kjtrains:
ACP's post reflects my own understanding of current market value for the M1922 pistols. Thousands of them had been produced for the civilian and international market prior to the Nazi invasion of Belgium. After the Nazis occupied Belgium, the M1922 was produced in larger numbers than any other firearm at the FN plant, with much of that production being issued to the Luftwaffe. Most of the M1922 pistols were blued, but a limited number were given a nickel plating such as that one of mine. Following the war, FN resumed production of the M1922, and the pistol was used by various West German police agencies and various agencies of the French government.
As you will have undoubtedly experienced for yourself, the M1922 is easily broken down for cleaning but can be a real "monkey puzzle" to reassemble. Mine was presented to me as a gift by my brother-in-law, who obtained it from the estate of a man who had brought it home from WWII. When he gave it to me, we were sitting at his kitchen table drinking coffee and "swapping lies." I had never held a Model 1922 before, but since I knew it had been designed by John Browning and I had learned in the Army to field strip and reassemble a 1911 in a matter of minutes, I figured that I would show off a little by field stripping the 1922 right there on the kitchen table.
Well . . . the pistol came apart easily enough, but I hadn't figured on that striker mechanism and the firing pin sitting there in its toggle ready to launch. My brother-in-law just sat there with a smile on his face as he watched me "eating humble pie." I finally got the piece back together again, but not before once having to go hunting for the firing pin spring across the room on the kitchen floor.
If you haven't seen this before, here is a link to the web site review when the M1922 was Cruffler's gun of the month:
http://www.cruffler.com/historic-may01.html
