FN's 1910 Pocket Automatic

Triple K is a great source for authentic reproduction grips and magazines for rare and obsolete pistols.

The spark that ignited the fuse leading to World War I was the assassination of the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on June 28, 1914, in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo by 19-year-old Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The weapon he used was a six-shot FN Model 1910 Browning chambered in .380 ACP.

This gun was John Browning’s most advanced pocket pistol to date when he presented it to Colt, but they passed on the new patent. Colt was already making a lot of money with the Browning-designed Model 1903 and 1908 and his new pistol didn’t seem to offer enough to sidetrack a top seller already in full production.

Instead, Browning sold it to Fabrique Nationale (FN) and it was hugely successful in Europe, remaining in production over 70 years. It was mainly a civilian firearm, but also saw wide use by police agencies and military forces around the globe. It was eventually exported to America as the .380 ACP Browning Model 1955 from the mid-1950s until the Gun Control Act of 1968 proscribed it.

This FN Model 1910 is believed to be the gun used by Gavrilo Princip to
assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Photo: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum

With its grip safety, the striker fired FN Model 1910 could be carried in
the pocket cocked and loaded, ready for instant use.

A Gun With A Story

I recently got an excellent Model 1955 in trade and it got me to thinking about the tragic, world altering, act of state-sponsored terrorism committed 116 years ago that ultimately led to the deaths of at least 15 million people in the First World War.

Though the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife Sophie, was widely reported, newspaper accounts differed significantly at times in their details. Amazingly, physical evidence from the crime still survives. Three of the reportedly four FN Model 1910 pistols provided to the Serbian assassins still exist with serial number 19074 being the one believed by many to be the actual murder weapon. After the trial of the assassins, it was given to a Jesuit priest for an exhibit honoring the murdered Archduke and his wife, both of whom were devout Roman Catholics. The blood-stained tunic worn by the Archduke was also part of that exhibit and likewise remained in the custody of the priests.

Miraculously this evidence survived and was eventually put on exhibit at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, in Vienna, Austria, where the car from the fateful motorcade is preserved, complete with a bullet hole in the side. The hole is from the shot believed to be the one that fatally wounded the Arch Duke’s wife.

This painting has many serious errors, but it’s correct in the seating of the
Archduke and Duchess and Princip’s attack position.

This photograph, taken the day before the assassination, shows
the highly exposed position of the Archduke and Duchess.

Re-Writing History?

In my research, I found an essay on the assassination that didn’t sit well with me on the Royal Armories Museum website, a highly esteemed British institution. The author suggested Princip’s shots that killed the Duke were the “luckiest shots in the world” due to his inexperience with firearms, probable adrenalin rush, and difficulty, in the museum man’s experience, aiming the FN M1910 because of the grip safety. I disagree. There was luck, or fate, at play that day; but Princip hitting the target with that weapon was all but certain under the circumstances.

The original plan to assassinate the Archduke that June morning actually failed, but a series of decisions and mistakes that seem fateful, or lucky, put Princip alone in a position to complete the mission on his own initiative. It all came down to a wrong turn by an uninformed chauffer who stopped to back up in full sight of Princip, outside the cafe where he’d stopped to get a sandwich.

Princip was the youngest of the assassins, but clearly unwavering in his dedication to his cause. He quickly made his way through the spectators gathering around the open touring car until he was five or six feet from it, drew his pistol, and fired at least twice. He hit the Archduke in the neck, cutting his jugular vein, and hit his wife in the abdomen. Both victims were immediately incapacitated by their wounds and soon died from blood loss and probably shock. Witnesses reported three shots. There was a bullet hole near the upper edge of the side of the car where the Duchess was seated that may have been the shot that hit her.

The historical record shows Princip was given some instruction and practiced shooting this pistol in a public park in Belgrade, Serbia, the month before the assassination. How proficient he became or how much previous experience he may have had with firearms is unknown. During his interrogation and later testimony, he said he pointed, rather than aimed, the pistol at the Archduke and fired but did not know how many times he shot because he was excited. He claimed to not know he had shot the Duchess. Later he added he had closed his eyes while shooting.

Fired at such close range, at stationary, elevated targets in plain view seated in the high touring car rear seats, I don’t see Princip’s shots as lucky. Training or no training, eye’s open or closed, it would have been amazing if he missed. Unlike a revolver, the single action FN Model 1910 trigger pull is much less disruptive to the aim. That’s one of the reasons pocket automatics were so popular for personal defense for so long. They are a lot easier to shoot well with minimal experience than are revolvers.

Shooter Two firing at the silhouette targets of the Archduke (right) and Duchess (left).

The sights of the FN M1910 are actually machined below the surface of the
slide so they don’t snag on the draw. Although quite accurate, it was designed
for close-range point shooting.

The combined results of all three re-enactment experiment shooters.

Re-Enactment

The murder weapon was an exceptionally good pocket pistol too. The first time I picked one up, I discovered it was designed for point-and-shoot use. I was able to fire six rapid fire shots into a group 2″ across by pointing alone. The sights are so small, you can really only use them in slow fire.

To test my “miracle-if-he-missed” assertion, I had three shooters of varying experience fire my M1955 Browning at an oblique silhouette target of the Archduke and Duchess from five feet away. To get into the historical spirit of the experiment, I installed a set of reproduction period FN logo grips from Triple K on my pistol. Triple K was also my source for a new magazine to replace the one missing when I got the pistol. The grips usually require a little fitting, but the magazines were ready to go right out of the packaging.

Test protocol required the shooter to approach the target with the pistol in hand, loaded and ready to fire, but down at their side. The shooter stops at the five-foot line, points the pistol at the target, and fires all six rounds in the magazine as fast as possible.

My first shooter was a 72-year-old woman, of slight statue, with no previous experience shooting, or even handling firearms. After a safety briefing, she fired her first rounds in this experiment. Her first shot was a fatal wound to the Archduke’s chest. Her five subsequent shots trailed down the target. Three of those shots, through the “car-door,” could likely have caused injuries to the lower abdomen and legs of the Archduke if they traveled without significant deflections. Had the angle of fire been different, they could also have hit the Duchess in the legs or lower abdomen.

The second shooter was a 42-year-old woman with experience handling firearms, but very little practice doing so, and none over the past year. For reasons known only to her, she fired just five shots at the target. However, all were lethal hits to the lungs and belly, and clustered in a group 5.25″ across.

I was the third shooter. In rapid-fire point-shooting, I put six shots into the “heart” of the target in a group measuring 2.25″ across. Then I repeated the test, closing my eyes at the moment I leveled the pistol on the target. The group was strung out over 6″ this time, but all were lethal shots to the heart and belly. This is the kind of shooting the FN Model 1910 was made for.

This is why I don’t think Princip’s shooting was lucky. He had the right tool for the job and was committed to seeing it through. His convictions were so strong he was determined to kill the Archduke at the cost of his own life. He demonstrated this by taking a cyanide pill before bystanders restrained him. In a few places he’s considered a national hero to this day, but for most of the world his actions resonate louder than his cause, and he remains, first and foremost, a terrorist.

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