Found a pair of FN 1900's over the last year. (56K warning!)

[smitsauce]

Hey,

Just wanted to finally share my pair of FN 1900's that I picked up over the last year or so. My newest I took detailed pictures of just after the initial deep cleaning and before reassembly of all of the parts that are stamped with the serial number. They are both plain jacket versions, but unfortunately they both have slight alterations from their original configuration. The newest has a non-original marbles fully adjustable rear sight and both sling swivels have been replaced with other older versions. The first one I picked up lacked the rear sight altogether, but slightly made up for this by having a vintage marbles flip-up tang peep sight (Although, unfortunately too, it was drilled and tapped for this).

The really good thing at least is that both have Great bores and are great shooters.

Cheers,

Ian

First up is Serial # 1355 (Left Centre) (FN 1900 Ser. #2287 centre right, 1909 Model 8D .35Rem far left, 1946 Model 81 .300Sav far right)



















Left butt plate is Ser #2287 Right is #1355



























Next is the 2287

[jack1653]

Hey smitsauce,

Welcome to forum. Glad to have another FN fan. These are great rifles and are hard to come by. You did good to find two of these rifles. The Fn's look great. The FN people in Belgium new how to identify the parts on their rifles.

I have a question about the one butt plate that is shown on the left. Is it a replacement plate? I do not recall that FN used phillip head screws on their butt plates but I could be wrong. The plate looks like it may have come from a Belgium A-5 shotgun.

Can you explain the (56K warning!) in your heading. It has me puzzled.

Regards,

jack1653

[smitsauce]

Yeah,

I forgot to mention that. They are definately replacements and should be the larger ones like on the other rifle. You can see that the holes in the butt plate are for larger screws. I will have to see if I can find something more appropriate. In henwoods book, there were two different ones used, the early style as on the right rifle and the later style as seen on the left rifle. I think there was also something said about them using the same buttplates as on the Auto 5 shotgun on the early ones. Maybe I can try and source some A5 screws and see if they fit.

The 56K warning was to warn people using dial-up internet that there were a ton of pictures and they will wait a freakin' long time to load the entire page.

I may have a line on serial #943 as well. Very, very unfortunately it has been to Bubba's and back. Hope to get it really cheap and perhaps make it at least a bit more presentable. At least the bore is supposed to be good. I will post it if/when I get her.

Cheers,

Ian

[81police]

smitsauce,

You have a couple of FANTASTIC FN1900's! Regardless of the modifications these are still wonderfully collectible rifles. Thanks for taking the time to share the photographs of all the locations serial number 1355 was stamped. It is truly a testament to Fabrique Nationale's attention to detail and commitment to quality when you compare these rifles with Remington produced Model 8's & 81's. I think the only Model 8's that come close to the quality of work are the earliest, first year production rifles. But that's all my personal opinion of course!

I'd agree with y'all that the buttplate screws are replacements. Speaking of that type of buttplate...the earliest I've seen this "late type" or "2nd style" buttplate on FN1900's is in the 3200 serial number range, all others prior I have recorded as having the earliest style buttplate. If the screws were replaced one might think the buttplate is a replacement too. However yours is the horn type not the plastic type buttplate, perhaps it's a period replacement? Still though it looks good. That #2287 is a beauty

[Roger]

Sir, I'm truly'jealous. Here in Iowa,we never even see FN1900 rifles,let alone buy them. There must have been a fair amount imported into Canada. You are truly very fortunate to have found 2 of them,plus a line on a third one.Congrats on your purchases.
Thanks for your time,
Roger

[smitsauce]

The REALLY great thing about these, up in Canada, is that they are very cheap from what you guys pay down in the US. I don't think there are very many people up here that even know what they are. I took #2287 hunting last fall at a friends hunt camp with 11 other guys and they had never even heard of them or the model 8/81. That doesn't surprise me though with that crowd as most of them were just hunting with old, hardly ever cleaned, shotguns.

That trip truly convinced me that these rifles in any configuration, from either manufacturer, in any caliber are the best, most nostalgic, semi-auto, bush deer rifles ever conceived! I got off two shots at a Doe going Mach 3 through thick bush at about 40 yards. I pretty much knew I missed and only shot trees as it happened so fast and when I couldn't find any blood or body after looking for 30 minutes, I still had a smile on my face just from the thrill of the whole experience!

As I recall, I got the 2287 for $650.00 and the 1355 for about $850.00. The bubba'd Ser. #943 will be much cheaper, hopefully my offer of $250 will be good enough! From what I can see from a few pics of it, it has a slightly carved, replacement model 8 butt stock, a replacement model 8 forend and a replacement model 8/81 rear sight. It also has the plain barrel jacket that is interesting for such a low serial number. I was really hoping to find one of the barrel rib ones. This will definately just be a shooter as I believe that finding original wood for it will be next to impossible. The left side of the reciever is a little pitted as well. If nothing else, it will be an invaluable source for parts!

Hopefully I will find out soon what he will accept for it...

In the mean time I am trying to fill out my Remington Model 14/141 collection which is the next best bush gun... I may have a line on an early, elusive .25 Rem 14 and a .30 Rem 14, with thumbnail safety!

Cheers,

Ian

[ranman]

smitsauce,That is a very fine collection of rifles. I have to agree that hunting with one of these is just too much fun. My grandson and I both use model 8s and we get lots of lookers and comments on our guns. Have fun with them.