FN 1922 - Pakistani Replica - Part 1

[bruno38]

During this period of COVID-19, I have plenty of time to visit my safe...

Here is a pretty ingenius and rarely seen replica of FN Browning Model 1922.

I asked for comments about it from Anthony Vanderlinden, expert and author of FN Browning Pistols.
This pistol would have been made in the Peshawar area, likely in Darra Adam Khel, known as the "Village of Illegal Gun Manufacturers", in Pakistan.
Interestingly, it appears to be a hybrid design of FN 1922 and Colt 1903.
Ref: https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/09/darra-adam-khel-village-of-illegal-gun.html

Characteristics: screwed slide extension; Colt-type ejector; Colt-type firing pin with an internal hammer rather than a striker like on FN; unusual mag well dimensions vs standard FN 1922; an FN 1910 mag is too short to fit in it, while an FN 1922 mag is too long; homemade FN-type grips; faked Belgian/Liege proofs. Regarding the legend on left slide, it is approximate, as usual on other Asian copies of FN pistols.
After extensive cleaning, barrel is bright with strong riflings, and pistol is functional.

I would like to hear comments from members, and namely from owners of similar replicas.
For your appreciation, fellow collectors

 

[Ganderite]

It appears to be a numbers matching collectible.

The skill of those guys to make guns with such simple tools is amazing.

And they changed the design, too. That takes some smarts.


I wonder if they made them it batches?

 

[Juster]

I suppose the receiver is easier to machine as hammer fired. The barrel lugs and matching slots are well done. Thanks for sharing!

 

[trunkss]

Really cool! Have you tried firing it? Where do you find stuff like this?

 

[StansfieldMcElroy]

Wow, that's a great looking piece!

 

[kg]

Someone had his teenage kid help with the punches...

 

[sail32]

Interesting pistol.

When passing through Afghanistan in 1968 I bought a home made copy of a .25 ACP pistol copy, fully functioning but with a smooth bore barrel.

I arrived in Herat with $10.00 US in Afghanis to spend and I hand a choice of the pistol or a Cossack saber, I chose the pistol has it came with a holster and cartridge belt.

I wore the pistol in it's holster all the way home to Canada under my clothing.

 

[bruno38]

Really cool! Have you tried firing it? Where do you find stuff like this?

Yes I did fire the pistol, and friends did too at the range. Trigger spring is pretty rough, but does the job. I don't usually fire either old pistols or similar replicas, but after inspecting its solid construction, I was confident the pistol would not blow to my face.

Where finding this type of animal? Well, unlike "sail32", I did not have to fly to Asia, I simply drove to Ontario.

 

[Scotty454]

Lol that thing is sketchy as ####. Porosity in the frame and slide castings, everything looks rough. I get that it's handmade, and I appreciate the level of ingenuity that goes into making a pistol without proper tools. Buuuut they're probably casting the things out of cobbled together junk metal. Is it interesting? Yep. Would I fire it? HEEEELLLLLL no. No amount of visual inspection can determine the tensile strength of whatever metal the thing is made out of. It is NOT proper steel.

 

[tiriaq]

I can't see any evidence that the frame and slide are cast. Is the "porosity" to which you are referring the pitting on the surfaces?

 

[tiriaq]

Here are three handmade/homemade handguns. These are .22.
The revolvers were made by Selby S Webb of Warren OH, the autoloader by A Newton.
Webb liked making single action revolvers, made over a hundred of them. He also made a revolving .410 shotgun. He started making them in the 1920s, continued almost until his death in the 1950s; born 1863.
I know nothing about the A Newton who made the pistol.

 

[DaveF]

It amazes me how these Pakistani/Afghanistani artisans can so evenly file (?) the serrations on the rear of the slide, and on the small slide extension take down latch, accurately machine the barrel lug grooves, etc., etc. but can't manage to hold a straight line while stamping out the phony maker's roll-marks.