FN Browning Trombone 22
- Thread starter Rick Kenyon
- Start date
THX
- Location
- Western Manitoba
An FYI for OP - look carefully at the stampings on the barrel - I was recently looking at one - I have a semi-auto and a lever action Browning .22 L.R. (Long Rifle). The Pump Action "trombone" that I was looking at was stamped "22 L" (Long) - I do not think a 22 Long and a 22 Long Rifle are the same thing. The SA22 is stamped "22 Long Rifle" and the BL-22 is stamped "22 Short, Long & Long Rifle. Both are stamped as made in Belgium.
with some assumptive math: serial numbers starting at 5400 in 1922, 28000 in 1928, that assumes they made about 22600 over 6 yrs or 3700 per year...reality check: that would be about 3000/mth or about 100 per day over a 30 day month...today with mass production very do'able, back then maybe?
So
Serial number mfg year
Open close 3700 1922
5400 9100 3700 1923
9100 12800 3700 1924
12800 16500 3700 1925
16500 20200 1926 my serial number 20970
assuming average production per year
thus my rifle might be vintage 1926 or 1927
Thanks everyone
.22 L and .22 LR are the same. .22L is a European designation and .22LR is North American. Just over half were made prior to WWII (or World War Eleven according to a one US politician). Serial numbers from 0 to +/- 62000 were made prior to the mid 1930's.
Your rifle was most likely made somewhere between 1926 and 1929.
I've written a book on the Trombone and am waiting on the dates of manufacture from FN to complete the book.
Your rifle was most likely made somewhere between 1926 and 1929.
I've written a book on the Trombone and am waiting on the dates of manufacture from FN to complete the book.
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You are correct, they are not the same and I should have been more clear.
However on the Trombone .22L is a European designation that equals .22LR, remember the European .22L designation is from way, way back.
Very early Trombone (+/- below 5000 serial number) are marked FL .22 C not for Corto or Short but Flobert and Carbine. A lot of people think its for .22 short but it's not. It can be confusing because .22 Corto is a thing but not in the case of Trombone.
All Trombone, with the exception of those marked .22 Short Smokeless (as with the Browning SA), accept .22 short, long and long rifle. There is a reference to a Trombone in .22 Long Rifle Smooth Bore for shot but I suspect it maybe a after market rifle not done by FN. Or maybe by the custom shop but certainly not a model offered by Browning generally.
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