View source for FN Model 1903

{{Infobox weapon
| name               = FN Model 1903
| image              = FN Model 1903 002 (cropped).jpg
| caption            = A FN Model 1903 from the collections of the [[Swedish Army Museum]].
| origin             = [[United States]] (designed) <br/> [[Belgium]] (manufactured)
| type               = [[Semi-automatic pistol]]
 <!-- Type selection -->| is_ranged          = yes
 <!-- Service history -->| service            = 
| used_by            = See [[FN Model 1903#Users|Users]]
| wars               = {{plainlist|
*[[Balkan Wars]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/842879929 |title=Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912-13 : the priming charge for the Great War. |date=2012 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=1-299-58155-2 |oclc=842879929}}</ref>
*[[World War I]]
*[[Finnish Civil War]]
*[[Chaco War]]<ref name ='Chaco'/>
*[[Spanish Civil War]]
*[[World War II]]
*[[Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995)]]
*[[Burundian Civil War]]<ref name ='SAS 2007 6'>{{cite book|url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2007.html|chapter-url= http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2007/en/full/Small-Arms-Survey-2007-Chapter-06-EN.pdf|chapter=Armed Violence in Burundi: Conflict and Post-Conflict Bujumbura|title=The Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2007|author=Small Arms Survey|author-link=Small Arms Survey|page=204|isbn=978-0-521-88039-8}}</ref>}}
 <!-- Production history -->| designer           = [[John Browning]]
| design_date        = 1902
| manufacturer       = [[Fabrique Nationale]]
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 
| number             = 153,173
| variants           = <!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = 930 g (32.8 oz) unloaded
| length             = 205 mm (8.07 in)
| part_length        = 127 mm (5 in)
| width              = 
| height             = <!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| cartridge          = [[9mm Browning Long|9×20mmSR Browning Long]], in the US, some pistols were rechambered in [[.380 ACP]]; Some Chinese copies chambered in [[.32 ACP]].<ref name=chinfn1903>{{cite book|last=McCollum|first=Ian|author-link=Forgotten Weapons|title=Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911 - 1949|chapter=Other Chinese Copies|pages=496-499|isbn=9781733424639|date=2021|publisher=Headstamp Publishing}}</ref>
| action             = Blowback
| velocity           = 
| feed               = 7-round (9mm) [[box magazine]], [[9×19mm]] m/39B (Trials with the m/1907)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/m07/pist07_4.htm|title=The Swedish pistol m/1907 or Browning M1903 i 9 mm Browning Long|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211175250/http://gotavapen.se/gota/m07/pist07_4.htm|archive-date=February 11, 2022}}</ref>
| sights             = [[Iron sights]]
}}

The ''' FN Model 1903''' ('''M1903''', '''FN Mle 1903'''), or Browning No.2 is a [[semi-automatic pistol]] designed by [[John Browning]] and manufactured by Belgian arms manufacturer [[Fabrique Nationale]] (FN). It was introduced in 1903 and fired the [[9mm Browning Long|9×20mmSR Browning Long cartridge]]. It should not be confused with the US-made [[Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless]] (in [[.32 ACP]]), nor with the [[Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer]] (in [[.38 ACP]]). The FN Model 1903 is based on the same mechanical design as the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless, which Browning sold to both companies (and others as well), but enlarged to handle the more powerful 9mm Browning Long cartridge. The M1903's reliability, accuracy, light weight, and quick reloading made it a popular [[service pistol]] for many police forces and militaries. The pistol was initially introduced by FN as the '''Browning Modèle de Guerre''' (Browning War Model) or '''Browning Grand Modèle''' (Browning Large Model).<ref name="fnbp">Vanderlinden, Anthony ''FN Browning Pistols: Side-Arms that Shaped World History'' pp.158-181</ref>

==Pre-World War I production==
FN requested John Browning to prepare a prototype in 1901.  FN manufactured a few samples for Norway and Sweden to consider as military weapons.  Norway opted for the Colt [[M1911 pistol]] in the form of the [[Kongsberg Colt|Kongsberg M/1912]], but Sweden ordered 10,000 pistols (designated '''m/1907''') as standard military sidearms in 1907.  The [[Ottoman Empire]] ordered 8,000 pistols for police use between 1908 and 1914, and the [[Russian Empire]] ordered approximately 11,000 with detachable shoulder stock holsters for their police forces during the same time period.  An additional 9,000 pistols were sold commercially before production was discontinued when the FN factory was overrun by troops from the [[German Empire]] in August 1914.<ref name="nra">Vanderlinden, Anthony ''The FN Browning Model 1903'' in August, 2011 ''American Rifleman'' pp.77-79&98</ref>

==Swedish production==
[[File:Husqvarna m1907 003.jpg|thumb|left|A Husqvarna m/1907 from the collections of the [[Swedish Air Force Museum]]]]
Sweden obtained a license to manufacture a variant of the design for domestic use as the '''[[Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag|Husqvarna]] m/1907''' and began production in 1917 to meet both military needs and civilian demand.  Husqvarna produced military pistols for [[Colombia]] when FN was unwilling to resume production in the 1930s.  Sweden had manufactured 89,230 pistols when production ended in 1942.<ref name="nra"/> Early Husqvarna-produced pistols included the slide marking of either "Browning's Patent" or "System Browning". This practice was discontinued after World War I at the insistence of FN, which had been granted the exclusive right to use John Browning's name for the purpose of firearms marketing.<ref name="fnbp"/>

The Swedish military designation was pistol m/07 and it was the standard sidearm until the adoption of the [[Lahti L-35]] (pistol m/40) in 1940 when it was declared substitute standard. The pistol m/07 was taken out of storage and pressed into service in the 1980s as the bolts of the Lahti L-35 pistols started cracking due to the use of a more powerful 9&nbsp;mm P cartridge (9&nbsp;mm m/39B, adopted as standard in the 1960s). This was an interim solution until deliveries of the new [[Glock 17]] (pistol m/88) were complete.

==Post-war production==
Availability of surplus firearms caused very low demand for new pistol production following World War I.  As demand increased through the 1920s, FN manufactured 4,616 pistols as the standard military sidearm for [[Estonia]] and several hundred for [[Paraguay]] and [[El Salvador]].  FN stopped production in 1927 after manufacturing a total of 58,442 pistols; but inventories were sufficient to continue commercial sales into the 1930s.<ref name="nra"/>

The Estonian pistols were sold to Spain in the 1930s where many saw use in the [[Spanish Civil War]].  Some of the Swedish pistols were used by Finland during World War II.  Surplus pistols, primarily of Husqvarna production, eventually found their way to the United States where many were modified by the importers with a chamber bushing to fire the more common [[.380 ACP]] ammunition.<ref name="nra"/>

== Users ==
* {{flag|Colombia}}
* {{flag|Chile}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chilean military & police handgun cartridges: Talk about confusion! - Free Online Library |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Chilean+military+&+police+handgun+cartridges:+Talk+about+confusion!-a0209696754 |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=www.thefreelibrary.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415122711/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Chilean+military+&+police+handgun+cartridges:+Talk+about+confusion!-a0209696754|archive-date=April 15, 2023}}</ref>
* {{flag|El Salvador}}
* {{flag|Estonia}}
* {{flag|Finland}}:Around a 100 acquired in 1918. 860 FN 1903 and Husqvarna M/07 pistols, were left behind by Swedish volunteers and issued to the Finnish front-line troops during Continuation War.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FINNISH ARMY 1918-1945: REVOLVERS & PISTOLS PART 3 |url=https://www.jaegerplatoon.net/PISTOLS3.htm |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=www.jaegerplatoon.net|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404070804/https://www.jaegerplatoon.net/PISTOLS3.htm|archive-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref>
* {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}: Used by army and military police officers<ref>{{cite web |title=Weapons of the Ottoman Army |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/ottoman-empire/weapons-of-the-ottoman-empire |website=New Zealand History |publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage |access-date=7 January 2024 |language=en |date=26 April 2023}}</ref>
* {{flag|Paraguay}}<ref name ='Chaco'>{{cite book|author=Alejandro de Quesada|title=The Chaco War 1932-35: South America's greatest modern conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dTm3CwAAQBAJ|date=20 November 2011|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84908-901-2|page=23}}</ref>
* [[People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad]]<ref name ='SAS 2005'>{{cite book|url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2005.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109192749/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2005.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 9, 2010|chapter-url= http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2005/en/Small-Arms-Survey-2005-Chapter-06-EN.pdf|chapter=Sourcing the Tools of War: Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones|title=Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|author=Small Arms Survey|author-link=Small Arms Survey|page=166|isbn=978-0-19-928085-8}}</ref>
* {{flagcountry|Russian Empire}}{{sfn|Thompson|2022|page=12}}
* {{URS}}{{sfn|Thompson|2022|page=41}}
* {{Flag|Spanish Republic|name=Second Spanish Republic}}
* {{flag|Sweden}}
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Serbia}}
*{{flag|Norway}} : 500 Purchased from Belgium before World War I.

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Leroy |title=Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others |date=27 October 2022 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-5349-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=24l3EAAAQBAJ |language=en}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*[http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg118-e.htm Modern Firearms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024183315/http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg118-e.htm |date=2007-10-24 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20210520114204/http://dutchman.rebooty.com/m07-pistol.html Swedish m/1907 Pistol]
* {{YouTube|id=VAETRDMkUeQ|title=Small Arms of WWI Primer 056: Belgian FN 1903}} ([ Archive])

{{John Browning}}
{{FN Herstal firearms}}
{{WWIOttomanInfWeaponsNav}}

[[Category:1903 introductions]]
[[Category:FN Herstal firearms|Model 1903]]
[[Category:Semi-automatic pistols of the United States]]
[[Category:Semi-automatic pistols of Belgium]]
[[Category:Semi-automatic pistols 1901–1909]]
[[Category:Weapons of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Firearms_by_John_Browning]]