internal extractor model High Power with the scalloped 'thumbprint the marks are o in a square
yes internal extractor model High Power with the scalloped 'thumbprint' on the slide
yes internal extractor model High Power with the scalloped 'thumbprint' on the slide
Joined
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35 Posts
The *L is the mark used for Controller of Proof Salmon Antoine from 1937 to 1968. The thumbprint was eliminated from slides around 1960.
There is what appears to be a date code on the left side of the trigger guard. It is almost visible in your photos, but not entirely. It will be a number inside a partial box. From the bits I can see, it looks like it may be the third quarter of 1951... this is the "date" the part was marked. There will be a similar mark on the rear of the firing pin retaining plate, somewhere on the inside of the slide and another on the barrel. The date code may be different for each part marked.
If you can show pictures of these marks...
Cheers,
Tim
Pix from my 1950 pistol for guidance.
The frame was marked in the fourth quarter of 1950.
*In 1950 the frame mark was stamped upside down on the left side. Later, it was stamped right side up, on the right side of the front of the trigger guard. This is what leads me to believe yours may be from 1951.
The barrel was marked in 1948, uncertain about the quarter.
*The box is probably a 3 sided box with the bottom open.
The FP retaining plate seems to have been marked in the third quarter of 1949.
If the number on the FP retaining plate is surrounded by a 4 sided box, the part may be from 1946. Sometimes, to me, the number looks more like a 6 than a 9.
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