The FN Model 1905 (from its patent date) or FN Model 1906 (in European countries due to its date of manufacture) was a pistol manufactured by

Fabrique Nationale de Herstal Fabrique Nationale Herstal (), trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. ...

from 1906 to 1959. It is virtually identical to the

Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket The Model 1908 Vest Pocket is a compact, hammerless, striker-fired, semi-automatic single-action pistol. Manufactured by the Colt's Manufacturing Company from 1908 to 1948, it was marketed as a small concealable firearm which could be easily ...

, which was based on the same John Browning prototype, and was the inspiration for FN's later Baby Browning design. Although Browning's handgun patents were sold to both FN and Colt, this was the only case in which both companies put the same design into production without any significant modification. The Model 1905 was used by the

Belgian Resistance The Belgian Resistance (french: Résistance belge, nl, Belgisch verzet) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many se ...

in 1943 in the Attack on the twentieth convoy, in which more than 100 Jews were saved from a

Holocaust train Holocaust trains were Rail transport, railway transports run by the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn#1939-1945: The Reichsbahn in the Second World War and the Holocaust, Deutsche Reichsbahn'' national railway system under the control of Nazi Germany and Co ...

transporting them to Auschwitz concentration camp. The gun is now on display in the Kazerne Dossin museum in Mechelen.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Semi-automatic pistols Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1906 .25 ACP semi-automatic pistols