Browning pistol M1903
becomes
Swedish Pistol m/1907

Text by O. Janson

updated 2023-01-31

Page 1/4

Army trial 1904

On top FN M1903 and below FN M1900. Two of Browning pistols in the tests made by the military commission.

 

The old Swedish 7,5 mm Nagant revolver known as revolver m/1887.

 1887 Sweden had adopted a 7,5 mm Nagant revolver known as revolver m/1887.
1904 there was a military commission in Sweden, which searched for a replacement pistol for the Swedish officers instead of the old weak revolver m/1887.

The following pistols were used for this trial were:

Pistol Calibre
Luger 7,65 mm Luger
Browning M1900 7,65 mm ACP
Colt-Browning 9,5 mm
Mannlicher pistol 7,63 mm
Mannlicher carbine pistol 7,36 mm
Hamilton pistol  6,5 mm (Swedish construction.)
Browning M1903  9 mm Browning long
Frommer pistol 8,00 mm

 

Specifications 1904 for the different guns and their cartridges:

Weapon Calibre Weight Length Crtg length Bullet Weight
gram
Bullet Weight
grain
V10 m/s V10 fps
Luger 30 Luger (7,65 Para) 0,89 kg 237 mm 30 mm 6,0 93 333 1092
Browning M1900 32 ACP (7,65 ACP) 0,63 kg 163 mm 25 mm 4,6 71 288 945
Colt-Browning 38 Colt Auto 1,00 kg 230 mm 32 mm 8,3 129 295 968
Mannlicher
pistol
7,63 mm 0,83 kg 230 mm 28 mm 5,6 87 270 886
Mannlicher
carbinepistol
7,65 mm 0,99 kg 270 mm 35 mm 5,6 87 341 1119
Hamilton 6,50 mm 1,20 kg 270 mm 30 mm 4,1 64 228 748
Browning M1903 9 mm Brown. Long 0,96 kg 200 mm 28 mm 7,1 110 318 1043
Frommer 8 mm 1,05 kg 275 mm 31 mm 7,4 115 278 912
Revolver m/1887 7,5 mm 0,80 240 mm 35 mm 6,7 104 223 732

 

The test showed that the two best pistols were the Luger 1900 and the Browning M1903.

The conclusion of the report was that the Luger was superior concerning precision, but the function was less reliable than the Browning M1903, which became very apparent in cold climate.

 

Hamilton 6,50 mm

(Armémuseum)

 

Luger 1900 in 30 Luger (7,65 Parabellum), which was used for the Swedish trial.

 

In February 1902 John Moses Browning visited FN for the first time. He brought with him the first prototype for M1903. Basically it was an improved M1900 in 9 mm Browning Long (9x20 mm).

There was a great interest to accept a carbine instead of a pistol among high ranking officers 1904. This was one of the reasons that the Mannlicher carbine-pistol took part in these tests. They considered it much easier to hit with a gun hold by two hands compared to a one hold by only one hand.

The thoughts were similar to those in US 1941 for the US Calibre .30 Carbine M1. This interest was also the main reason that the Browning pistol was not accepted until 1907 although the trials were finished within a year.

Considering this interest it would be very likely to find the Browning M1903 with extended wooden shoulder stock taking part in the trial. There is however no report that the wooden stock for M1903 took part in the Swedish tests.

Russia bought several M1903 with wooden stock combination from FN.

 

The FN M1903 was also delivered with a wooden stock attached to an extended 10 shot magazine. There are no reports that this type of wooden stock took part in the tests, although there was a very high interest for carbines instead of pistols at that time in Sweden.  

 

FN made the M1903 until 1914, when Germany occupied the plant. After the war up to 1927 FN assembled these pistols from spare parts. Only 58 442 Pistol M1903 were made by FN all together for contracts to Sweden, 5 000 for Russia (which often were equipped with extra wooden shoulder stock - see pictures), Paraguay and Turkey.

Browning M1903 became the winner.

The conclusion of the report was that the Luger was superior concerning precision but the function was less reliable than the Browning M1903. This became very apparent in cold climate.

Some changes had been made: The extractor and the safety had been strengthened. A ring for the lanyard was added at the bottom of the grip.

 

Here is a military contract pistol m/1907 made by FN 1910 for Sweden.

The article continues on  Swedish Pistol m/1907 made by FN

 

Pistol m/07 in 9 mm Parabellum or Luger

The construction was too weak and because of this never accepted.

This is a test pistol in 9x19 mm Luger made by Krag in Kongsberg. This pistol trial was never adopted.

 


 

Index for the homepage of Pistol m/1907.

Page 1

Tests and Browning M1903

Page 2

Swedish Pistol m/1907 made by FN

Page 3 Swedish Pistol m/1907 made by Husqvarna GF.
Page 4

Equipment and ammunition for m/1907

 


 

References:

Jimmy Johansson
Sven-Erik Rundberg
Dick Tenbäck
Bengt Johansson
Axel Ekfeldt
Thomas Broborn
Arne Tell
, Magazine Vapen
Lars Junberger
, Magazine NP
Different Swedish army manuals 1933-1977
Smith & Smith / Small arms of the world.
 A&W Visual library 1960

 


 

Gothia Arms Historical Society in English
Pistol m/1940
Gothia Arms Historical Society in Swedish
Overview of all Swedish Military pistols and revolvers