Baby Browning
| FN Baby Browning | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Pistol |
| Place of origin | Belgium |
| Service history | |
| Used by | French Resistance, US Air Force |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer |
John Browning Dieudonné Saive |
| Designed | 1927 |
| Manufacturer |
Fabrique Nationale de Herstal Manufacture d'armes de Bayonne Precision Small Parts, Inc. Precision Small Arms, Inc. |
| Produced | 1931–present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 275 g (9.7 oz) |
| Length | 104 mm (4.1 in) |
| Barrel length | 53.6 mm (2.11 in) |
| Height | 72 mm (2.8 in) |
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| Cartridge | .25 ACP 6.35mm |
| Action | Blowback-operated semi-automatic |
| Muzzle velocity | 230–500 m/s (750–1,640 ft/s) |
| Feed system | 6-round sealed bottom, flat follower magazine; a rounded follower and removable inner and outer bottom plates were incorporated in 1984 |
| Sights | Fixed iron notch and blade |
The FN Baby Browning is a small blowback-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Dieudonné Saive based on a design by John Browning (among Browning's last designs) and chambered in .25 ACP (6.35×16mmSR). The pistol features a six-round magazine capacity and is a striker-fired, single action, blow back mechanism. The manual thumb operated safety locks the slide in the closed position when engaged using side thumb pressure.
FN introduced the revolutionary model 1905 in 1905. Despite the name FN used for this pistol, it was later marketed as the "M1906", the "V.P. .25" (V.P. denoting Vest Pocket), and most confusingly, the "Baby" model. This pistol was introduced more or less at the same time the 6.35x16mm .25 ACP cartridge became widely available. The term "ACP" stands for "Automatic Colt Pistol". This cartridge was among the first automatic pistol cartridges to be utilized worldwide. It was designed with a "semi-rimmed" shell casing made of brass. The rim of the shell casing had a slightly larger circumference than the base of the cartridge and an extractor groove was cut directly above it. The shell casing head was spaced on this small rim; however, the utilization of the rim in this design complicated the mechanics of the cartridge because, while still in the magazine, the rim of one cartridge would sometimes get hung up on the extractor groove of the following cartridge (also known as "rim lock").
The M1905/M1906 Vest Pocket pistol incorporated a grip safety mechanism that constituted the entire rear section of the grip. This particular safety mechanism required a significant amount of hand palm pressure to disengage and allow the trigger to release the striker to fire the pistol. Colt produced a nearly identical pocket pistol, the Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket, which incorporated a small safety lever on the left side of the receiver which locked the trigger. In addition, this safety lever mechanism locked the slide about a half inch back from the front of the pistol to enable easy disassembly. FN also added this safety lever mechanism to its pistol, but did not add the magazine safety mechanism that Colt introduced in 1916.
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