somd_mustangs
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- Jul 1, 2012
- 5,755
Here is a French "Unique" Kriegsmodell (War Model) made under German occupation in WW2 as an update to the Unique Model 17. These mods included an exposed hammer, and arched rear frame. I don't have a 17 to compare it too, so there may be other changes internally. While it's not terribly scarce, with 18000-20000 produced, you don't see them all that often. That production is on the order of the German contract for Star B's, but price is typically half to a third of the Waffenampt'd Stars, they just haven't caught up. This is an earlier example with the "WaA251" Waffenamt, like the Star's the later pistols had a "WaAD20" Waffenamt.
What makes this one even more "Unique" is that it was re-purposed by the Norwegian police. A ton of pistols were left behind after the German occupation of Norway, so rather than destroy them the 7.65 mm pistols were gathered, sorted, and repaired when possible. There's around 20 "brand name" pistols that were re-issued (along with a bunch of Ruby derivatives), roughly in the order of the most available. So the FN 1922's were picked out and assessed, and issued first since there were more of them than any others, followed by CZ.27, etc. The fewer the pistols available of a particular type, the later they were issued (for the most part) and the higher the police-assigned number. The miscellaneous small handfuls of pistols like Ruby derivatives and other WW1 stuff were the last to be issued, in 1954. The work was performed by the Kongsberg factory (maker of the M/1914 licensed copy of the Colt 1911).
Most types had a flat machined into the slide with the "Politi Nr. 1234" and a matching number stamped in the frame. For that reason, I think, most collectors have turned their noses up at these over the years. But they are an interesting side-note to their history. Anyway this is one of 168 Kriegsmodells that were shipped to the Norwegian police in 1952, along with 30 Unique Model 17's. It's a matching gun, with the slide, frame and barrel matched by assembly number. I haven't taken it completely apart to see if the small parts are numbered ala the MAB Model D. The best part is it was less than a post-war P1 goes for nowadays.
What makes this one even more "Unique" is that it was re-purposed by the Norwegian police. A ton of pistols were left behind after the German occupation of Norway, so rather than destroy them the 7.65 mm pistols were gathered, sorted, and repaired when possible. There's around 20 "brand name" pistols that were re-issued (along with a bunch of Ruby derivatives), roughly in the order of the most available. So the FN 1922's were picked out and assessed, and issued first since there were more of them than any others, followed by CZ.27, etc. The fewer the pistols available of a particular type, the later they were issued (for the most part) and the higher the police-assigned number. The miscellaneous small handfuls of pistols like Ruby derivatives and other WW1 stuff were the last to be issued, in 1954. The work was performed by the Kongsberg factory (maker of the M/1914 licensed copy of the Colt 1911).
Most types had a flat machined into the slide with the "Politi Nr. 1234" and a matching number stamped in the frame. For that reason, I think, most collectors have turned their noses up at these over the years. But they are an interesting side-note to their history. Anyway this is one of 168 Kriegsmodells that were shipped to the Norwegian police in 1952, along with 30 Unique Model 17's. It's a matching gun, with the slide, frame and barrel matched by assembly number. I haven't taken it completely apart to see if the small parts are numbered ala the MAB Model D. The best part is it was less than a post-war P1 goes for nowadays.
